Problem - when I front squat (whether crossed arms or power-clean style), my upper back ALWAYS fails before my quads. Is this usual for anyone else out there? And how have you remedied it? I figure I’ll just keep doing them, my back will eventually catch up, and also add in a bit of extra upper back work that’s akin to the front-squat movement. Any comments? Mark-AUS
Yeah I would say just keep doing them. Maybe flex your abdominals tighter when performing them. I personally have a long torso but strong biceps so I usually don’t fail too often; yeah just keep on keepin’ on and you should be fine.
Mark, I feel your pain; I have been thinking of posting the same
thread for quite some time! Nothing works the quads better than front
squats - unfortunately, we can only go as far as our upper back
can carry us!
Here is a routine that I've been using lately - it helps me in finishing off my quads, plus it provides much need extra work for the upper back. Example: I first perform three sets of 8 "rock-bottom" front squats. Then I execute two sets of front lunges, also for 8 reps, using about 40% less weight. Front lunges are performed in the same manner as the front squats!
Will going on holiday for 3 days. Hope you get some decent replies. I will be looking forward to reading them upon return.... Cheers!
i think good morning should help. not sure exactly what your problem is.
Front squats are a bitch my man, but they blow up your back. It’s different than back squats because your back must move through a range of motion to complete the lift (unless you’re using smith machines), front squats, any forward flexion of the trunk and you lose the bar. In my opinion, work on isometric back extensor strengthening, like lying on a swiss ball prone and arching up holding for a ten count or so. You can add resistance, hope it helps out.
My power squat habits (using hips) kicked in for me at first but once I learned to front squat with the quads I was right. I dont know which part of upper back you mean. I can only assume it is external rotators.
That is why Poliquin recommends only doing front squats with loads that alow for a maximum of 6 reps. Best of luck.
Sounds like it might be a flexibilty problem to me. How far are you leaning forward? If it’s too far, then you’re going to have problems. Try performing the movement with a more upright torso and see if it helps.
I had the same problem. My back would start to round and my front delts would begin to fatigue causing my elbows to drop. The solution is practice, practice, practice. The more you do them, the better you’ll get. Also, try to keep your reps lower (~6 or less). I read that Poliquin recommends lower reps because the shoulders and back will fatigue isometrically before the quads.
How high are you keeping your elbows? The lower your elbows, the more you’ll tend to lean forward, assuming you’re holding the bar in a racked clean position. Keep your chest out, elbows up, chin up. If your lower back is rounding, try opening up your stance a little so you can drop down between your legs more easily. The only other thing I can suggest is work on ankle flexibility if you think that’s a problem.
I’m with Spanky on this one – probably ankles. If your ankles aren’t flexible enough, your knees will stay back and the his will go back, making you lean forward to maintain balance. If this is a problem, start with as thin a plate under your heels as you need to keep the torso upright, and work the ankle flexibility until you don’t need the lift.
Work on stregthening the obvious postural muscles. Until theyre strong enough a good way to get to your quads would be using compound sets. Pre-exaust your quads by doing a set of leg extensions and then go right to front squats. All together the quads will be doing more work then the back. INSTRUMENT
Yes, this is a common problem. As noted by other poster’s, many strenght coaches recommend low reps in the front squat because of the inevitable failure of the rhomboids and other postural muscles long before the quads do.
Assuming that you are training with the aim of adding muscle size, overcome the problem by pre-fatiguing the quads. For example, I’ve had good results performing a superset of sissy squats immediately followed by the front squat.
Vary the reps for the sissy squat from workout to workout but keep the reps for the front squat to 8 or under.
If you get really keen, add a set of leg extensions after both sets of squats.
Good luck
I know that leg extensions are a bitch on your knees, however if you pre-fatigue your quads with leg ext. then do the front squats, your quads will most likely go before your back. just a thought
My back never tires before my quads. Am I doing something obviously wrong?
Hey T-Folk, good to hear from you all! I’m 6 foot, so moderately long-limbed/torso. My mechanics generally dictate that my knees go beyond my toes in virtually all squating movements, so flexibility isn’t really an issue (I maintain good flexibility in all areas). In the whole macro level I’m currently into strength and power training - specifically ‘conjugated periodization’, so I’m required to do sets of 3reps, then sets of 1 rep (for those who haven’t read the article on it, or anything from Westside). For max effort leg day I’m doing front-squats, then good mornings. This is to make me more able to complete proper power-cleans when it comes time to perfect them. So I really want to get my strength up in these movements. Cheers all for the replies, I think I’ll shift some things around and see what I come up with. Mark-AUS