I’m trying to add front squatting to my routine and am having difficulty due to long forearms.
I’ve never noticed it before, but when overhead pressing, taking a grip that places my forearms perpendicular to the bar, and straight up and down (perpendicular to the floor as well), when in the bottom position, the bar passes right in front of my nose. Since I tilt my head back and look upwards to the ceiling, it hasn’t been an issue since my head is not in the way. But I notice that the bottom position is nowhere near my collar bone like I see in a lot of photos.
However I’ve recently added the front squat to my routine, and I cannot maintain an elbows forward grip on the bar. In fact, when I rest an empty bar on my collar bone, gently touching my neck, I cant even reach back and get a grip on the bar since it’s my wrists that touch the bar, not my hands. If I spread out my hands towards the color I can take a partial finger grip, but it’s incredibly awkward.
I’ve seen recommendations to not try and grip the bar, but just cross my arms in front of my body, and let the bar float on my shoulders without gripping it, but it feels quite unstable, like the weight rocks back and forth as I go through the movement unless I am EXACTLY in the middle of the bar, and make micro adjustments side to side until it’s perfect.
If it helps, I can post a few photos of what I’m talking about.