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Front squats: Worth the pain?

smw356

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Originally Posted by ibleedwhite
You can do front squats with dumbells too.

Kinda, not with any real kind of weight though.
 

Philosoph

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Nice videos, lefty. Sorry why, I did know what you meant. I'd agree that Oly-style back squats aren't that different from front squats. I tend to think that keeping the torso more vertical when squatting is better for most people. When I see people sitting back at the bottom of the squat, and they're not powerlifters, then they usually have form issues. Or maybe I'm just picturing something different than what you were trying to describe.
 

James Bond

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One of my favorite things is when people squat using the Smith machine.

I'm sure chiropractors enjoy it more than I do, though.
 

beasty

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Originally Posted by James Bond
One of my favorite things is when people squat using the Smith machine.

I'm sure chiropractors enjoy it more than I do, though.


Whats wrong with that?
I do that all the time. Many do that with the back straight to work a different part of their legs too.
 

James Bond

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Originally Posted by beasty
Whats wrong with that?
I do that all the time. Many do that with the back straight to work a different part of their legs too.


It's terrible for your spine.
 

beasty

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Originally Posted by James Bond
It's terrible for your spine.

But if I align my heels to the bar, it should be OK right?
Also what if the smith machine is movable, ie. it allows the bar to move front and back along with up and down.
 

smw356

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Originally Posted by beasty
But if I align my heels to the bar, it should be OK right?
Also what if the smith machine is movable, ie. it allows the bar to move front and back along with up and down.


Why not just squat without the smith machine?
 

beasty

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Originally Posted by smw356
Why not just squat without the smith machine?

Because the gym aint have no power rack and I am not gonna snatch and lift in excess of 100kg on a universal bar, do a military press put it on the back of my neck and military press the bar off my neck to my chest and drop on the floor after an exhausting set of squats.
 

smw356

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Fair enough, though I'd just do front squats, and power clean the weight into position, and ***** to gym management non stop about not having a power rack.
 

beasty

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Originally Posted by smw356
Fair enough, though I'd just do front squats, and power clean the weight into position, and ***** to gym management non stop about not having a power rack.

Most commercial gyms dont have that.
Most dont even have T bar machine.
Only those varsity or Gold Gym types would have it.

Anyway front squats are killer on my front delts. It kills off my front delts before my quads are exhausted so I seldom do front squats.
 

James Bond

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Originally Posted by beasty
But if I align my heels to the bar, it should be OK right?
Also what if the smith machine is movable, ie. it allows the bar to move front and back along with up and down.


The ones that move forwards and backwards are much better (but still not ideal, obviously). You should be ok. It's the fixed plane of motion that kills you.
 

Threadbearer

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Thanks for all the great responses, gentlemen. Inspired by all this excellent info, I decided to try front squats again yesterday. I opted for the crossover grip and found that I could control the bar much better that way than I would have guessed. I also liked the way it forced me into good posture throughout the full range of motion.

However, the bar was still very hard on my delts. They're tender to the touch today, and I'm surprised they're not visibly bruised. I tried a slightly different bar placement with each set, hoping that I'd eventually find a "sweet spot" where the bar would rest more comfortably. I never found one.
 

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