How to Front Squat + Grip Mobility (California Grip, Straps)
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- Опубліковано 20 чер 2024
- Our complete guide to FRONT SQUATS! Learn proper front squat technique with grip variations including California grip ("crossed grip") and using straps for mobility issues. We also compare the front squat and back squat, how to program the front squat, and effective cues for fixing form errors.
The front squat is a great supplemental lift. It can fit into a program as a light day squat option, or as hypertrophy volume work after heavy deadlifts, for instance. It relies more on the quadriceps and glutes, and much less on hamstrings than a low bar squat. It can be instructive for lifters who struggle with upper back tightness, and is foundational to mastering the clean.
The bar sits across your anterior deltoids (the front of your shoulders), as opposed to your rear deltoids in the low bar squat. If you’re flexible enough, take a grip just outside of shoulder width, with thumbs wrapped around the bar.
In this position, your hands do not support the weight of the bar: your hands are simply helping to hold the bar in place (it’s fine for the bar to be held loosely in the fingers). Push your elbows forward and up until your upper arms are nearly parallel to the floor. The higher your elbows are, the more easily your deltoids can support the bar.
If you can’t wrap all fingers around the bar, you can drop the pinky and/or ring finger off the bar. You can also take a wider grip, especially if you have a shorter humerus (upper arm) and longer forearm.
Another grip variation is called the California grip or “crossed grip.” Cross your wrists in front of your body, which will allow the bar to sit in the webbing of your thumbs.
Lastly, for those who have short upper arms and long forearms, you can use straps wrapped around the bar. Grab the straps a couple inches down from where they’re attached to the bar, and push your elbows forward and up, just like you would with a normal grip. For all grips, the bar should sit on the deltoids.
Once you have found a sustainable front rack position, take a stance a little narrower than your normal back squat stance. You should be looking straight ahead the entire movement, and aim to go a few inches deeper than parallel.
Your back will be much more vertical when performing a front squat compared to a back squat. Since the bar is in front of you, heavy front squats will tend to pull you off balance forward. Counteract this by keeping your hips under your shoulders as much as possible-allowing the knees to travel forward-and focus on driving your elbows up to stay balanced.
We’ve found that one of the best cues for the front squat is simply “elbows up” or “lead with the elbows.” The key to front squats is maintaining a relatively vertical torso throughout the movement. Lifters will usually attempt to do this by “leading with the chest,” but there are drawbacks to this approach.
Excessive “chest drive” can overextend the thoracic spine, which lengthens the abdominal muscles. This destabilizes the torso-the opposite of our goal. A cue that can help here is “rib flare": instead of lifting the chest excessively, focus on flaring your ribcage out to the sides and up. This keeps your torso muscles braced firmly, maintaining a static rigidity.
We tend to program this for people who are pursuing Olympic weightlifting or as a lower body alternative that shifts the stress to the quads and glutes, away from the hamstrings and low back.
We tend to program in the lower rep ranges-typically triples or less. Add more sets for more volume.
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0:00 Grip Options (Wide, California, Straps)
2:26 Front Squat vs Low Bar Squat
3:24 How to Front Squat
5:39 The Glutes & the Front Squat
6:43 Why Front Squat?
7:54 Air Issues
8:10 Programming --------------
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You asked for a front squat video and here it is! High bar squats are next! Hit that subscribe button.
Barbell logic don’t miss i swear every tutorial is fire
Thanks!
Excellent video.. Was waiting for such a wonderful content since long
Thanks for watching & commenting!
Good demonstration
Thanks!
My brother and I both have had bilateral hip surgery in high school with torn labrums. I am able to low bar back squat without too much pain, but it causes him a lot of pain. However, he's been front squating and, like you mentioned, it feels much better for him. Thanks for the great video!
Can Matt choose between Doug Young and Pisarenko ??
Awesome video. I am trying this exercise on a client with very limited mobility. He can't bring his elbows up in front of the bar. What would you recommend to correct/improve that?
Definitely sounds like a candidate for the straps as mentioned in the video.
Always called California grip the choke grip. it's the grip I learned when I started in Nevada. Used to train at American Iron (formerly Flex), great times in my younger days.
Makes sense
Great video as always. I added front squats because I felt they were weak relative to my back squad. What do you think the percentage of my back squat should my front squat be?
Hey mate, really like the video. I just need a little clarification the 'flaring the ribs' cue. I really have no idea what this means, is there anything to keep in mind to achieve this effect?
Hey there! This is a great question! It can be a confusing cue. I am Barbell Logic Coach Rebekah Cygan. The cue is mostly intended to make sure you are keeping the rib cage in proper position. In the front squat, since the load is sitting on the front of an upright torso- it can easily throw a lifter forward in the hole. You may have heard of rib flare as something that happens when you don't have your abdominals clenched hard... in this case- Matt is using the cue to make sure the ribs are in a stable position, and that the upper back does not get over extended. If you make a "Tarzan Chest" and really puff it out- you will notice that your abs get longer and your upper back extends back. Sometimes people do this at the top of the front squat- and this sets them up to have the rib cage and therefore the load change position in the bottom of the squat. We want to do the opposite of that. We want the abs and the back muscles, as well as intercostals to lock the ribcage in a nice stable position. So a big breath with a neutral ribcage- with abs and back packed in tight is the goal. If the rib cage starts in a good position- this will ensure the load doesn't shift as much. This in combination with the elbows driving up out of the bottom will help to keep the back angle just where we want it to be! Hope that helps!
@@rebekahkrieg9424 Hi Rebekah thanks for the clarification. So basically the idea is to avoid rib flare, by taking in as much air as possible and bracing it down to almost (but not literally) bring the erectors and abdominals as close to each other as possible. Keen to give this a try today!
Particuarly good. (Good diction too). One thing I'm unsure about is where the weight should be felt in the feet. On/over the heels or in the CENTRE of the feet (with, perhaps, the risk o tipping forward and losing good form)?
Center of feet...equally balanced between balls of feet and heels.
Many thanks for the promptness of your reply. It makes perfect sense, of course. But in my case, with my long legs, I find I risk using my back rather too much. And my elbows simply won't come high enough, either. I'll have to go back to light weights and highish reps and see if it improves flexibility and form. Best wishes from the UK, Roger. @@BarbellLogic
@@SpiritintheSky. Few different options with the front squat and grip - you can use straps as well (loop the straps around the bar - easier to get elbows higher).
@@BarbellLogic You are most obliging. Use of straps was mentioned in the video but I had discounted them as neither I nor others at the weightliting/training gym I used to frequent ever had any truck with them. However, it seems that that might well be the solution, thank you. (For information, getting my elbows up high enough - which is possible - results in my back becoming more erect and my centre of gravity, with the weight, shifting back onto my heels. This, as you previously pointed out, is not how to do front squats, an exercise I like because it works the quads hard. When I did powerlifting squats, I used my back far too much, for which I'm now paying the price late in life. An extra point: someone presenting another front squat video talked of driving up from the HEELS (my emphasis). A recipe for instability, it would seem!
All the best, Roger,
@@SpiritintheSky. That other video might be emphasizing heels almost as an overcorrection cue.
You could also do tempo front squats to really emphasize the midfoot aspect.
Good luck!
You could have demonstrated your rack position, Matt! For the rest of us "ill-proportioned"s out here
Who is the athlete? She looks familiar
That’s one of our coaches! Alexis :)
Fsirt