Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Who Needs Situps When You Can Do Front Squats



A primary benefit of front squats is that they increase your core strength. Most of the time when you’re talking about increasing core strength you tend to think about crunches, hanging knee raises and planks. With front squats however, the load to the front of your body forces your abs and core to stay activated to stabilize your body throughout the movement. If your midsection isn’t activated and your torso isn’t erect during the movement, the lift is likely to fail as the body is unable to support the load.

Front Squat Setup
  1. Your shoulders support the weight, not your hands. Always keep your chest big & elbows up.
  2. Your foot stance should be slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your toes must always follow your knees. Point your toes out to about 30 degrees.
  3. Utilize a big chest by putting your chest forward & lift it up. This gives the bar a solid base to sit on & makes it impossible to round your upper-back. Tighten your upper-back.
  4. Look forward, not up! Looking up is bad for your neck and looking down will make your lower back round. So look forward at a fixed point in front of you.
  5. Grip the bar at about shoulder width, or at a position in which the hands will not be trapped by the shoulders when the bar is “racked”. A narrow grip pushes the bar against your throat, making breathing difficult. A wide grip makes it harder to keep your elbows up.
  6. The bar should be placed on top of your front shoulders. Behind your clavicles & close to your throat. Open your hands, relax them. Your upper-arms should be parallel to the floor – so the weight doesn’t end on your hands and the elbows should be squeezed toward each other. Admittedly, it takes a little flexibility. The best way to get this flexibility is… wait for it… do more front squats!
http://www.crossfittherack.com/

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