Front Squats. When and Why?
The front squat is overrated…
Unless you have a specific problem that needs fixed by the front squat or you’re simply looking for a new movement to maybe kick start some gains, the front squat belongs on the backburner. Weightlifters are the ones that most benefit from front squats, so I’ll use them to prove my point.
The front squat is a useful tool to teach the position and the feel of recovery from the clean. It’s important for beginners. However, you can soon move away from such remedial methods once the clean has been understood and competency in the movement has been demonstrated. From there you are better off moving onto the squat. The squat allows for more weight to be moved, thus greater development in overall strength. Strength is usually lacking in beginners, so this is the next logical step for success once the technical aspect has been established. One could also suffice to say that squats have much more effect on the front squat than the front squat does on the squat. This tells me that you’re going to get more “bang for your buck” strength wise, doing the squat rather than the front squat. You’ll then make that strength functional by practicing the clean and jerk. John Broz has mentioned before that he quit squatting and only front squatted for 18 months. In that time his front squat improved very little and his back squat actually got worse. He then squatted for 18 months and quit front squatting. At the end of those 18 months, his squat improved and his front squat improved more than it had in the previous 18 months. Broz also talks about the confidence built from squatting versus front squats. Knowing you can squat 300lbs makes cleaning 200lbs seem easy. Being able to front squat 220lbs doesn’t make cleaning 200lbs seem all that easy.
Another weightlifting legend and possible authority on the subject is Dmitry Klokov. Klokov has said many times that unless you’re having trouble coming out of the bottom of your clean, that front squats shouldn’t be programmed. If you’re looking for a “sport specific” movement to enhance your clean and jerk, then doing clean and jerks and/or cleans would be the most efficient way to do this. Lets also look at Paul Anderson. Notice when anyone mentions Paul Anderson, they never talk about his front squat. Paul’s focus was on the squat and subsequently he was the last American to win gold at the Olympics in weightlifting. American weightlifters are suffering from the “sport specific” craze. Spending hours with PVC pipe and practice bars. And spending even more time doing front squats, overhead squats, block pulls, snatch grip behind the neck push press, ect… The technical side of things is important, but this isn’t golf. At some point you need to get strong and the only way to do that is to move some heavy weight. Of course there is no better way to move heavy weight than the squat.
Obviously, the front squat isn’t useless. It has its place. Your life before weightlifting may have developed imbalances and perhaps you do need to work on your front squat. Or due to the nature of physical training for sport, you may develop an imbalance or weak area by strengthening other areas to a greater degree. This of course would call for a cycle of front squats.
John Broz prefers the squat, but says both are necessary. He advocates more squatting throughout your programming than front squatting. Don McCauley agrees and says that he typically programs 2-3 times more squats than front squats throughout the average training year. Front squats could be programmed routinely throughout the entire year or in clusters. Dan John often talks about how he once had trouble recovering from cleans. Dan decided to front squat everyday for 2 months. This fixed the problem (permanently). He used 165lbs and did 2 sets of 5 everyday. If you adhere to Don McCauley’s squat to front squat ratio, then this 2 months would most likely be all the front squats you would need for the year. Fix the problem and move on. Of course not everyone is going to need or want to do front squats everyday, so you may opt for a different approach. However, Dan John’s method has given us alot to work with, despite the simplicity of his method. You could try to match his tonnage, number of reps or number of sets. This could be done in less time or spread out throughout the year. Just keep in mind that problems are best solved in a timely manner and you need to make sure that whatever you’re doing is fixing the problem so that you can move on.
– John Mouser,CPT
