I recently switch from doing exclusively low bar to mostly doing front squat because I want to get better at clean and jerks and improve weightlifting mobility.
I was really bad at the the front squat for several weeks. Trouble getting my whole hand on the bar, trouble hitting depth, the whole thing felt super uncomfortable.
After spending weeks doing lots of reps in the front squat at about half my back squat weight, everything has improved. My form is good and the weight is starting to go up quickly.
However, there is one weird thing with my heel. In videos of my squatting you can see a gap under my heel form when I hit the bottom of the squat. I thought this was heel rise for the longest time and kept messing with stance and really tried to focus on staying upright through the squat. However the longer this goes on I have realized my heel isn’t lifting off the floor in the bottom of the squat. It’s rolling to the side. Specifically, my heel is rolling inside, and only with my right leg. This happens regardless of stance width, weight, or rep ranges. Attached is a photo of me at the bottom of a squat with [NODE=“135”]Question about The Bridge | GPP[/NODE] on a set of seven.
Is this something that I should work on addressing?
Hey David,
Thanks for the post. I do think addressing balance issues are a worthwhile endeavor in the squat. A few thoughts here:
- The bar appears to be sliding down your chest a lot at the bottom here, thereby making it difficult to maintain balance.
- You do not need to do full-hands around front squats, though I agree this can be useful for mobility specific to Olympic WL. For training the squat to improve strength however, I would favor a more horizontal upper arm and wider stance.
- I would not do front squats only in your training program, as I suspect the reduced loading will hamper improvements in performance -Jordan
So I spent several weeks working on improving my front rack position, making sure I had a full hand around the bar. When I would unrack the bar, the bar would be sitting against my neck. In reviewing the videos I was subconsciously moving the bar down my shoulders as I squat. I didn’t have the mobility to maintain bar position. This was bringing me forward as I squat down and throwing off my balance.
I thought I was making progress. I think I was just getting better at holding the bar in a bad position.
I was really trying hard to put up a set of 4 at 165# in the front squat after a few weeks of “progress”.
Today I went back to low bar. After a heavy for me deadlift session, I lowbar squatted for 185# for a set of 10 at like an RPE of 4 in regular gym shows and no belt. It felt very very good. I’m now more content with my life choices.
Thank you.
Yea, the front rack is typically the limiting factor in the first few months of front squatting. If someone really wants to learn it, I program it in a way where the loads are relatively light for weeks to months so they can develop a solid front rack in a low stakes situation. In the interim, I think back squatting is probably more useful for strength.
The heel roll is still happening with low bar. But it’s way less pronounced. I can’t feel it. My heel feels firmly planted. But it’s evident in my low bar squats. I’m guessing this is a squat width issues?
175# for a set of ten at RPE 6
195# for a set of seven at about RPE 7
https://youtu.be/IJ9E89-ZUJg?si=bOG87dMugSngXuhJ
Your knees are caving in a bit and traveling too far forward for low bar. I think slowing down the descent, sticking your butt back more, and aiming to squat 1" below parallel would be a good idea.
