← Exercise library

Front Squat (Barbell)

A squat with the bar on the front of your shoulders. More upright, more quads, less weight.

• Quadriceps
• Barbell
• Weight and reps

What it works

Quadriceps, more so than the back squat, because the upright torso keeps the load closer to your knees. Glutes and hamstrings still contribute, and the upper back and abdominals work extremely hard just to stop you being folded forward.

Setup

1. Set the hooks at about mid chest height, as for a back squat.
2. Rest the bar across the front of your shoulders, touching your throat lightly. Your shoulders, not your hands, hold the weight.
3. Take a rack position. With the clean grip, your hands sit just outside your shoulders with the fingers under the bar and the elbows driven high. With the cross-arm grip, you cross your forearms and press down on the bar with your fingertips. The clean grip is more secure; the cross-arm grip is easier if your wrists or lats are tight.
4. Whichever grip you use, the elbows must point forward and stay high. That is what creates the shelf.
5. Stand the bar out and take one or two steps back. Feet a little wider than your hips, toes turned out slightly.

The movement

1. Breathe into your stomach and brace hard. The bracing demand here is higher than a back squat.
2. Sit straight down. There is much less sitting back than in a back squat, and your knees will travel further forward.
3. Keep your torso as upright as you can and your elbows pointing forward the whole way down.
4. Descend until the hip crease is below the top of the knee, then drive straight back up.
5. Stand tall, reset your breath, and go again.

Common mistakes

• Letting the elbows drop: the moment your elbows fall, the bar rolls forward and the rep is over. If they drop at the same point every set, the weight is too heavy for your current upper back strength.
• Gripping the bar with your hands: the bar sits on your shoulders. Your fingers only stop it rolling. Trying to hold it in your palms will hurt your wrists and does nothing useful.
• Rounding the upper back: a front squat will find this immediately. Think about lifting your sternum rather than arching your lower back.
• Treating it like a lighter back squat: the movement pattern is different, not just lighter. Sit down rather than back.

Variations and alternatives

The back squat allows more weight and shares the load more evenly across the legs and hips. The leg press hits similar muscles without the wrist and upper back demands. Goblet squats with a dumbbell or kettlebell are a good way to learn the upright position before adding a bar.

If a movement causes pain rather than ordinary training effort, stop and speak to a qualified professional. Programming context for this lift is in how training programs are built.