Regular squats vs front squats question

[Jay36]

Thanks for all the great advice. Going to start up on some shoulder mobility exercises and give back squats another try and take my time with it.

[Trevor Ross]

Screw front squats!! Leave them for the Olympic Lifters! Do high bar full squats instead along with med/low bar squats. That's my personal opinion because I did them for five years along with regular squats, and my gains were better with frequent back squatting.

[1morerep]

Front squats may not be for everybody. I do them and so far they do work for me. But like everything else, specific exercise results may vary due to physical limitations, body types, purpose, etc...

[Jay36]

Here's an update. Started doing regular squats three weeks ago now. The more I do them, the more comfortable the bar feels on my traps. I'm kina cheating for now because I'm using the foam thing. As I get more used to it, I'll remove it

Thanks for all your advice.

[Soldier]

Take the pad off with lighter weights, and keep it off as much as humanly possible. Trust me, the more you do it the more confortable you'll be, and the quicker you'll be able to find a good place to keep the bar on your back.

[powercop]

Work on shoulder flexibility the bar should not sit on your traps. If you look in a mirror and lift your arms as if you were going to squat you should observe where your traps and shoulders meet there is a pocket (if not raise your elbows slightly backwards) this is where the bar should sit. It will be more comfortable and it will also put the weight in a better position so you won't feel like the weight is pushing you forward. As to the difference between front squats and back squats, front squats put the tension on the quads and back squats will put the tension more on the whole posterior chain ( quads, hamstrings and lower back). I hope this helps.

[fenrisulfr]

Originally Posted by powercop

Work on shoulder flexibility the bar should not sit on your traps. If you look in a mirror and lift your arms as if you were going to squat you should observe where your traps and shoulders meet there is a pocket (if not raise your elbows slightly backwards) this is where the bar should sit. It will be more comfortable and it will also put the weight in a better position so you won't feel like the weight is pushing you forward. As to the difference between front squats and back squats, front squats put the tension on the quads and back squats will put the tension more on the whole posterior chain ( quads, hamstrings and lower back). I hope this helps.

This.

[sleepingdog]

Your upper back should be tight when you're squatting. Shoulders back with shoulder blades together will create a platform on the rear delts. I totally concur about making the back squat work for you. Doing front squats is great. Hack squats are cool if you can pull them off with enough weight. And zercher squats... Do this with 400lbs, without setting the bar down turn your head and wink at the cardio bunnies gawking at you, listen for the squishing sound of wet underwear. All this is fine, but the back squat is the foundation of a lot of routines with proven records. It works. You just need to practice it.

Post the vid of your squat with a moderate (to you) weight on the bar so the guys here can see. There's probably centuries of combined experience on this forum just waiting for the right question.