Are front squats really better for atheltes?

[ajymerced]

I want to know because I'm doing SL 5x5 and hurt my lower back. This is the second time I hurt my lower back. So I want to know if substituting front squats for back squats is okay for SL 5x5? And would it be better for me as a basketball player?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=dEwzyHeAlos

Is this guy correct?

[ajymerced]

anybody??

[BigStewTheJew]

Not better just different. Back squats and front squats work different major muscles

[antmun]

Not better just different. Back squats and front squats work different major muscles

Not really. How do you figure?

[BigStewTheJew]

Not really. How do you figure?

Not really what? Different muscles or different/not better then each other

[HamburgerTrain]

Any kind of squat works on hip extension. So, any kind of squat is good. No one modality is better than the other. Depending on the sport, weaknesses of the athlete, time of year, etc. will determine what you should be doing in training. Anyone who says any one thing is better than anything else is trying to sell you something.


Everything works for a while and nothing works forever.

[antmun]

Not really what? Different muscles or different/not better then each other

Please explain how they work different MAJOR muscles. Never mind. Saw age. Read up on how they are different from one another. Mostly difference in stabilizer muscles activated. Still both quad dominant. Good luck

[JohnRainbo]

Please explain how they work different MAJOR muscles. Never mind. Saw age. Read up on how they are different from one another. Mostly difference in stabilizer muscles activated. Still both quad dominant. Good luck

I await the answer to this a well, as I enjoy front squats more than back.

[NewlyImproved]

You know, hamburger train has said a lot of wise things in his tenure. "Everything works for a while, nothing works forever" might be the wisest.

[HamburgerTrain]

You know, hamburger train has said a lot of wise things in his tenure. "Everything works for a while, nothing works forever" might be the wisest.

Definitely stole that from Dan John.

[lhprop1]

I want to know because I'm doing SL 5x5 and hurt my lower back. This is the second time I hurt my lower back. So I want to know if substituting front squats for back squats is okay for SL 5x5? And would it be better for me as a basketball player?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=dEwzyHeAlos

Is this guy correct?

I didn't watch the video, but Elliott's a good guy and he knows what he's talking about.

Front squatting isn't necessarily better than back squatting for an athlete, but the stance you take while front squatting is much more applicable to most sports than the traditional wide back squat stance. In most sports, you are going to be running. When you run, your body in leaned forward. You can't effectively run standing straight up and down. The back squat requires your shins to be at a neutral or 90 degree angle (straight up and down) while the weight-forward nature of the front squat forces you to keep you hips in line with your shoulders, creating a positive shin angle. Training with a positive shin angle transfers excellently to sprinting. The front squat also requires a lot more abdominal recruitment than the back squat, an area in which a lot of athletes are weak.

Back squat allows you to move heavier loads than the front squat. If you're playing a sport or position where top end strength is important, you certainly don't want to neglect back squats.

[HamburgerTrain]

Please explain how they work different MAJOR muscles. Never mind. Saw age. Read up on how they are different from one another. Mostly difference in stabilizer muscles activated. Still both quad dominant. Good luck

This doesn't make any sense. Won't muscle activation be determined by intensity zone and rate of force development? In other words, doing a slow front squat with 10% with not have the same neuromuscular demand as one done with 100%. So, the difference in major muscles and stabilizers (synergists) used is really dose dependant based on the intensity zone being worked in and not even really the exercise itself?

Things just get really stupid and confusing when you only think about the muscles worked. But, if you want to get into semantics, I guess you could make the argument that a front squat helps develop stronger thoracic extension via anti flexon and plenty of studies have shown decreased spinal loading during a front squat compared to a back squat. This means a larger anterior chain role during the movement.

Also, the only way a back squat is quad dominant is if you are doing it wrong.

[antmun]

This doesn't make any sense. Won't muscle activation be determined by intensity zone and rate of force development? In other words, doing a slow front squat with 10% with not have the same neuromuscular demand as one done with 100%. So, the difference in major muscles and stabilizers (synergists) used is really dose dependant based on the intensity zone being worked in and not even really the exercise itself?

Things just get really stupid and confusing when you only think about the muscles worked. But, if you want to get into semantics, I guess you could make the argument that a front squat helps develop stronger thoracic extension via anti flexon and plenty of studies have shown decreased spinal loading during a front squat compared to a back squat. This means a larger anterior chain role during the movement.

Also, the only way a back squat is quad dominant is if you are doing it wrong.

LOL, damn. I don't even know how to respond. You obviously know what you're talking about. Now I'm confused. How are squats not quad dominant?

[lhprop1]

LOL, damn. I don't even know how to respond. You obviously know what you're talking about. Now I'm confused. How are squats not quad dominant?

If you back squat properly, they are hip and glute dominant. Wide stance, ass back, bend at the hips. Not a lot of room to work the quads in that.

With front squats, you bent at the knee and ankle.

[HamburgerTrain]

If you back squat properly, they are hip and glute dominant. Wide stance, ass back, bend at the hips. Not a lot of room to work the quads in that.

With front squats, you bent at the knee and ankle.

Bingo. Anterior vs posterior loading creates totally different leverages. But, like I said before, for the sake of sport performance, it doesn't matter about the muscle being worked. It matters about the MOVEMENT being worked.

[ajymerced]

Bingo. Anterior vs posterior loading creates totally different leverages. But, like I said before, for the sake of sport performance, it doesn't matter about the muscle being worked. It matters about the MOVEMENT being worked.

So are you saying front squats or back squats are better for the basketball athlete?

[HamburgerTrain]

So are you saying front squats or back squats are better for the basketball athlete?

One legged leg press with heavy band tension would be best.



For Christ's sake. Both would be good. Neither would be good. I have no idea what the individual needs of the athlete in question are.

[PhysiqueKing]

Any kind of squat works on hip extension. So, any kind of squat is good. No one modality is better than the other. Depending on the sport, weaknesses of the athlete, time of year, etc. will determine what you should be doing in training. Anyone who says any one thing is better than anything else is trying to sell you something.


Everything works for a while and nothing works forever.

This post is on ****ing point.


Edit: That's what my rep was supposed to say, too.

[ajymerced]

But would it be okay to do front squats instead of back squats for SL 5x5, considering my goals?