Excessive Forward Lean doing Front Squats

[Jimbo48]

I have a tendency to lean too far forward when doing front squats such that it starts to hurt my wrists. Is there anything I can do to prevent this. I focus on keeping my elbows up but that doesn't seem to be enough.

[DYTrainer]

Your form is suffering, which usually means the weight is too much. The front squat can be a great exercise, allows for deeper ROM, keeps most of the tension on the quads, but you have to be smart about it. Depending how long you have been doing them, you could still be getting used to them as they initially can be a very uncomfortable exercise. If I were you I would drop the weight and really focus on doing them correctly. Doing them with more weight might give the ego a boost, but it does little in terms of stimulating muscle growth as well as opens you up to injury.

[Jimbo48]

Your form is suffering, which usually means the weight is too much. The front squat can be a great exercise, allows for deeper ROM, keeps most of the tension on the quads, but you have to be smart about it. Depending how long you have been doing them, you could still be getting used to them as they initially can be a very uncomfortable exercise. If I were you I would drop the weight and really focus on doing them correctly. Doing them with more weight might give the ego a boost, but it does little in terms of stimulating muscle growth as well as opens you up to injury.

You're right in that I haven't been doing them for that long, only about 2 months. Currently lifting 200lbs. I do notice that during warmups, just bar, 135lbs, that my wrists don't hurt. I thought it was just the lighter weight as I wasn't paying attention to whether or not I was leaning forward. So, I'll drop the weight and see where are start to lean forward, then proceed from there.

[ironwill2008]

Get your elbows up. If you are unable to do so, cut the weight until you can, and then gradually work to progress the weight back up.

[BombDonald]

It's probably a slew of flexibility issues. Like mentioned, drop the weight, and do lots of stretches for your wrists and hips. Practice keeping your elbows high even on really light sets. Keeping your elbows high depends on a certain amount of upper back flexibility as well, so that can cause your wrists to hurt if they are supporting a lot of the weight.

Leaning forward too much will take tension off the quads. That's not good.

[DYTrainer]

It's probably a slew of flexibility issues...

Ahh yes, this too. Not many really work on flexibility. Your hamstrings and glutes could be tight, which is quite common in men ( yep, still sounds weird when I type that). I'm sure you could find many stretches here or on google. I spend about 10-15 minutes at the end of my workout stretching. I've found that stretching before felt weird as I was only warmed up a little. Then read some stuff that stretching before a lifting session is not only counter-productive but could also cause muscle damage, so only stick to doing it at the end of workout.

Not sure why your wrist hurt, but now I realize I made the assumption that you were just doing crossed-arm, but probably more of a clean grip. So probably need to work on wrist/forearm flexibility as well. Just got to stick with it. Won't happen overnight, but as long as you keep at it you will be good. good luck

[punkt]

You must be doing something wrong, on front squats my body is straight and the bar is sitting steadly on my shoulders. Maybe you got the bar to far away from your shoulders/neck, so it makes you bend over because they weight is falling off?

[jammyo40]

Ahh yes, this too. Not many really work on flexibility. Your hamstrings and glutes could be tight, which is quite common in men ( yep, still sounds weird when I type that). I'm sure you could find many stretches here or on google. I spend about 10-15 minutes at the end of my workout stretching. I've found that stretching before felt weird as I was only warmed up a little. Then read some stuff that stretching before a lifting session is not only counter-productive but could also cause muscle damage, so only stick to doing it at the end of workout.

Not sure why your wrist hurt, but now I realize I made the assumption that you were just doing crossed-arm, but probably more of a clean grip. So probably need to work on wrist/forearm flexibility as well. Just got to stick with it. Won't happen overnight, but as long as you keep at it you will be good. good luck

Also could be ankle/calf flexibility, preventing the knee from going more forward. When the knees go forward, so do your hips, allowing you to stay more upright. Check this out.

[Jimbo48]

Ahh yes, this too. Not many really work on flexibility. Your hamstrings and glutes could be tight, which is quite common in men ( yep, still sounds weird when I type that). I'm sure you could find many stretches here or on google. I spend about 10-15 minutes at the end of my workout stretching. I've found that stretching before felt weird as I was only warmed up a little. Then read some stuff that stretching before a lifting session is not only counter-productive but could also cause muscle damage, so only stick to doing it at the end of workout.

Not sure why your wrist hurt, but now I realize I made the assumption that you were just doing crossed-arm, but probably more of a clean grip. So probably need to work on wrist/forearm flexibility as well. Just got to stick with it. Won't happen overnight, but as long as you keep at it you will be good. good luck

I also do about 10-15minutes of static stretching every day, twice on days I workout. (Static after my workout, dynamic stretching before.) Yes I do use a clean grip. I tried the crossed-arm and it felt like I was going to drop the weight onto the safety bars so I went back to the clean grip.

Bottome line, I will lower the weight and keep an eye on how much I lean forward. Thanks.