Front squat
Also called barbell front squat, clean-grip front squat, front rack squat.
What is a front squat?
A front squat is a barbell squat performed with the bar resting across the fronts of the shoulders instead of the upper back. You keep the elbows forward to make a shelf for the bar, squat between your feet, then stand while keeping the bar over the middle of the foot. It trains the quadriceps, gluteus maximus and adductor magnus, while the erector spinae and soleus help hold the position.
How do you perform a front squat?
Set up
- Set the bar just below shoulder height, place the safety arms just below your lowest controlled squat position, and secure the plates with collars.
- Step under the bar and rest it across the fronts of your shoulders. Take a clean grip just outside your shoulders, with your fingertips under the bar and elbows pointing forward.
- Stand to clear the hooks, take one or two steps back, and set your feet around shoulder width with the toes turned slightly out.
Execution
- Brace your torso, keep your elbows forward, and bend your hips and knees together to squat between your feet.
- Let your knees follow your toes and keep your whole foot down as you descend to the deepest position where the bar stays securely on your shoulders.
- Push the floor away and straighten your hips and knees to stand, keeping the elbows up until you are steady.
- After the last rep, walk the bar into both uprights, confirm it is over both hooks, and lower it onto the rack before releasing your grip.
Common mistakes
Holding the bar in the hands
The shoulders should carry the bar while the fingers keep it from rolling. Trying to support its weight in the wrists makes the rack less stable and usually pulls the elbows down.
Letting the elbows drop during the descent
When the elbows fall, the front of the shoulders stops making a level shelf and the bar can roll forward. End the rep before the rack position gives way.
Lifting the heels to stay upright
Losing heel contact shifts the base under a front-loaded bar. Shorten the range or adjust the stance until the whole foot can stay planted.
Walking away from the rack
A long walkout adds loaded steps before and after every set. Clear the hooks with one or two steps so the safety arms remain close if a rep fails.
Where it fits in a session
Early in a lower-body session, while you are fresh enough to keep the front rack stable.
Log it separately from a back squat because the bar position changes the setup and the weight you can use. Choose a load that lets the shoulders, elbows and torso stay in the same position from the first rep to the last.
Muscles worked
Primary
Secondary
Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.
All three movement-specific reference pages agree on the quadriceps, gluteus maximus and adductors as the main lower-body muscles and on calf assistance; the most specific list identifies the soleus. The erector spinae is secondary because a front-squat EMG study measured substantial activity from the thoracic region while the trunk held the bar in position. The abdominal wall, shoulders and upper back also help support the front rack, but they are not presented as muscles this guide promises to train.
Scientific studies on the front squat
Front-squat research includes both training studies and comparisons of joint mechanics. The weight used and the outcome measured matter when comparing it with a back squat.
Front squats can build the measured portions of the quadriceps, even with less weight on the bar than back squats. A small training trial found no clear growth difference between them. Neither muscle activity nor calculated joint forces establish that one squat is universally better or safer.
Does the front squat build less thigh muscle?
Not in the measurements from one 12-week trial. Twenty-four recreationally trained women completed front- or back-squat training twice weekly as part of otherwise similar lower-body programs. Both groups increased lateral-thigh muscle thickness, with no clear difference between groups.
The scans combined two quadriceps muscles, the vastus lateralis and vastus intermedius, at three thigh locations. They did not measure every quadriceps muscle or glute growth. The small study supports front squats as an option for thigh growth without establishing equal results for every muscle or lifter.
What training was compared?
Participants squatted to approximately parallel. Front-squat grip could be clean or cross-arm. Sets were based on previous training volume and increased over the study. The back-squat group used greater loads and accumulated more total weight lifted; these were not equated. Both groups also performed Romanian deadlifts, seated leg curls and hip abduction.
Did the two groups gain the same strength?
Both groups improved their one-rep maximum on the 45-degree leg press, but the back-squat group improved more. The researchers did not test changes in front- or back-squat maximum strength.
That is evidence about transfer to the leg press in this program. It does not show which variation would improve your front squat more, and the result should not be described simply as greater squat-strength gains.
Sources
Does moving the bar change the demands on the knees?
Yes, but load selection changes the comparison. In 11 college athletes using the same bar weight for both squats, front squats produced a higher calculated knee-extension demand at the heaviest tested load. Back squats produced higher hip-extension demands at the two heavier loads.
An earlier comparison of 15 trained lifters found lower calculated knee compression and knee-extension demand with front squats under its tested conditions. These experiments measured mechanics, not injuries. They cannot establish that front squats are universally safer for the knees.
Equal weight and equal relative effort differ
The college athletes lifted 40%, 60% and 80% of their front-squat maximum in both variations. The paper also predicted joint demands at each lift’s maximum by regression. Those maximum-load values were predictions, not measured maximal squat trials.
Variations
- Cross-arm front squat — Cross the forearms over the bar instead of using a clean grip, while keeping the bar on the shoulders and the elbows high.
- Strap-assisted front squat — Loop lifting straps around the bar and hold their ends when the clean-grip wrist position is not available.
- Paused front squat — Hold the bottom position briefly before standing without changing the front rack.
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Frequently asked questions
What muscles does the front squat work?
The main lower-body muscles are the quadriceps, gluteus maximus and adductor magnus. The soleus assists at the ankle, and the erector spinae helps hold the torso and front rack in position. The abdominal wall, shoulders and upper back also support the bar, but this guide does not present them as primary training targets.
Where should the bar sit in a front squat?
Across the fronts of the shoulders, close to the base of the throat. The shoulders carry the weight; the fingertips guide the bar and the elbows point forward to keep the shelf level. If the bar is resting entirely in your hands, it is too far forward.
Do I need a full clean grip?
No. A clean grip is the standard version shown here, but you do not need every finger wrapped around the bar. Use the number of fingertips that lets the bar stay on the shoulders with the elbows forward. A cross-arm grip or straps are common alternatives when wrist or shoulder mobility limits that position.
How deep should a front squat be?
Use the deepest range in which your whole foot stays down, the bar stays securely on the shoulders and you can reverse the movement under control. The illustration shows one lifter below parallel, not a depth every reader must copy.
What is the difference between a front squat and a back squat?
The bar position changes the setup and the weight you can use. A front squat holds the bar across the fronts of the shoulders; a back squat rests it across the upper back. Research has found similar measured thigh growth in one training trial, but joint-mechanics comparisons depend on the tested loads. Neither variation is universally better or safer.
Why do my wrists hurt during front squats?
Often because the hands are trying to carry the bar or every finger is being forced around it. Let the shoulders support the weight and use only as many fingertips as you can keep under the bar comfortably. If that still hurts, use a cross-arm or strap-assisted rack instead of forcing the clean grip.
Sources
- Gullett JC, Tillman MD, Gutierrez GM, Chow JW. A biomechanical comparison of back and front squats in healthy trained individuals. J Strength Cond Res. 2009. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19002072/
- Bautista D, Durke D, Cotter JA, Escobar KA, Schick EE. A Comparison of Muscle Activation Among the Front Squat, Overhead Squat, Back Extension and Plank. Int J Exerc Sci. 2020. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7241624/
- Enes A et al. Squat variations, strength and quadriceps hypertrophy. 2024. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11235860/
- Krzyszkowski J, Kipp K. Load-dependent demands of front and back squats. 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32544021/