# front squats



## McDuffy (Aug 2, 2015)

Ok so i guess ill be doinig front squats for my new workout routine. I youtube'd how to do them and i do not have the flexibility to hold the bar with my hands and keep my elbows up, not even close. I saw ronnie coleman do front squats by just crossing his hands and over the bar, elbows up and bar resting across chest and shoulders, do other people do it this way?


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## Milo (Aug 2, 2015)

I've always done it like that. Just find the right placement on your delts, and don't choke yourself out with the bar. Also don't let it roll back onto the top of your shoulders...hurts like hell.


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## snake (Aug 2, 2015)

That will do the job McD. Are you still rear squatting?


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## bugman (Aug 2, 2015)

I hate front squats. But I do them.  The mobility in my wrists and shoulders have some a long way since march.  Still have no real weight to speak of, but the increased mobility is making it easier to lift.


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## mickems (Aug 2, 2015)

I first started doing front squats with wrist straps on the bar because of my lack of flexibility. it allowed me to use a neutral grip and keep my elbows up and straight out. The more I did them, the more flexible my arms became and, eventually, I was able to just bend my arms  and let the bar set on my chest supported by my fingers.


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## NbleSavage (Aug 3, 2015)

mickems said:


> I first started doing front squats with wrist straps on the bar because of my lack of flexibility. it allowed me to use a neutral grip and keep my elbows up and straight out. The more I did them, the more flexible my arms became and, eventually, I was able to just bend my arms  and let the bar set on my chest supported by my fingers.



^^ THIS ^^. Exactly how I developed enough flex to do them properly.


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## DocDePanda187123 (Aug 3, 2015)

I don't have the mobility to do front squats in the rack position. I'm working on it but it will need a lot of work and time. In the meantime I'm doing them with the crossed arm grip. Another option is to use wrist straps.


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## Luscious Lei (Aug 3, 2015)

NbleSavage said:


> ^^ THIS ^^. Exactly how I developed enough flex to do them properly.



Same here. I still don't have enough flexibility and I doubt I'll ever have but the straps trick works wonder.


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## RISE (Aug 3, 2015)

I do them with my arms either crossed or in front of me with my hands clasped.  Kinda looks like I'm praying.


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## McDuffy (Aug 3, 2015)

snake said:


> That will do the job McD. Are you still rear squatting?



Yes sir, last time I rear squatted was maybe a week ago and rear squat was up 10lbs


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## PillarofBalance (Aug 3, 2015)

You can cross your arms that's fine. But you need to keep your upper back tight as hell the whole time. This is hard in the bottom with your arms in that position.


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## Tren4Life (Aug 3, 2015)

I do SSB squats instead.


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## Itburnstopee (Aug 3, 2015)

Try both. After doing it the normal way (uncrossed arms) for a couple months I decided to try it with crossed arms and sure enough I was able to pump out more reps. Shouldn't make a difference though


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## McDuffy (Aug 4, 2015)

ItBurnsToPee said:


> Try both. After doing it the normal way (uncrossed arms) for a couple months I decided to try it with crossed arms and sure enough I was able to pump out more reps. Shouldn't make a difference though



i did them today, i tried with the straps and no way were my elbows coming up, hurt my wrists. the crossed arms worked well for me. it was tough, my first time ever with front squats i could only do 100lbs less than i can do for regular squats


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## mickems (Aug 4, 2015)

DocDePanda187123 said:


> I don't have the mobility to do front squats in the rack position. I'm working on it but it will need a lot of work and time. In the meantime I'm doing them with the crossed arm grip. Another option is to use wrist straps.



Doc, how do you keep the bar from wobbling? if I do it that way, one of my arms is on top of the other and causes the bar to wobble. is there a trick to that or soemthing?


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## DocDePanda187123 (Aug 4, 2015)

mickems said:


> Doc, how do you keep the bar from wobbling? if I do it that way, one of my arms is on top of the other and causes the bar to wobble. is there a trick to that or soemthing?



The bar is sitting on the clavicle or shoulder cradle and delts not on the arms themselves. The arms are really only to keep the bar pushed back into your body they're not really supporting the weight. I also chalk the from of my shirt so as to help prevent the bar from slipping and sliding around too much.


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## ToolSteel (Aug 5, 2015)

I usually do zerchers instead but I'm gonna have to try this with straps.


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## MrRippedZilla (Aug 5, 2015)

I agree with POB - its difficult to learn to do the front squat properly when relying on the cross arm grip.
You want to have some shoulder external rotation in order to avoid rounding your upper back, which is pretty difficult to do with the cross arm grip once you start lifting serious weight. 

If your a BBer then it really doesn't matter too much but if you want to get some sort of performance benefit (transfer over to other lifts, etc) then working on your shoulder mobility would be a better idea than relying on the cross grip.


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## Milo (Aug 5, 2015)

Don't know how there is a wrong way to do a front squat with arms crossed. If I round my back or lean forward the slightest then the weight is going to roll forward off my arms.


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## DocDePanda187123 (Aug 5, 2015)

Milo said:


> Don't know how there is a wrong way to do a front squat with arms crossed. If I round my back or lean forward the slightest then the weight is going to roll forward off my arms.



That's why it's not the best way. When you do them like Oly lifters do them, wih the bar in the rack position, your hands brace the bar against you protecting it from falling. The reason I do them with arms crossed is bc my mobility is so far fukked I cannot do them in the rack position even using straps. I want to reap the benefits of front squats, just do them without pain, so it's a sacrifice I have to make. Still working on the mobility but it's a long way from good.


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## {'Calcul08'} (Aug 5, 2015)

Been keener on Zercher squats (barbell's chilling on the elbow crease) than regular front ones.. As for the latter, uncrossed works better for me in terms of stability..


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## ColoradoJay (Aug 5, 2015)

McDuffy said:


> Ok so i guess ill be doinig front squats for my new workout routine. I youtube'd how to do them and i do not have the flexibility to hold the bar with my hands and keep my elbows up, not even close. I saw ronnie coleman do front squats by just crossing his hands and over the bar, elbows up and bar resting across chest and shoulders, do other people do it this way?



I struggle with the hold on the front squats due to some elbow issues myself.  While I'm not a huge fan of machine squats for traditional style squats, I do use them as a replacement for front squats.  My gym has a Precor squat machine with an incline that allows you to go face-in or face-out.  Face-in isolates the front of the leg, and hence acts as a replacement for front squats in my routine.  I don't use the machine for traditional squats - still do that on the bar, the good old fashioned way.


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