As a coach, a question I’ll get asked a lot by clients is if they should be front squatting or back squatting, and the differences between the two.
And if that person is an athlete, I almost always tell them they should be front squatting.
The front squat is going to deliver some very key benefits to athletes in relation to sport performance.
Quad Strength
When we think about most sports like football, basketball, soccer or baseball, all of these sports require at least some level of sprint speed, jumping, cutting, acceleration and deceleration.
And these movements are happening with the quads, one of the biggest muscles in the body.
And this is why the front squat is superior for athletes, because of that emphasis on the quadriceps during the lift.
If we have big strong quads, we’re accelerating quickly, we’re cutting angles on a dime and we have an explosive vertical jump.
Dynamic Core Control
So when it comes to athletic movements we mentioned earlier like acceleration, deceleration and change of direction, applying these movements efficiently requires a high level of core control in a dynamic setting.
The front squat trains this very well, because of the increased core control needed to complete the movement.
The front squat is reliant on the lifter being able to keep the core engaged to maintain an upright torso throughout the entire movement. If the torso collapses, the bar is going to fall forward off the shoulders.
And because we need that core control while moving through this large range of motion going down into the bottom of our squat and then ascending, it’ll transfer extremely well over to our core control in our sport,
Which again, will lead to more efficient athletic movements during play.
Improved Mobility
This is another great reason why athletes should be front squatting, because it’s very important for athletes to have sufficient range of motion in their joints to avoid injury and produce as much power as possible.
The three big areas the front squat is going to improve are the ankles, the hips, and the thoracic spine.
Our ankle dorsiflexion will improve because the fact that we’re required to keep an upright torso when we front squat, it’ll require our knees to travel further past our toes.
Our hips will become much more mobile because with front squats, we’re getting into a much deeper squat than when we perform back squats, and constantly getting into this deep squat position with heavy load will greatly improve the mobility of our hip joint.
And finally, we’ll really be improving our thoracic spine mobility, specifically when it comes to thoracic extension. To be able to keep a strong front rack position and drive the elbows high, this requires a great deal of thoracic extension.
So not only are we strengthening our lower body immensely, but we’re also strengthening our upper back, which will build much better posture and reduce the risk of shoulder injuries. This is especially why I love using front squats with my baseball athletes.
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