Welcome back! This is volume 2 of our 2 part front squat guide. In our previous guide, we discussed the benefits of bar position, feet position and depth.
You should now have a basic understanding of the form and function involved in a front squat. In part two we are going to delve into ways to increase your performance from the perspective of fuel and training protocols. Let’s get into it.
The Front Squat is Highly Anaerobic
By this, we mean that even though you may not be using high resistance (high weight) during the exercise you will still be recruiting high amounts of muscle on each repetition due to the heavy stress placed throughout the body using large muscles. For this reason, adapting and growing stronger through a front squat requires a steady source of fuel - in the forms of creatine and good calories.
Importance of Creatine
Creatine really is one of those supplements that helps on so many levels. To a certain extent, if you’re an athlete and you are not supplementing with creatine than you may not be growing to your potential.
Creatine, on a very basic level, will help you to recover faster and provide more readily-sourced energy for each repetition.
Supplementing with 3-5g of creatine before a workout can be one of the most effective ways to ensure growth and strength.
Good Carbs, Better Protein
If you’re into powerlifting than we know you eat your carbs - they’re essential and you know it. They fuel your performance by providing a good source of glycogen replacement, while protein will help you to stimulate muscle protein synthesis for faster recovery.
It’s important to understand that both are important to your overall success under the bar.
Training for Strength
The last and perhaps most important aspect to consider for the front squat is how you choose to overload the muscles. We discussed how a front squat can put stress on the core and that it will be difficult to grow stronger quickly (as you could with a low-bar back squat). For this reason, we suggesting using a simple 8-12 rep scheme. Here's what this would look like:
|
Week 1,2 |
Reps |
Sets |
Tempo |
Rest Between Sets |
|
Front Squat |
8 |
3 |
2010 |
120s |
|
Week 3 |
Reps |
Sets |
Tempo |
Rest Between Sets |
|
Front Squat |
12 |
3 |
3110 |
90s |
As you may notice we are using week 3 to deload the muscle with less weight and a higher rep tempo. It's important to understand that if this becomes too difficult you can always increase the amount of time you take between sets.
Pre-Set and Working Set
The last important aspect to understand is that you should never just jump into a front squat without warming up. This is a difficult exercise to get right, and even if your form is near perfect you may still struggle to avoid injury.
Take your time to work into the range of motion with pre-exercises and lighter pre-set front squats. Only when you are warm and confident should you start packing on the plates.
Enjoy the gains and be sure to tag us in all your front squat adventures on social media! You can find us @atomicstrengthnutrition
