You want to build muscle and strength, right?
(Yes, you do! Muscle is the only way to build your metabolism, and you can’t build strength without it.)
The only way to build muscle and strength is strength training, and that’s our specialty. We’ve been working with personal and group training clients for years, helping them lose fat, get fitter, gain strength, and become healthier, more confident versions of themselves.
To do that, we use a variety of exercises and programming techniques, and one of our favorite squat variations is the front squat.
Here’s why we love them:
1️⃣ Load your legs while protecting your back.
We love back squats. But sometimes we want to stimulate the quads without overstimulating the lower back. Maybe you’re working around an injury. Maybe you’re already doing heavy deadlifts in your workouts. Maybe we want to deload the back and rest it. Whatever the reason, the shift in the load from the back of your body to the front removes some of the stress from the back.
2️⃣ Increase quad activation and hypertrophy
All squats hit the quads. But front squats target the quads even more due to your body’s upright position and leg leverages. And building more muscle means losing more fat and running a more optimal metabolism.
3️⃣ Increase core strength
Do some heavy front squats. We bet your abs will feel it the next day! We like training abs directly, but the core stability and endurance required to hold the barbell in the front rack position are an added benefit that other squat variations don’t provide. That makes you less injury prone and more durable in everyday life.
4️⃣ Show you where you’re weak
Everyone has imbalances—and front squats will show where they are. The mobility required to do front squats will challenge your thoracic spine by forcing you to keep your chest up. It will expose issues in your shoulders, especially in the back of your shoulders, and weaknesses in your glutes and quads. Front squats will challenge your hip and ankle mobility as well. Remember, we can’t get stronger if we don’t give ourselves hard things to do!
5️⃣ They make life easier.
You walk. You climb stairs. You sit down and stand up. You pick things up from low places, and you put things on the floor. Your body is trained to do all those things better when you do front squats.
If you’re just starting out, front squats might not be right for you just yet. We can formulate a training program that’s right for your needs. Come talk to use about how we can help by signing up here.
About the author
Chris Rombola
Chris is the owner of Fit House. He's run the training departments at several commercial gyms, and after years of seeing how awful those environments were for his clients, he opened his own studio. He is devoted to getting people strong, lean, and healthy.
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