Difficulty Breathing During Front Squats: A Simple Training Drill to Solve the Problem
You may have noticed that it can be difficult to get a good deep breath in between reps of the front squat. Not everybody has this problem to the same extent, but most everybody would have noticed that the front squat makes breathing a bit restricted. The position of the elbows, combined with the heavy load on the shoulders, restricts the chest. It is easy to simulate this effect right now as you read this: simply raise your arms up over your head and try to take a deep breath into your upper chest. You should notice that the chest wall is restricted and it is close to impossible to take a full breath this way.
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Can I Squat without a Squat Rack?
Why should you use a squat rack, or "power rack", or cage to perform squats? There are two main reasons: First, squat racks and cages comes with safety pins or cross bars that are adjustable to heights in order to catch the bar when you fail during a lift. With these safety catches, sometimes called "spotters", you can safely discard the bar and not without getting stuck underneath it because you cannot lift it off of your shoulders; an extremely dangerous situation.
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Front Squat Misconceptions
The front squat exercise is beginning to get more and more love. It's really about time. True, the back squat is still called the King by many but the front squat is coming into it's own. It's a daunting thing to master. Uncomfortable at first and just so downright weird for those used to the back squat. Heck, throw the overhead squat into the mix and it's like a whole new world.
The front squat is just as good as the back squat as a mass builder. In fact, though I cannot prove it, I tend to think it is better. Well, lest you shout sacrilege let me remind you that mass is not my "specialty."
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The Four Squat Workout
A little over a year ago, Eric introduced me to the concept of The Four Squat Workout. Sounds intriguing, right? He borrowed the idea from Jim Schmitz, former US Olympic Weightlifing coach.
It involved doing the Overhead Squat, Front Squats, Back Squat and a Half Squat all in one workout! Later, Joe Weir adopted the Anderson Half Squat in place of the regular half squat. A regular half squat with the bar in back can be used but the Anderson Half Squat is our favorite here at GUS.
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How to Perform the Front Squat Exercise (Barbell)
The barbell front squat is a squat carried out with the barbell positioned in the clean position, the bar resting on the lifters front deltoids. Front squats allow a more upright torso position than barbell back squats and is are an excellent alternative or adjunct exercise. This article is meant to be basic technique instruction for the lift, followed by a discussion of the clean grip, which is the preferred grip for the front squat, then follows many very useful tips and other information.
Although the clean grip is recommended this article assumes that the trainee is using the front squat as a stand-alone exercise and not as part of the development of the Clean or the Clean and Jerk. As such there will be no need to actually clean the bar to the shoulders.
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