Front Squat

Promoting muscle growth and strength gains in the lower body is a sought-after goal for many lifters. The front squat is one of the best exercises for targeting this area. 

Enhancing muscle engagement in the quadriceps, the front squat’s form better distributes weight load throughout the body. It reduces strains on the lower back and is great for beginner and advanced lifters alike. Get ready to upgrade your workout routine with this powerful lower-body exercise!

How To Do

  1. Align the barbell in the squat rack to mid-shoulder height. 
  2. Bend at the knees and position yourself with your feet shoulder-width apart underneath the bar. 
  3. Place your hands on the bar outside the shoulders in an overhand grip (palms facing the ceiling). 
  4. Drive the elbows underneath the bar and forward. With this new positioning, both palms should now face up or behind you. 
  5. Lift the barbell by straightening the legs. 
  6. Engage the core to protect the spine and maintain an upright position. Keep the elbows in line with the shoulders without letting them droop and drop the bar from your grip. 
  7. Take a step or two back from the rack to prevent hitting it with the barbell during the lift. 
  8. As you squat, drive the knees towards your toes with the barbell positioned over mid-foot. Both thighs should be parallel to the ground or lower when you reach the bottom of the squat.
  9. Press through the feet to return to a standing position.

Tips From Expert

  • Don’t let your knees cave in during the front squat. Instead, drive them toward the tips of your toes, keeping them in a healthy squat position. 
  • When you squat and come back up, think of pushing the feet through the floor to return to standing. This promotes proper engagement of the lower body muscles during the squat. 
  • Maintain a high chest and core engagement to prevent the barbell from pulling you forward during the front squat. Focusing on these two training cues will promote proper form and reduce injury risk.

Optimal Sets and Reps

The front squat is a powerful lower-body exercise often incorporated into training programs to promote muscle growth and increase strength. Depending on your fitness goals, you can program front squats into your training routine differently.

Training Type Sets Reps
Strength Training 3–5 3–5
Hypertrophy 3–4 8–10
Endurance Training 3–4 10–15
Power Training 4–5 2–5
Optimal Sets & Reps of Front Squat

How to Put in Your Workout Split

The front squat is a lower-body exercise that primarily targets the quadriceps muscle, or quads, located at the front of the thigh. It is a compound exercise like the squat to overhead press that incorporates multiple muscle groups during the movement. For example, the front squat engages the core, hamstrings, quadriceps, and calf muscles.

Depending on the type of workout split you incorporate, the front squat can be programmed in various ways. For example, it would be added to lower body days for lower and upper body splits. If you program based on muscle groups, it would be programmed into leg days. 

It would be ideal to program the front squat at the beginning of the workout, no matter the training focus. This is because it is a compound exercise, requiring more energy and utilizing more muscle engagement than isometric exercises. 

Isometric exercises involve contracting muscles without moving any of the surrounding joints. Examples include the side plank, wall sit, and squat hold. Performing the front squat exercise at the end of a workout session would not be ideal, as energy stores would be low. 

Since the front squat form can be challenging for beginners, we advise starting with just the bar. Once you’ve gotten accustomed to the bar position and keeping the elbows up, increase the weight on the bar.

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Primary Muscle Groups

Gluteus

Large, superficial muscles located at your buttocks just below your lower back area.

Quadriceps

The quadriceps are four distinct muscles located at the front of the thigh. They include the vastus lateralis, the vastus intermedius, the vastus medialis, and the rectus femoris. These muscles promote movement in the leg needed for jumping and walking. 

Having functional and strong quadriceps muscles is necessary for movement in everyday life. Without healthy quads, the legs could not function properly and support daily motions like walking or sitting. Squats can build strength in your lower body to support general health and functional everyday movements.  

The front squat primarily engages the quadriceps. As you bend the knees to squat, the quadriceps lengthen and control the descent. When you push through the feet to rise back to standing, the quadriceps contract and shorten.  The added weight of the barbell and weights fosters an increase in strength to the quads to support healthy everyday movement. 

Gluteus

The gluteus muscles, also called gluteal, are a group of muscles that make up the buttocks. These muscles include the gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, and gluteus maximus. The gluteus maximus is the largest of the three, extending from the buttocks to the hip. 

The glutes help stabilize the pelvis, keeping the upper and lower body in alignment. These muscles support propulsion, or forward motion, during movements like walking, running, and jumping. 

The front squat requires the gluteal muscles to control the body’s descent to the bottom of the squat. A study found that the gluteus maximus had a 70% muscle activation rate during the descent portion of a front squat in competitive bodybuilders. Engaging the glutes prevents the body from descending too far and risking falling or injury. Then, they help propel the hips upward to move the body to a standing position. 

