The front squat is a staple movement for Olympic weightlifters, CrossFit athletes, and countless other strength-focused lifters. Nonetheless, some find the unique bar position to be a limiting factor since it requires ample shoulder and wrist mobility.
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Other lifters draw back from the front squat because they’ll move relatively more weight with other squat variations. No matter the explanation, while the front squat has plenty of advantages to supply, there are some equally effective alternatives to contemplate which let you’re employed around any restrictions and find comparable results.
Bruce Lee once talked about “the art of fighting without fighting,” so consider these exercises “tips on how to front squat without front squatting.”
Best Front Squat Alternatives
Front Squat with Straps
Considered one of the most important limiting aspects for a lot of lifters, in terms of performing the front squat, is holding the bar within the “rack position” — held across the fronts of your shoulders along with your arms flexed and your fingertips under the bar.
This position requires flexibility and mobility throughout your wrists, elbows, and shoulders. While those attributes could be improved over time with dedicated work, you may reduce the mobility requirements without compromising results by attaching a pair of lifting straps to the bar. These function makeshift handles to supply a rather adjusted hand and arm position.
When to Use It
The front squat with straps could be used identically to the classic front squat, or any time you want to support the bar within the rack position (across the front of your shoulders). The strapped movement could be programmed with the identical sets and reps, and sometimes with the identical weights. This exercise is especially useful for any lifters with pre-existing upper-body joint issues which can restrict their mobility.
Easy methods to Do It
Set a barbell in a rack at roughly upper chest-level. Secure a pair of lifting straps to the bar just outside shoulder-width. Grab one strap in each hand along with your palms facing one another.
Step to the bar, bending your arms as you unrack the burden along with your thumbs near the front of your shoulders. Keep tension on the straps without lifting the bar off your shoulders. Take a small step back and squat, keeping your elbows aimed forward and your torso upright.
Front Squat to Box
While the front squat with straps addresses upper body mobility restrictions, the front squat to box could be used to handle lower body mobility restrictions. By utilizing a box to limit your range of motion, you alter the muscle recruitment and alter the stress on muscles and joints. (1)
When to Use It
Program the front squat to box if you have got hip or ankle mobility issues which prevent you from achieving a deep front squat position. A box may also be utilized by beginners as a goal to ingrain consistent squat depths and technique.
Easy methods to Do It
Arrange a stable box or series of aerobic steps at a snug height, generally above knee-level, a number of feet behind a barbell set in a rack. Setup for a normal front squat and thoroughly step back to position yourself above the box.
Descend under control, lowering your glutes to the box. Don’t rest your full weight on the box — pretend it’s a deck of cards that you simply don’t need to knock down. Pause very briefly without losing tension. Explode upwards to a robust lockout.
Safety Bar Squat
In case your gym has a security bar, easily spotted with its thick pads and jutting handles, it might probably be a key player in constructing your lower body without straining your joints. (2) The security bar squat allows a more upright torso and increased upper back engagement, which may reduce lower back stress. The forward-facing handles allow a more natural arm position which reduces stress in your shoulder and elbow joints.
When to Use It
The security bar squat is a really perfect alternative in the event you cannot maintain the elevated arm position required for front squats. This exercise can also be an efficient method to increase upper back training since the thick pads offset the middle of gravity and increase trapezius and upper back activation.
Easy methods to Do It
Set a security bar in a rack at roughly shoulder-height. Duck under the bar and position the padded cradle around your trapezius, upper back, and shoulders. Grab the handles and pull your elbows toward your ribs.
Brace your core and pinch your shoulder blades together before unracking the burden. Step back and squat down. Don’t allow the burden to tip your upper body forward. Squeeze the handles and keep you elbows near your ribs as you drive upward to lockout.
Zercher Squat
The unconventional bar position of the Zercher squat, named after American weightlifter Ed Zercher, almost looks like a really poorly attempted front squat. By cradling the barbell within the crook of your arms, you may hold it very near your body, which improves your leverage and power output. While the Zercher squat requires little-to-no shoulder or elbow mobility, the strain of the bar in your forearms and elbows could be uncomfortable for some lifters.
When to Use It
Perform the Zercher squat instead of the front squat if you have got significant upper body mobility restrictions. The Zercher squat may also be used toward the top of a workout, after first fatiguing your legs with other movements. It will allow you to get an efficient training stimulus with relatively lighter (and sure more comfortable) weights.
Easy methods to Do It
Set the bar in a rack near your belly button or lower chest-level. Step as much as the bar and place your elbows on it, curling your arms across the barbell, along with your palms up. Brace your core and get up before taking a step back.
Squat down until either the bar or your elbows gently touch your thighs. Pause briefly before standing upright. Keep your elbows tight to your body and don’t allow the burden to tug you forward.
High-Bar Back Squat
Strangely, sometimes one of the best front squat alternative is a back squat variation. The high-bar back squat is a useful alternative for competitive powerlifters, who must perform the back squat at meets. This exercise allows increased quadriceps recruitment and comparatively less lower back strain while maintaining a sport-specific movement.(3)
When to Use It
The high-bar back squat could be used at any point in a training program to emphasise the quadriceps muscles, which may profit leg size in addition to carry over to improved squat and deadlift strength.
