Four Common Barbell Front Squat Faults & How to Fix Them
Photo cred: Whit Way Creative
Front Squats are a full body movement. Due to the load sitting in the front rack position, holding the barbell challenges the upper body and core, while the actual squat hits the lower half.
Because this type of squat challenges a lot of different parts of the body, it’s easy to do them wrong. That’s why we’re going to tell you the 4 most common faults, and how you can fix them!
The barbell is not in the right spot in the front rack. This one is a doozy and can lead to the squats being doomed from the start. When you front squat, the barbell shouldn’t be sitting on your bicep and making your arms tired, or sitting on your collarbone (ouch)- it should be sitting on the natural shelf of your shoulders. When you put your arms straight out in front of you, or bend them back like you would to stabilize a barbell, you create a shelf with your shoulders that is the perfect surface to rest the bar. If you are feeling fatigued in your arms and biceps from keeping the barbell in the front rack, you are doing something wrong. The arms should only be stabilizing that bar, not holding it.
Your elbows aren’t high enough. If you go down in the squat feeling great, then coming up you find yourself staring at the ground: odds are your elbows are dropping down towards the floor once the weight is getting heavy at the bottom of the squat. Where your elbows go, the bar goes. If that’s down toward the floor, the bar is going there too. Think about bringing your elbows not only up, but out during front squats so you can activate your lats and maintain a strong upper back position.
You probably aren’t bracing your core. If your elbows are up and you’re still feeling a rounding in your back, odds are that you aren’t bracing your core and your lower back is taking the brunt of the work on instead. This could be why front squats cause you low back pain. Breathing plays a huge part in front squatting. Before you start the descent, inhale. That inhale will help you engage your core and tighten your stomach. Hold the breath until you hit that sticking point of the squat (no I don’t recommend this if you’re doing a long tempo squat- please don’t pass out) and then exhale. Take an additional breath at the top as needed, then repeat. Belting up for these can also help, but if you don’t understand how to brace your core a belt can sometimes just serve as a bandaid.
Just because you are great at back squats, doesn’t mean you are going to be great at front squats. A squat is a squat, right? WRONG. Back squats are often easier for people to master because it requires a lot less mobility. Having wrist mobility and mobility in your upper body is a HUGE factor with front squats. It doesn’t mean you aren’t strong enough if you struggle to stay in a front rack position, it’s most likely your mobility. And let’s be real- we could all be stronger right?
