BarBend is an independent website. The glute maximus is used to extend the hips, which is important for the squat lockout. Many athletes will benefit immensely from front-loaded barbell squats, however grips and front rack positioning may vary depending on the individual. They do this by preventing the erectors from pulling the spine into hyperextension. Here are a few more articles you can read to develop leg strength and hypertrophy specific to squats, Olympic lifts, and more! Join the BarBend Newsletter for everything you need to get stronger. The load in the squat should be directly over the mid-line of the foot as you descend into the bottom. This athletic component to front squats might make them a great choice for people engaged in sports. As you drive out of the bottom of the squat, and you enter the mid/top end of the squat, the greater your glutes, adductor magnus (inner thigh), and hamstrings need to work to extend the hips. First, the hamstring acts as a synergist to support the glutes in hip extension. The Zombie front squat is essentially a front squat with no hands. Squats can be an effective exercise for your lower body. The pause squat is considered a bottom-end squat variation where you’ll pause for 1-3 seconds in the hole. However, you’re not all of a sudden going to fail in the bottom range before at least grinding a few reps out. We’ll explain more on this later, but first, let’s breakdown each muscle worked in the squat and their role. The Zercher squat is similar to a front squat in that it challenges postural strength, core stability, and shifts loading to the anterior aspect of the body. As you’ll remember, the erectors’ job is to prevent the spine from flexion (rounding). An added benefit to the front squat is also getting a lot more muscle recruitment in the upper back. This is because your quads will get maxed out eventually, and you’ll need to shift the loading demands to the posterior chain, which isn’t operating at ‘full capacity’ in other squat variations. Even micro movements of the bar can cause instability through the core, which causes your spinal erectors and abdominals/obliques to work much harder to hold the same position. As you descend deep into the squat, your ankle flexes and your shins move forward. It performs a similar function to the glute maximus, which allows the hips to extend fully. Your glutes and hips have to focus on keeping the weight steady as you move it up, and so it helps build the way that your muscles can move. If you find yourself in this position, you’ll want to recognize that you have a quad weakness and implement squatting variations that will increase the strength of your knee extensors. However, the hamstrings are only contracting a small amount here and the primary driver of hip extension is still the glutes. You will place the barbell a few inches lower on the back. In such cases, lifting straps can be used, as well as the “arms crossed” to allow for front-loaded racks to still occur, as the benefits of the front squat far outweigh someone not taking the full front rack grip. A three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of the squat during varying stance widths. To back this up, a study by Paoli et al. When doing a high bar squat, you’ll want to think about actively pushing your knees forward as you get to the bottom range. For these reasons, it’s a more complex movement to learn. With the barbell resting in the front rack position, descend into a squat keeping the pelvis neutral and the chest up. This is the case when squatting ass-to-grass. The glute medius is the side part of your glute. If you’re interested in reading more about whether it’s safe to have your knees travel forward in the squat then take a look at my article where I discuss the biomechanics research. As a result, several muscle groups in both the lower and upper body are required to overcome the forces on these joints to execute the movement properly. Incorporating more advanced time under tension training protocols can further the hypertrophic effects of front squat training. This means that your body will need to generate a higher rate of force development to initiate upward movement of the barbell — the speed at which your muscles need to contract and develop force. The front squat can be trained at high loads and with low rep ranges if the goal is maximal strength. Note, many lifters may be limited by upper back and core strength during higher rep front squat training. The posture should be tall with the elbows up and core tight. To get a bigger squat and improve your mechanics, you need to have a complete understanding of the muscles used in the squat. Each variation of the squat will involve your knee and hip extensors more or less. If you’re someone who has longer legs and a shorter torso, then you’ll experience more forward lean than someone who has shorter legs and a longer torso. Certain muscle groups are more or less engaged depending on which variation of the squat you’re doing and the range of motion emphasized. The front squat can be difficult for many deskbound individuals to perform. The high bar squat is considered a knee-dominant movement and will require your quads to work much harder. In addition to the back squat, the front squat can be used to increase leg strength and muscle mass while limiting lower back stress (when compared with a less vertical back angle in the back squat).