Equipment

Barbell

Barbell

You can use this for a range of arm exercises. Ensure the seat is at the right height. A good alternative would be the incline bench.

Variations

Exercises that target the same primary muscle groups and require the same equipment.

Barbell Deadlift

Barbell Squat

Barbell Sumo Deadlift

Alternatives

Exercises that target the same primary muscle groups and require the different equipment.

Hack Squat

Bodyweight Squat

Donkey Kick

Cobra Stretch

Lying Glute Stretch

Bodyweight Single-leg Deadlift

Bridge Kick

Glute Bridge March

Plank & Rear Kick

Single-Leg Glute Bridge

Who Should Do?

Beginners

The front squat is a great exercise for beginners. For many, it may seem easier than the back squat. 

The reason for this is that the front squat can help teach beginner lifters to maintain an upright torso while squatting. It practices engagement of the quadriceps and gluteal muscles to squat and drive the barbell upward to standing. 

All of this is done with the barbell in front of the chest within sight. For the back squat, the barbell is on the lifter’s back, which can seem daunting for beginners.

Those With Back Issues

The front squat is the better alternative for individuals with back issues. It places less strain on the back because it has less trunk lean. This quality is beneficial for preventing lumbar (lower back) injuries for the general population and individuals with back problems.

The upright posture of the front squat allows for better load disruption throughout the body. This places less strain on the back, making it a safer option for lifters. 

Lifters Seeking Better Muscle Activation In The Quads

Any lifter who wants better muscle activation to promote hypertrophy or strength gains in the legs should do the front squat. Compared to the back squat, the front squat has greater activation of the quads muscles, specifically the vastus medialis. 

Incorporating the front squat into your gym routine can be an effective exercise for promoting better activation of the leg muscles. This exercise can be productive for lifters looking to enhance hypertrophy and strength in the lower body. 

Who Should Not Do?

People With Knee Pain

Suffering from knee pain can be unbearable. Exercises like squats or lunges can all aggravate knee injuries, causing pain. 

People with knee pain should avoid the front squat to decrease further inflammation in the joint or flare-up of an injury. All squats can cause tension overload in the knee, worsening existing pain factors. Some alternative exercises, like seated leg extensions and Romanian deadlifts, do not place excess tension on the knee. 

Those With Wrist Pain

The grip used in the front squat can be uncomfortable for individuals with wrist pain. This can also be uncomfortable for lifters with limited wrist mobility. 

Performing a front squat with these pre-existing issues can agitate existing injuries. This can result in increased inflammation, aggravation of injury, pain in the wrist joint, and worsening symptoms. There is the hack squat alternative to give your quads a quality workout session with less pressure on the wrists.  

Benefits Of The Front Squat

Reduced Risk of Lower Back Pain

As discussed earlier in the article, the front squat reduces strain on the lower back. This is possible because the exercise’s upright position better distributes load throughout the body.

The front squat is easier on the lower back than the back squat. It is an excellent alternative exercise for reducing the risk of lower back pain while targeting muscles like the quads and glutes.  

Strengthens Your Abdominal Muscles

Due to the front squat’s form, core muscles like the erector spinae are engaged to support an upright position. Without these muscles, maintaining a high chest while holding the barbell would not be possible. 

The incorporation of these abdominal muscles to maintain position helps strengthen them. These muscles support everyday actions like lifting groceries, bending over to pick up things, and much more. 

Improved Mobility and Flexibility

The front squat engages multiple joints, including the ankles, hips, and knees, to perform the squatting motion. Healthy joint mobility and adequate flexibility decrease the risk of injury in the long run. Just a 1 cm decrease in flexibility can increase the risk of injury by a shocking 6%. 

By performing exercises like the front squat, mobility and flexibility can be improved. Of course, warming up before exercising is important. All in all, the benefits of improved mobility and flexibility can be life-changing in the grand scheme of things. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a front squat?

A front squat is a lower-body-focused compound exercise. A barbell or other type of weight is held in front of the chest to better target the quadriceps. The form of the front squat incorporates an upright chest with elbows pointed forward.

What does the front squat work?

As a compound exercise, the front squat engages numerous muscle groups and joints to perform the movement. The two primary muscles used are the quadriceps and gluteal muscles located in the lower body.

Is the front squat better than the back squat?

One is not better than the other. Both back and front squats are great compound exercises that target numerous muscles, such as the hamstrings, quadriceps, and abdominal muscles.

Why is the front squat harder?

The front squat may seem harder because the weight distribution differs from the back squat. Maintaining posture and preventing the barbell from dropping can make this exercise more challenging.

Resources

Endomondo.com refrains from utilizing tertiary references. We uphold stringent sourcing criteria and depend on peer-reviewed studies and academic research conducted by medical associations and institutions. For more detailed insights, you can explore further by reading our editorial process.

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