Easy methods to Do It
Place a bar at upper chest-level in a rack. Position the bar across your trapezius and upper back. Unrack the back and take a roughly shoulder-width stance. Brace your core, pull your shoulder blades together, and squat as little as possible.
Keep your upper body mostly vertical as you descend. Aim to achieve a depth along with your hips nearly according to your knees (thighs roughly parallel to the bottom) before returning upright.
Trap Bar Squat
A trap bar generally is a versatile piece of kit, but is usually used to perform the trap bar deadlift. The neutral hand position (palms facing your body) keeps the burden according to your body’s center, which helps to cut back joint strain in your back and shoulders. Shifting your body position to maintain a more upright torso when performing a trap bar squat will further emphasize the front of your thighs (quadriceps).
When to Use It
Use the trap bar for any kind of squat or deadlift variation to diminish joint strain without reducing muscular stress. The trap bar squat could be particularly helpful for sneaking extra upper body recruitment into your leg training, because your grip, arms, shoulders, and back help support the load through the exercise.
Easy methods to Do It
In case your trap bar has two sets of handles, one “high” and one “low,” begin using the high handles and save the low handles for a more difficult progression. Stand in the middle of the bar along with your feet roughly shoulder-width. Squat all the way down to grab the handles.
Make sure you bend at your knees and dip your hips down, to place your legs in an optimal pulling position. Puff your chest up and pull your shoulders back. Take into consideration keeping your head over your tailbone as you drive upward to lockout.
Front Rack Lunge
To reap the core stability and upper back strengthening advantages of a front squat, with increased give attention to each individual leg, performing a front rack lunge could be a particularly useful movement. You possibly can construct upper and lower body strength with less total load, since the movement is primarily performed unilaterally (with one leg at a time).
When to Use It
Unilateral movements just like the lunge help to handle strength and developmental discrepancies that may occur from exclusively bilateral (two-leg) exercises. Lunges may also construct more complete athleticism and power than over-focusing on two-legged squat movements.(4)
Easy methods to Do It
Arrange a barbell in a rack at shoulder-height. Grab the bar within the rack position and take a two or three steps backward. Stabilize the burden and brace your core.
Take one longer than normal step forward and plant your foot flat. Squat down until your rear knee flippantly touches the ground. Keep your shoulders back and your upper body near vertical. Drive up through your front foot with maximum force and return each feet together in a standing position. Perform all reps with one foot before switching legs. Re-rack the bar after performing the exercise with each leg.
Goblet Squat
While the front squat supports the bar across your shoulders, the goblet squat is as close as you may get to an analogous movement using a single dumbbell. By supporting the burden in front of your chest, you train the identical kind of front-loaded squat movement which builds core strength and overall mobility.
Nonetheless, the goblet squat doesn’t require a big degree of shoulder mobility because your upper arms remain pointed mostly downward as an alternative of forward.
When to Use It
The goblet squat is a far more convenient and practical exercise for a lot of lifters, requiring only a single dumbbell as an alternative of a barbell and power rack. It might be performed as a part of a general warm-up prior to heavy front squats or it might probably be trained heavily by itself to deliver a shoulder-sparing squat workout.
Easy methods to Do It
Place a dumbbell vertically on its end atop a flat bench. Squat down and place your palms on the underside side of the highest weight plate, getting your chest as near the dumbbell as possible. Brace your core and pull your shoulder blades back.
Stand upright, supporting the burden with bent arms. The dumbbell ought to be near your collarbones or neck. Squat as deep as possible while keeping your torso vertical. Don’t allow the burden to tug your arms down or forward through the movement.
Dumbbell Front Squat
The dumbbell front squat may very well be seen because the next-step progression from the goblet squat. As an alternative of holding a single dumbbell as your chest, you’re supporting a weight in each hand. This more closely mimics a barbell from squat.
In actual fact, it puts you in nearly an analogous hand and arm position because the front squat with straps, because your hands are in a neutral position (palms facing one another). This reduces the mobility requirements needed to perform the exercise,
When to Use It
Select the dumbbell front squat in the event you’re training with limited equipment (such in a hotel gym or limited home gym) since you don’t need a barbell and rack. The dumbbell front squat can also be an efficient alternative for lifters training around wrist or shoulder issues, for the reason that joints are less stressed through the movement.
Easy methods to Do It
Stand with a dumbbell in each hand, resting at your sides. Bring the dumbbells as much as the front of every shoulder in a hammer curl-type motion. Using some body English to regulate the swing of the weights is suitable so long as it’s done with leg drive (as a fast jump), not bending on the waist or heaving along with your lower back.
Hold the weights within the shoulder-supported position throughout the exercise. In a wider than shoulder-width stance, squat as deeply as possible. Aim your elbows forward and lean back to maintain your upper body vertical. Don’t allow the weights to fall forward or sideways off your shoulders.
