Front Squat Bad Compared to Back Squat

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

My F 1 r is no more than 70% of my BS. I did front squats Thursday for the first time in years with only around 195lbs. Holy shit my legs are more sore than they have ever been since about May.

Is this normal? I feel like my FS is very much lagging.

2

Front squat (FS) damn autocorrect.

3

Well, personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if I get sore doing an exercise I haven’t performed in years. I also wouldn’t be surprised to find out that the exercise is lagging if I don’t train it.

4

So… You did a movement that you have not done in months and you are surprised they were harder than when you do a relatively different movement that you perform multiple time a week. Also you are surprised your muscles are hurting worse than normal because of completely changing the dynamics between said moves… Correct??? Are you not all there or are you just not all there.

5

[quote]tsantos wrote:
Well, personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if I get sore doing an exercise I haven’t performed in years. I also wouldn’t be surprised to find out that the exercise is lagging if I don’t train it.[/quote]

This. When you train both, your front squat is usually somewhere between 80-90% of your back squat (depending on your leverages, high bar/low bar etc). Include it for a few weeks and you’ll effortlessly add 20lbs to it simply by improving the motor pattern.

6

It is most likely due to upper back weakness. My front squat is shitty compared to my back squat because I lack the wrist flexibility to get the bar in a good position.

7

  1. Hit it for a month or two and then get back to us. There is no possible reason you should use the number on a lift that you did for the FIRST TIME in a long time, and compare it to the number on a lift you do regularly.

  2. Front squat will always be lower than back squat. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

8

Generally: deadlift > backsquat > [front squat = bench].

And what Reed said.

9

[quote]Aero51 wrote:
My F 1 r is no more than 70% of my BS. … Is this normal? I feel like my FS is very much lagging.[/quote]
It’s very normal. Don’t sweat it. One reason is that the front squat has such different leverages, it’s why a bodyweight front squat is a pretty good achievement and a bodyweight back squat is relatively more beginner-level.

The Olympic lifters here (who generally front squat more often) seem to FS 80-90% their BS:

The powerlifters here (who generally back squat more often) seem to FS 70-90% their BS:

So, you’re pretty close to average. Stick with it.

10

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]Aero51 wrote:
My F 1 r is no more than 70% of my BS. … Is this normal? I feel like my FS is very much lagging.[/quote]
It’s very normal. Don’t sweat it. One reason is that the front squat has such different leverages, it’s why a bodyweight front squat is a pretty good achievement and a bodyweight back squat is relatively more beginner-level.

The Olympic lifters here (who generally front squat more often) seem to FS 80-90% their BS:

The powerlifters here (who generally back squat more often) seem to FS 70-90% their BS:

So, you’re pretty close to average. Stick with it.[/quote]

Good links. I still get surprised–and pissed off–when I see how close my FS is to my bench especially since my bench is so shitty.

11

MY front squat is WAY better than my bench… OK, they’re both low, but still.