i use the front squat for some of my max effort days so when i do, should i focus my assistance work on working the quads instead of hams+glutes? or is it hams+glutes all the way?
Thanks
deff quads. no doubt front squats are pretty much all quad.
Personally I’d hammer your upper back and abs.
i used to do something like this
MaxE: Deadstop Front Squats
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One Leg Deadlifts (in back ext. bench) or bulgarian squats (take a long enough step and you feel it more in your pchain)
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good mornings for sets ~6-8reps
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abs (dragon flags) sets of 5
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abs (pulldown machine) superset rear delt flyes
What are you doing front squats for?
[quote]Pipes06 wrote:
no doubt front squats are pretty much all quad.[/quote]
Just no, sorry.
i found when i started adding ab roll outs, heavy leg raises and standing ab work my front squat shot up
yea +1 for ab roll outs
[quote]mr strength wrote:
i use the front squat for some of my max effort days so when i do, should i focus my assistance work on working the quads instead of hams+glutes? or is it hams+glutes all the way?
Thanks[/quote]
Depends on what your long term goals are— are you aiming to get better at the competitve powerlifts, or the front squat? If it’s the competitve powerlifts, I say it’s glute/hams all the way. If you just want to get better at front squatting with no regard to the big 3, then I say upper back, quads, abs.
[quote]Pipes06 wrote:
deff quads. no doubt front squats are pretty much all quad.[/quote]
I did front squats yesterday. Today, my hamstrings are sore. My quads feel fine.
The quads are definitely more involved in a front squat than a back squat, but the hamstrings are still a major part of both.
[quote]tedro wrote:
Pipes06 wrote:
deff quads. no doubt front squats are pretty much all quad.
I did front squats yesterday. Today, my hamstrings are sore. My quads feel fine.
The quads are definitely more involved in a front squat than a back squat, but the hamstrings are still a major part of both.[/quote]
really? When I front squat i do it soley for inner front of the quads, but my backsquat and deadlift is so much more than what I frontsquat I probably cant get any good stimulation on the back of the oak trees doing them
I find that with myself and clients front and over head squats are brilliant for exposing weakness. Alot is telling from the DOMS you get next day, Im usualy very sore in the quads.
[quote]Aragorn wrote:
mr strength wrote:
i use the front squat for some of my max effort days so when i do, should i focus my assistance work on working the quads instead of hams+glutes? or is it hams+glutes all the way?
Thanks
Depends on what your long term goals are— are you aiming to get better at the competitve powerlifts, or the front squat? If it’s the competitve powerlifts, I say it’s glute/hams all the way. If you just want to get better at front squatting with no regard to the big 3, then I say upper back, quads, abs.[/quote] i use front squats cos i want to get better at the big 3 for powerlifting. to be honest i only do front squat cos there isn’t many other variations for use for poweerlifting since i do my deadlift stuff and squats on separate days. but i’m gonna start doing box squats maybe tomorrow.
[quote]tedro wrote:
Pipes06 wrote:
deff quads. no doubt front squats are pretty much all quad.
I did front squats yesterday. Today, my hamstrings are sore. My quads feel fine.
The quads are definitely more involved in a front squat than a back squat, but the hamstrings are still a major part of both.[/quote]
when u say that ur hams were sore, did u use a wide stance front squat? and did u use a box too? cos i hear that westside do front squats off a box but then i keep reading that front sq are just quads. i just don’t know if i should keep doing them now.
Why not do them? At the very least they will be the best ab work for making sure our abs dont lag in your back squat. I would sya that many comp PLers would agree that abs are typically the weakest guy on the squatting team.
-chris
[quote]Avocado wrote:
Why not do them? At the very least they will be the best ab work for making sure our abs dont lag in your back squat. I would sya that many comp PLers would agree that abs are typically the weakest guy on the squatting team.
-chris[/quote]
x2
[quote]mr strength wrote:
Aragorn wrote:
mr strength wrote:
i use the front squat for some of my max effort days so when i do, should i focus my assistance work on working the quads instead of hams+glutes? or is it hams+glutes all the way?
Thanks
Depends on what your long term goals are— are you aiming to get better at the competitve powerlifts, or the front squat? If it’s the competitve powerlifts, I say it’s glute/hams all the way. If you just want to get better at front squatting with no regard to the big 3, then I say upper back, quads, abs.
i use front squats cos i want to get better at the big 3 for powerlifting. to be honest i only do front squat cos there isn’t many other variations for use for poweerlifting since i do my deadlift stuff and squats on separate days. but i’m gonna start doing box squats maybe tomorrow.
[/quote]
Not sure what you mean. If you mean that you deadlift one day and squat the other, then your front squats would go with squat day.
If you mean that you have front squats, deadlifts, and back squats ALL on separate days from each other, then the advice is-- abs, quads, (limited) upper back assistance for front squat day to not hurt the Deads day, good mornings, pull-throughs, hamstring work for deadlift day, and the same for squat day.
There’s plenty of stuff you can do for powerlifting–good mornings, front squats, olympic squats, zercher squats, rack pulls, good mornings and squats from the safety pins up, box squats, deadlifting from a deficit, trap bar deads, safety bar squats and box squats, cambered bar (if you have one) squats and box squats, cambered bar good mornings.
So if you’re talking about having 2 days–1 DL and 1 squat, and using front squats to help with your powerlifting, I’d suggest either a) doing them as the main movement on squat day and then hammering the glutes/hamstrings with assistance or b) doing them as the 2nd movement for more reps (assistance for the back squat as primary lift) and then hammer glutes/hams.
I disagree with using front squats as a ME movement for powerlifting. Front squats should be nothing more than an accessory movement. But I personally don’t even like them in that category because of the stress they put on the shoulder/elbow/wrist joints.
[quote]mr strength wrote:
tedro wrote:
Pipes06 wrote:
deff quads. no doubt front squats are pretty much all quad.
I did front squats yesterday. Today, my hamstrings are sore. My quads feel fine.
The quads are definitely more involved in a front squat than a back squat, but the hamstrings are still a major part of both.
when u say that ur hams were sore, did u use a wide stance front squat? and did u use a box too? cos i hear that westside do front squats off a box but then i keep reading that front sq are just quads. i just don’t know if i should keep doing them now.
[/quote]
No and no. Just regular front squats, clean grip. Oddly enough, my quads get sore more often than my hams when doing back squats.
My theory as to why the hams are involved so much more than commonly thought is because with the weight on the front, the upper and middle back is obviously working much harder to keep from rounding forward. In turn, rounding of the upper back and thus leaning forward while squatting will cause the pelvis to tilt forward. The hamstrings then have to work much harder to keep the pelvis anchored and keep the torso in an upright position.
Front squats have never been a major part of my programs, and I just recently started going real heavy with them. I was going heavy enough that I would be most inclined to say some muscle had to reach near failure and my hamstrings being sore wasn’t necessarily a sign of a weakness, per se. Of course I could be wrong, and if I had to guess, I would say that the weakness and limiting factor was indeed my upper back.
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
But I personally don’t even like them in that category because of the stress they put on the shoulder/elbow/wrist joints.[/quote]
That sounds like a reason to do them more often 
Most of that discomfort dissipates with time and increased frequency of doing them.