Single-Arm Kettlebell Front Squat
A classic kettlebell exercise, the single-arm kettlebell front squat emphasizes core strength just as much as (possibly greater than) leg strength. The “imbalanced,” single-sided load forces your abs and lower back to fireside continuously to withstand the sideways pull. This builds serious core stability which may play a key role in reducing the danger of lower back injuries. (5)
When to Use It
Because your core strength will likely be the limiting factor for many lifters, it might be more helpful to treat the single-arm kettlebell front squat primarily as a core-building exercise that delivers leg size and strength as an additional advantage, reasonably than primarily as “a leg exercise.” Improved core strength and stability can carry over to stronger lifts.
Easy methods to Do It
Bring a kettlebell to shoulder-height, either by performing a kettlebell clean or using your free hand to get the burden into position. Your thumb ought to be nearly resting on the front of your shoulder with the ball of the kettlebell resting in your forearm.
Stand upright, without leaning sideways into the burden or excessively counterbalancing to the alternative side. Take a comparatively wide stance, beyond shoulder-width, and descend right into a deep squat. Hold the kettlebell near your body and don’t allow it to shift your torso. Perform all reps on one side before switching hands.
Front Squat Hold
This front squat alternative doesn’t actually involve any squatting in any respect. By reinforcing the locked out position, you create significant tension in your core stabilizers, in addition to actively stretching the muscles directly involved in holding the rack position. This cumulative effect can result in a stronger and more stable front squat.
Because static holds put you within the strongest mechanical position, you may as well “overload” your system with heavier than normal weights, which may stimulate strength gains.
When to Use It
The front squat hold ought to be the primary exercise performed on a lifting day, after a general warm-up. Not only will it help to recruit more muscle units within the training to follow, but performing the hold with any muscle fatigue can drastically increase the danger and reduce the advantages.
Easy methods to Do It
Arrange for a normal front squat, with the bar in a rack near shoulder-level. Unrack the bar and take one or two small steps back. As an alternative of commencing a squat, hold the highest position with maximum focus.
Think about fully engaging your core and upper back. Flex your glutes and legs to further reinforce the lockout position. This exercise is often performed “for time” (often three to 5 seconds, as much as 10 seconds) reasonably than for multiple repetitions.
Advantages of Front Squat Alternatives
While the front squat is an important movement for certain strength athletes like Olympic weightlifters and CrossFit athletes, front squat alternatives could be utilized by many lifters to deliver key advantages when the first movement is not any longer an option.
Reduced Mobility Requirements
Some lifters have crossed the front squat off their list of potential exercises because they can not get their arms into the rack position needed to support the burden or because their hips or knees don’t allow the kind of deep front squat commonly related to the exercise.
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Several front squat alternatives allow lifters of any mobility level to learn from the squat squat movement by reducing the mobility and suppleness requirements. These alternatives may also address and improve restrictions over time, which may progress to a full front squat.
Decreased Lower Back Strain
One key advantage of the front squat is its reduced lower back strain in comparison with the back squat. Each front squat alternative preserves that back-sparing advantage, making each movement a possible exercise alternative for lifters liable to lower back issues.
Quadriceps Size and Strength
Front squat alternatives proceed to emphasise the quadriceps, on the front of the thighs, relatively greater than the glutes or hamstrings. (6) This can be a key reason why many physique-focused lifters prioritize the front squat over the back squat. These alternatives are equally effective in emphasizing the quads, while back squats and deadlift variations are more commonly used to give attention to the hamstrings and glutes.
Get Back to Front Squatting
The front squat could be helpful for strength athletes, physique-conscious lifters, and any gym-goer seeking to construct lower body strength and muscle, a stable core, and a stronger lower back. In case you’re not yet able to tackle the Olympic-level movement, select the variation that most accurately fits your individual needs and begin racking up the outcomes.
References
- Kubo, K., Ikebukuro, T., & Yata, H. (2019). Effects of squat training with different depths on lower limb muscle volumes. European journal of applied physiology, 119(9), 1933–1942. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-019-04181-y
- Hecker, Kara & Carlson, Lara & Lawrence, Michael. (2018). Effects of the Safety Squat Bar on Trunk and Lower-Body Mechanics During a Back Squat. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 33 Suppl 1. 1. 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002912.
- Glassbrook, D. J., Brown, S. R., Helms, E. R., Duncan, S., & Storey, A. G. (2019). The High-Bar and Low-Bar Back-Squats: A Biomechanical Evaluation. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 33 Suppl 1, S1–S18. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001836
- Speirs, Derrick E.1,2; Bennett, Mark A.3; Finn, Charlotte V.4; Turner, Anthony P.2. Unilateral vs. Bilateral Squat Training for Strength, Sprints, and Agility in Academy Rugby Players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 30(2):p 386-392, February 2016. | DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001096
- Huxel Bliven, K. C., & Anderson, B. E. (2013). Core stability training for injury prevention. Sports health, 5(6), 514–522. https://doi.org/10.1177/1941738113481200
- Coratella, G., Tornatore, G., Caccavale, F., Longo, S., Esposito, F., & Cè, E. (2021). The Activation of Gluteal, Thigh, and Lower Back Muscles in Different Squat Variations Performed by Competitive Bodybuilders: Implications for Resistance Training. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(2), 772. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020772
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