This morning, I tried doing front squats for the first time. I fairly quickly abandoned them, however, and only did one set before going back to normal squats to finish my other sets. Perhaps it is that I am still fatigued from the marathon, or my form is way off, but I couldn’t manage to find a comfortable way to balance the bar.
I tried resting the bar on the front of my shoulders with my arms parallel to the floor and my fingertips holding the bar in place, but I couldn’t seem to get my deltoids to cradle it and my wrists were really hurting.
What suggestions would you have for somebody trying to add something new to their repertoire without a spotter? The mirror in front of the squat rack doesn’t normally go low enough, but it is large enough to let me see that it looks like my form is close to where it should be. I just couldn’t seem to get it to work for me, so I went with what was familiar to make sure I had enough time to do my entire workout.
By the way, congratulations are in order to Chris D at Strength News for setting a new front squats PR yesterday.
Thanks, Chris.
I think I will try the genie method next week; that looks a whole lot easier. My biggest problem was with my wrists, so that should get around that issue.
Blaine -- Front Squats are tricky. They take some getting used to. I do my front squats in a olympic lifter version (elbows pointed at the ceiling). it took awhile to get it that way, but it works. Starting out you might want to try the genie position which is where you place the bar on your deltoids (line up on it like your trying to choke yourself) and then cross your arms like genie. This is how a lot of people do it until they can get the other form down.
There’s also the Sting Ray which helps on Front Squats: http://www.fitstep.com/fitness-equipment-reviews/equipment-reviews/sting-ray-review.htm
Genie Style --
Olympic Style -- http://www.purekracht.nl/menu_items/images/custom/Front-Squat.jpg
Blaine,
I have to agree that front squats are tricky, but they add an extra dimension to your workout that back squats don’t. When I do them, I position myself under the bar with my arms parallel to the floor and resting on my delts. After I step away from the rack I incline my arms slightly, pointing the elbows upward at about a 15 degree angle. This is comfortable and keeps the bar steady.
Good luck!