How to do a front squat
Set the bar in the rack at about shoulder height. Step in so it rests on the front of your shoulders, against your throat but not pressing on it.
Hold it with your fingertips just outside your shoulders and drive your elbows forward and up, so your upper arms are close to parallel with the floor. Some lifters cross their arms over the bar instead.
Stand up to lift it out, take two short steps back and set your feet about shoulder-width apart.
Brace and squat straight down between your heels, keeping your elbows high and your chest up.
Lower until your thighs are at least parallel, or as deep as you can with your elbows up and back flat.
Drive up through your whole foot, leading with your elbows.
These steps describe common technique. If something hurts, stop and ask a qualified coach or clinician.
Common front squat mistakes
Elbows dropping
When the elbows drop, the bar rolls forward. Think elbows up on every rep, most of all coming out of the bottom.
Gripping the bar tightly in your palms
The bar rests on your shoulders; your fingers only keep it in place. Two or three fingers under it is enough.
Leaning forward like a back squat
Stay upright, with the bar over the middle of your foot.
Comparing it with your back squat
Most people front squat less. Log it as its own exercise and compare it only with itself.
How to track your front squat
Log the weight and reps of every set. Over a few weeks, the heaviest weight you lift and your estimated one-rep max show whether you are getting stronger, even when your sets use different rep counts.
Estimated 1RM, Epley formula
80 kg × (1 + 5 ÷ 30) ≈ 93 kg
A set of 5 at 80 kg estimates a one-rep max of about 93 kg.
