How to do a Front Squat to increase your strength and improve your performance in CrossFit WODs.

Set up for Front Squat

• Begin with your feet shoulder width apart standing tall
• The bar is held with the hands slightly outside shoulders in the rack position with the elbows high and parallel to the ground

Points of Performance for Front Squat

• -Send your hips back and down while keeping your chest up and elbows high
• Descend until the hip crease breaks the plane of the knees
•  Knees are always tracking over the toes
• Driving through your heels, ascend back to your starting position
• Rep is completed when the knees and hips are fully locked and open at the top

Tips & Tricks

• Athletes have a tendency to allow their knees to cave in while ascending out of the front squat
  • Think about pushing the knees out on the way up, corkscrewing your feet into the ground (clockwise with the right and counterclockwise with the left) can help keep those knees in line as well as create more power out of the squat
• Athletes should be able to wiggle their toes at any point throughout the front squat
  • Driving through the heels is key
• Don’t allow the elbows to drop at any point
  • Keeping your elbows up is not only going to maintain your lumbar curve for safety but it will help you stay back on your heels
• Going soft in the bottom of your squat is an error and isn’t a safe position for your back
  • Taking a big breath and tightening your core before you descend will create a belly belt and help keep your back in a safe position