How to do the front squat
The front squat puts the bar on the front of your shoulders, which forces your torso upright and shifts work onto the quads and the upper back. It also fails safely: when your back rounds, you drop the bar rather than get buried under it.
- Type
- Lift
- Level
- Advanced
- Equipment
- Barbell and Squat rack
- Works
- Quadriceps
- Also worked
- Glutes, Upper back, and Abdominals
- Also called
- Barbell Front Squat and Clean Grip Front Squat
Set up
- Set the bar at upper-chest height in the rack.
- Take a clean grip just outside your shoulders, drive your elbows up until your upper arms are parallel to the floor, and let the bar rest on your front delts with your fingers under it.
- If your wrists will not allow that, cross your arms over the bar instead and keep the elbows just as high.
- Unrack by standing up, then take two steps back into a shoulder-width stance.
The rep
- Take a big breath, brace, and keep your elbows pointed forward.
- Descend straight down, keeping your torso as vertical as you can.
- Go as deep as you can while keeping the elbows up and the back flat.
- Drive up out of the bottom, leading with your elbows rather than your hips.
Cues that help
- Elbows up. The moment they drop, the bar rolls forward and the rep is over.
- Sit down between your feet, not back behind them.
- Big brace — the bar is on the front of you and your abs are what stop you folding.
Common mistakes
A loose front rack
A rack that shifts mid-set is the most common reason front squats fail. Fix the rack position before you add weight.
Hips shooting back out of the bottom
That is a back-squat pattern and it will pitch you forward. Think about staying vertical and pushing straight up.
Comparing it to your back squat
Most lifters front squat somewhere around 80 percent of their back squat. It is a different lift with a different record.
How to progress it
Progress the front squat in smaller steps than the back squat, and stop the set the moment your elbows drop rather than grinding out one more ugly rep. Sets of 3 to 6 tend to work better than high reps, because the rack position fatigues before the legs do.
How to track it
Keep front squats and back squats as separate exercise names. Merged, the chart looks like your squat collapses every time you switch, which tells you nothing.
Log your front squat
Opens the lift form with Front Squat already filled in. Free account, no card.
Front Squat questions
My wrists hurt in the front rack.
You do not need to hold the bar — the fingers only stop it rolling. Loosen to a two- or three-finger grip, or use a cross-arm rack.
Front squat or back squat?
Back squat for total load and general leg strength. Front squat when you want quad emphasis, a more upright torso, or a lift you can bail out of safely.
How much should I front squat?
Roughly 80 percent of your back squat once you are used to the rack position, though the ratio varies a lot with build and mobility.