Preference: Front Squat or Back Squat

Training Bodybuilding
41

i cant do it the other way. i just dont know how to hold it like that.

if you guys like em thats peachy keen but i was doing them yesterday with with 185 and i was just like this is retarded then went to the leg press.

42

For all you guys citing wrist issues try this next time (I used to get them A LOT, and I still need major warming up)

  1. Don’t hold the bar like you are trying to choke it to death! Simply have the tip of your finger on it and then slide down under the bar.

  2. When you stand up with the bar focus on SQUEEZING your elbows IN and UP. This will bring them up thus reducing the strain on your wrists. (what happens is that your scapulas drift forward, allowing your elbows to rise and your chest to stay up)

Oh and don’t forget to warm up your wrist!!!
–bend them back & front (but don’t do it too much)
–massage your palm and forearms a little too.
–take an empty bar, hold it in position and just stand up with it. Do a few front squats with it too.

I learn this from the great Dan John. And when I did my front squats it felt like a night and day differnce.

LiveFromThe781 if you haven’t done front or back squats that often you should take some weight off and let your body learn 1st. Take an empty bar or just put a few pounds on it and rep it out. A couple of weeks later then go heavy on them.

I mean no offence but when you say: “Yeah I think ill do neither one and just stick with leg presses…” your being silly. Especially if your serious about getting strong.

43

[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
i cant do it the other way. i just dont know how to hold it like that.

if you guys like em thats peachy keen but i was doing them yesterday with with 185 and i was just like this is retarded then went to the leg press.[/quote]

When you’ve tried, does it feel like the bar is choking you slightly? When I first started to do front squats, my bar placement was too far away from my throat, but I read somewhere that it should feel like it’s choking you a little. That helped me a lot. I’m now able to place the bar so that I’m doing very little work to keep the bar secure.

44

[quote]Neospartan wrote:
For all you guys citing wrist issues try this next time (I used to get them A LOT, and I still need major warming up)

  1. Don’t hold the bar like you are trying to choke it to death! Simply have the tip of your finger on it and then slide down under the bar.

  2. When you stand up with the bar focus on SQUEEZING your elbows IN and UP. This will bring them up thus reducing the strain on your wrists. (what happens is that your scapulas drift forward, allowing your elbows to rise and your chest to stay up)

Oh and don’t forget to warm up your wrist!!!
–bend them back & front (but don’t do it too much)
–massage your palm and forearms a little too.
–take an empty bar, hold it in position and just stand up with it. Do a few front squats with it too.

I learn this from the great Dan John. And when I did my front squats it felt like a night and day differnce.

[/quote]

Luckily, I learned this myself, so now it just feels natural for me.

45

overhead squats are murderous. and im gonna try the clean grip on monday with your suggestions neospartan.

46

I certainly prefer front squats, even though i hated them when i got to try them for the first time. I use the arm-crossing grip and i always go rock bottomm even pausing for a second or 2(or even 3) at the bottom position.
ADVANTAGES OF FRONT SQUATS
1)Safer
2)Easier to use a greater rom
DISADVANTAGES
1)Less weight
2)Less glute activation

I currently add lunges to hit glutes more.

Finally, to be honest i gotta say one last thing: If i felt equally safe and under control with back squats i’d do them mostly instead.