Front Squats - holding position

[SgtSlaughter]

I like front squats... and incorporate them into my leg routines, and alternating weeks with back squats for change of pace.

I'm aware of the OLY Clean or power cleaning grip... or Power clean to squat... i'm not sure, i get them confused... but I can do the full motion from floor-pull, clean, squat... but with Front squats.. .my wrists get SHOT big time...

I use a cross over grip... creating an "X"with my arms and holding the bar that way it works pretty well....but:

I'm looking to see how one is maybe...supposed to hold the front squat OLY bar correctly without damaging one's wrists... cuz mine hurt like a bitch after.

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[SgtSlaughter]

impatient bump....

I KNOW some of you guys do Front Squats, come on now.

 

[Guinness5.0]

You definitley shouldn't br supporting the bar with your wrists (other than just a tiny bit for balance). Keep your elbows as high as your can throughout the reps.

If you aren't bearing any weight with your wrists but they still hurt, you just need to work on flexibility. It'll come with time if you just keep doing it, or you could stretch your wrists by holding your right arm at your side, putting your right hand parallel wihth the floor with your fingers pointing directly to the left, and pulling your fingers up with your left hand, then repeating with t he other side (hope that makes sense).

FWIW i used to have trouble with my wrists but with time it has become a non-issue. Now I'm 100% leg-limited on fronts - I can rack much more than I can front squat.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Your wrists will get used to it

Seriously though I really have to stretch my wrists out a lot before I front. And if you're only squatting you can use a couple or 3 fingers to hold the bar so your wrists don't have to go so far back.

 

[SgtSlaughter]

Thanks guys... simple solution: STRECH... lol.... thanks again.

Hell no, i'm not holding the weight with my wrists either... too heavy to play with that like a plastic toy (185ish max during this cutting diet right now).

Throwing some K around

This seems to be a reoccuring issue for me...damnit, i need to remember to stretch Everything!!

 

[anotherbutters]

Doing them more frequently ought to help get used to the hand position. Maybe do them every week, or do some fronts whilst warming up for back squats.

 

[sidney61199]

I hope I'm not doing it wrong but I put the bar under my chin and rest it on my front deltoids/shoulders. I don't know where else your supposed to rest the bar besides there. I don't do a whole lot of weight on front squats I just work on the higher reps but when I position the bar just right I can't really feel it at all.

 

[Protobuilder]

I'll just reiterate that you want your hand open pretty much so that your fingertips are just kind of supporting the bar a bit. Your fingers should not be clsoed around the bar.

 

[carlsuen]

yeah.. i always felt a huge stretch after front squats.. and i saw vids where they just use like 2 or 3 fingers to balancece the bar.. and elbows are kept as high as possible..

 

[calder]

Buy some wrist wraps. These will eliminate the pain in your wrists. Check out the link:

http://secure.mycart.net/catalogs/catalog.asp?prodid=1248&showprevnext=1