Front Squat help please

[u418936]

I've been front squatting for about six months. I don't do any Oly lifting, so I use the cross-arm grip. When I first started, it was painful as hell with just 185, and it was very awkward. IIRC, it took me about two months to get comfortable with it.

You shouldn't feel any pain in your shoulder bone. You're probably not keeping your upper body tight enough. Try to you keep your chest up and keep your upper back and traps really tight--pretty much like the top of a shrug position. That way, your shoulders will be flexed, and the bar will sit on the meaty part of your shoulder muscles instead of on your bones.

 

[Dragon70669]

Trying to visualize... A strap goes around your neck? Are you able to keep your back in good form this way?

It is actually a full harness with a back piece and a waist belt. Picture a work harness with hooks at the collar bones. My back stays in excellent form with it!!

Dragon

 

[fortunatesun]

I've been thinking about this flexability issue so many people seem to have with the bar.

If I'm off base in my logic here, someone please correct me:

One way they teach Olympic lifts is to break the movement into parts. You then do partials working backwards until you can do the mechanics of the full lift.

OK- why not do a classic clean: http://strengthtraining.asimba.com/fitness_info/exercise187.html

Here you pull from the floor, dropping to a squat. The grip action is the reverse of the front squat only this time you're starting with the more 'natural' pull from the floor and using the momentum of the pull to bring your grip into the clean position. The action of the bar forces you into a correct grip. It's like getting a running start. Then just squat the weight up into a standing position and you've done what could almost be called a reverse front squat. Just keep the lbs. at a managable level until you can do these easily and your front squat should fall into place.

 

[Tagio]

practice with light weights in the clean grip until you're flexible enough to do it properly. the clean grip is rock solid and anyone can get flexible enough to do it, even 300+ lb heavyweight lifters do it. try doing overhead presses with a light weight (just the bar even) and letting the bar rest in clean position at the bottom of each rep. do sets of 4-8 depending if your wrists feel stress and you should find the flexibility increasing quickly. cross arm position doesn't puff the anterior delts out as much so the shelf isn't as stable, but i'm sure the position is workable if you don't want to stretch.

 

[mad dipz]

I do them in a clean position. Seems much easier than having to put on a harness and all that.

 

[Dragon70669]

I do them in a clean position. Seems much easier than having to put on a harness and all that.

Hey mad - I am 55 years old and "putting on a harness and all that" is much easier for me than a trip to the ER to repair wrist damage from doing fronts with 365#+ in a clean position!! LOL

The harness isn't any hassle. You put it on when you start the fronts and take it off when you are done.

Dragon

 

[mm107]

work on the flexibility. it's a much more stable lift once you can get the lift racked properly. or, buy one of those specially made pads for fronts....

i think those pads are called....
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tampons...LOL

jk,

the lift is alot easier when you find a good placement. I hold mine on my front deltoid, and cross my arms.

Have you tried overhead squats? These are more for the core, while front squats will crush your quads.

Oh, and honestly, if you have small shoulders this could be a reason for the discomfort, when my shoulders were smaller (about 3 months ago), it would really hurt doing front squats, but since putting some muscle on, it has given me padding...

 

[mad dipz]

Hey mad - I am 55 years old and "putting on a harness and all that" is much easier for me than a trip to the ER to repair wrist damage from doing fronts with 365#+ in a clean position!! LOL

The harness isn't any hassle. You put it on when you start the fronts and take it off when you are done.

Dragon

I'm not hacking on you or anything, because whatever works for you, works for you, I'm just stating the way I approach the lift, I just put the weight on, get my chest under the bar with elbows high like I'm in a clean position, and lift it up. It feels comfortable for me that way, the way it rests on my shoulders and chest. Of course I'm not at 365lbs. so it may be different for me when I get there. That's quite an achievement though-- props.

 

[Dragon70669]

I'm not hacking on you or anything, because whatever works for you, works for you, I'm just stating the way I approach the lift, I just put the weight on, get my chest under the bar with elbows high like I'm in a clean position, and lift it up. It feels comfortable for me that way, the way it rests on my shoulders and chest. Of course I'm not at 365lbs. so it may be different for me when I get there. That's quite an achievement though-- props.

Thanks Mad - I didn't take what you said as a hack! I knew where you were coming from. I was okay doing them the way you do them until I reached 275# and then the bar kept sliding off of my shoulders and down my arms on the later reps. That is why I came up with the harness.

 

[KC Kancho]

There's videos with Dan John that goes through various squat, clean, and snatch techniques on google video. There's some cheesy parts, but the content on the videos are really good.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...878&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...878&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...878&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=9