Front squat to back squat ratio and ab strain

Front squats will make your core work harder because it’s in the front rack position. You will need to be good at breathing and bracing. I would have to see your lift to really know what you’re doing, but the two biggest issues I know with people’s front squats are these:

1) They are not bracing hard enough to support the weight. You have to squeeze into your brace as hard as possible coming out of the whole (well the whole lift, really). This might be your specific problem. Lower the weight, and focus on bracing hard as possible.
2) When coming out of the hole, they let their elbows drop. Drive your elbows up to help keep the weight in a strong front rack position.
3) They move their hips back like a back squat. I find it best to open up the hips and drop more vertically down, as opposed to pushing your butt back as you descend. Because of the bar position, it’s easier to move it in a straight line that way and maintain optimal support of the weight.

quote:

---

I’ve read that front squats should be about 85-90% of your back squat,

---

I don’t understand that, but whatever. It really boils down to training it. Having a strong front squat is beneficial for many, many reasons. It translates to a lot of other movements. I would recommend training it as you are. How to train it depends on how your program is designed. You can either do it instead of back squats or add it on as an accessory. I like to do mine after deadlifts.

quote:

---

I like to do mine after deadlifts.

---

This is when I do them.

I’ll try to work on bracing. It feels like a stability issue. I already brace fairly well for back squats but I’ll squeeze harder.

I’m similar. 435 back squat is my pr, front squats I cant even do 8 reps with 225

I only do front squats now since I blew out 3 discs in my lower back. My max was 405 on back, but 255 on front. For reps I stay at 185. Works my core, there’s little to no lower back compression, and still works my glutes well. My grip is extremely tight and I keep my elbows up, up top. Bar rests across the very top of my chest, right at my neck.

Brian Alsruhe - YouTube

Brian Alsruhe - YouTube

These are two videos from Brian Alsruhe. I think he’s an excellent teacher. Watch these two.

I must fall in that 1%. When at my best a few years ago, My BS 1RM was 305 lb and FS 1 RM was 275 lb. Just did the math and that's right at 90%. Those numbers are likely lower now, but % still similar.

With that said I've had inguinal hernia surgery on one side and surgery for a testicular cancer diagnosis on the other, so scar tissue across most of my inguinal. I prefer FS given it places less of a load on that area (in addition to lower lumbar) and feel like I'm able to get out of hole quicker with less paranoia about further injury.

DefJam has some solid info and advice. Warming up wrist to establish a good front rack position is crucial when going heavy on FS. I also find it equally important, if not more, to prime hips (i.e. pigeon and couch stretches, bands, etc.) for FS than BS

Flexibility and wrist wraps help with that.