The front squat is an amazing exercise to strengthen the muscles of the legs and also requires core stability. To perform a front squat you will need a squat rack and barbell. The front squat as the name suggests holds the bar in front of your body rather than the traditional back squat where the bar is placed onto your back. Follow these steps to perform it correctly: 1. Stand under the bar in proper upright posture, shoulders retracted, chest high. 2. Place the bar onto the front of your shoulders, it should almost be touching your neck. 3. Either cross your arms over or use the olympic style weightlifting grip. Your arms will be parallel to the ground. 4. Place your feet just outside shoulder width, this may be wider for some people depending on your hip structure 5. Take a deep breath and push ‘out’ your abs and hold your core tight 5. Lower down with the pressure on your heels. 6. Push back up from your heels. 7. Repeat through for the number of reps. You want to ensure your posture is maintained throughout the movement by keeping your elbows up high. Start with just the barbell to get a feel for the movement and gradually move up the weight until it is a challenge. If you are doing squats for hypertrophy, don’t come quite to the top on each repetition to keep tension on the muscle. If you are doing them for strength, do a full complete repetition each time. Do you do front squats?
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 08:30:00 +0000