I don’t do any Olympic style training right now, but I am Olympic lifting curious.
I have been playing around with front squat this last week and I am terrible at them.
I can low bar squat 255# for five reps at an RPE of 8. I have never tried a one rep max.
Trying out front squats this week, and I am really struggling with 135# for a set of ten. I know exactly what I am doing wrong. Heels lifting as I shift to my toes going down. My whole torso caves in at the bottom, my wrists hurt trying to hold the bar.
According to the Internet, this is all the result of a poor rack position, which is itself a result of poor mobility in the hips, knees, and ankles.
I can get all the fingers around the bar when using an empty bar, and I don’t have any issues with caving forward. But as the weight goes up the problems get worse.
Also according to the Internet, the way to fix the rack position and mobility issues is to front squat more with low weights.
Alan Thrall had a video about this. He made the point for some people this might not be worth the effort. Really taking the time to develop the correct positioning in the front squat is time taken away from other squat patterns which might be a better use of time.
So I am asking for advice. How long should I reasonably commit developing the front squat before giving up? I was planning on rerunning the Beginner Prescription out putting the front squat in as a variation in all these cycles.
I’m also doing some “mobility work” four times a week. Which is pressing for ten reps, front squatting for ten reps, and then pressing from the bottom of the squat for ten reps with a PVC pipe, then a 35# bar, and finally a 45# bar. The pressing from the bottom of the squat is extremely difficult for me with the 45# bar without shifting onto my toes and I can feel it in my upper back afterwards for a day or two.
Thank you for your time.