I recently took a four week break from squats and deadlifts because I broke my pinky toe, and now I am getting back at it. I am thinking of changing up my programming a bit and focusing on different accessory lifts.
One long term issue I have been having in both the squats and deadlifts is having my core collapse on heavy sets. If I do 4 reps for an RPE of 6, 7, and 8, for example, I start rounding my back on the last set of deadlifts, and I start good morning squatting on my back squats on the last set.
A couple different YouTube fitness people I watch every now and then suggested front squats as a fix for both of these issues, as they suggest that it is the best exercise for training a tight trunk during both lifts.
For reference, my deadlift might start to round around 275, and my back squats start to good morning around 255. And this depends on the number of reps. With a set of four the first two might look great, and the last two I start breaking. With front squats, I can keep good form at about 135 for a couple reps, and then my torso starts carving in.
I’m not suggesting getting rid of back squats or deadlifts, but adding maybe a front squat as my accessory squat and a goblet squat as a supplemental lift for the foreseeable future. My worry is that my weight on the front squat is pretty low so I might not be getting as much benefit as I would if I were doing something else like a paused squat.
Are Front Squats a good idea for my situation, or is there a better way of addressing my form issues?
Do you have a video of your deadlift I could look at?
To answer your question directly, a front squat, high bar squat, and/or safety bar squat are usually my go-to if I’d like to address too much mid-back (thoracic spine) rounding/movement during a squat from a muscular development standpoint. There’s obviously some carry over to the deadlift here too, but I think paused deadlifts are probably better for addressing this in a deadlift-specific manner. Alternatively, the issue could also be addressed using tempo squats and/or pulls to try and improve coordination during the lift with a lighter load and more time to think about it.
That’s kind of how I think about tackling a sticking point or form issue, e.g. do I want to focus on muscle growth and coordination in a general way (e.g. front squats), or coordination in a specific way (e.g. tempo work). This approach is seen in our strength programs that have sticking point work.
Front squats can definitely be a viable choice for you, though I generally prefer HBBS or SSB for most folks because they’re more trainable. Still, training the front squat can be fun. A few tips for deciding whether or not to pick front squats and how-to incorporate them:
- Commit to at least 4-5 weeks. They tend to need an on ramp for getting used to the rack position and figuring out how-to move your body
- Be very conservative with loading. The rack position can be uncomfortable for the unaccustomed. No need to push intensity too soon. I like starting with a 3-1-0 tempo f/s for this purpose
- If the goal is to get as much transferrence to the SQ and DL with respect to thoracic spine flexion, I would keep RPE low/RIR high (RPE 5-6, RIR 4-5) so that you can actually train the desired muscle groups in a coordinated fashion.
- Straps, talon grip, and or cross-armed grip are all fine options for holding the bar in place
Just my 0.02.
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I don’t have a great deadlift video of my back rounding. If the set is bad I usually drop the weight for the next rep and delete the video.
Yeah, I think I will try the front squats for a few weeks. I can hold good position with a hook grip in the top rack, but I just start to cave in coming out of the bottom.
I think I will commit a few weeks to it and see how it goes.
Thanks Jordan.
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