hey, i'm having difficulty with front squats. when i'm performing them, it starts to feel like the muscles in my wrist are going to rip out because of the weight resting on my fingers/chest. should this occure when doing this?(i'm new to this excercise). i've tried resting the bar more so on my chest, but that allows my elbos to dip down to low. what should i do? also, i've watched the gayle hatch video for this, and it helps with technique, i just can't see well enough to tell if it should rest completely on the upper chest.
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help with front squats
- Thread starter acdc554
- Start date
Yeah, with front squats the weight should be resting on your shoulders, not your hands or chest, and your elbows should be pointed forward. To facilitate proper form and prevent your elbows from dipping, you shouldn't grip the bar with any more than your index and middle, or index, middle, and ring fingers, and even then you shouldn't have your fingers wrapped around the bar past your second knuckle. The goal of your grip is to stabilize the bar's position on the "shoulder shelf" created by your arm placement.
Barbell Front Squat
YouTube - Dave Performing Front Squat
You don't really need to go as deep as they do in these videos though... not good for your knees...
Barbell Front Squat
YouTube - Dave Performing Front Squat
You don't really need to go as deep as they do in these videos though... not good for your knees...
Yeah, with front squats the weight should be resting on your shoulders, not your hands or chest, and your elbows should be pointed forward. To facilitate proper form and prevent your elbows from dipping, you shouldn't grip the bar with any more than your index and middle, or index, middle, and ring fingers, and even then you shouldn't have your fingers wrapped around the bar past your second knuckle. The goal of your grip is to stabilize the bar's position on the "shoulder shelf" created by your arm placement.
Barbell Front Squat
YouTube - Dave Performing Front Squat
You don't really need to go as deep as they do in these videos though... not good for your knees...
Why is deep squatting bad for the knees?
Why is deep squatting bad for the knees?
Because it places a lot of stress on the joint, specifically, causing the patella to pin in its movement track and grind against the femur within the popliteal groove. Even keeping a proper form with your knees behind your feet, going past 90 degrees places a huge amount of stress on the joint.
Because it places a lot of stress on the joint, specifically, causing the patella to pin in its movement track and grind against the femur within the popliteal groove. Even keeping a proper form with your knees behind your feet, going past 90 degrees places a huge amount of stress on the joint.
I'll be sure and remind my children and myself that they shouldn't squat past parallel when squatting to pick something up so it doesn't mess up the tracking of their patella.
Sorry, but your response looks directly taken out of a text book that you're reading.
My sports medicine doctor took xrays of my knees (and ankles and etc) not long ago and noticed an amazing thing...there had been no damage placed upon my knees due to going past parallel during squats. You can imagine we were all shocked and amazed that my knees weren't completely destroyed at this point.
You know, I could have sworn that reading some articles and in my CSCS text book that hitting at 90 degrees was when the most damage occured rather than going through the 90 degree point.
Because it places a lot of stress on the joint, specifically, causing the patella to pin in its movement track and grind against the femur within the popliteal groove. Even keeping a proper form with your knees behind your feet, going past 90 degrees places a huge amount of stress on the joint.
Any serious bodybuilder or lifter who ATG squats would call bull**** on that.
Because it places a lot of stress on the joint, specifically, causing the patella to pin in its movement track and grind against the femur within the popliteal groove. Even keeping a proper form with your knees behind your feet, going past 90 degrees places a huge amount of stress on the joint.
Do you have any sources to comfirm this? (prefferably new ones, since I believe this is an old myth that has been debunked)
I assumed there would be disagreement with my recommendation but I stand by it,only because I've had 4 separate medical professionals (one orthopod, one athletic trainer, and two physical therapist) all tell me in the last sixth months that a deep knee bend essentially "locks" the knee in the popliteal groove placing an excessive amount of stress on the point itself as well as a large amount of friction on the patella and the femur. My AT specializes in lower body and back training and he himself stands by his training that you don't need to do an excessive bend at knee to adequately work the muscles in the legs. I also have some older literature from my old AT training to the same effect, but I'll see if I can't track down anything new.
As for Evo's comment... how many times do your kids try to "squat" 1-3 times their body weight?
As for Evo's comment... how many times do your kids try to "squat" 1-3 times their body weight?
I assumed there would be disagreement with my recommendation but I stand by it,only because I've had 4 separate medical professionals (one orthopod, one athletic trainer, and two physical therapist) all tell me in the last sixth months that a deep knee bend essentially "locks" the knee in the popliteal groove placing an excessive amount of stress on the point itself as well as a large amount of friction on the patella and the femur. My AT specializes in lower body and back training and he himself stands by his training that you don't need to do an excessive bend at knee to adequately work the muscles in the legs. I also have some older literature from my old AT training to the same effect, but I'll see if I can't track down anything new.
While I won't discount your orthopod as qualified to make sound decisions, I don't hold the AT and the PTs in the same light. Perhaps it's not the best wording that I'm using, but I've had several instances with ATs and PTs where I would question their knowledge and decisions. This is not to say that the individuals you're surrounded by aren't on the money, I've just seen numerous times where extremely intelligent and learned individuals have said wrong information.
For that matter, I've seen/heard doctors give wrong information. A fellow collegue of mine swears by the food pyramid.
This is not to say that the people you're surrounded by are wrong but I'd like to see that your opinion is based on more than 4 people.
I know that my xray showed that despite squatting twice my body weight, my knees are fine. I also know that based on a discussion with my sports medicine doctor who also does orthopedic surgery does not hold to the "don't go past 90 degrees" etc. She is not alone, but many of her collegues of her agree with her based on experience with xrays and working with athletes.
I could care less if individuals squat below, to, or above parallel. I just don't want anyone thinging in the absolute of squatting below parallel will destroy your knees.
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