back squat vs. front squat

Chris H Laing · 03-30-2009, 05:02 PM

So at the moment I am pretty much unable to do a high bar back squat. Not sure why, but I would like to start training with it as soon as possible.

I had thought that working on front squats would help me get used to the position, but I just find myself tipping forward on the front squats, which makes it hard to use an significant weight.

Are their better ways to working up to a high bar back squat? Should I keep chugging away at the front squats, or maybe work on converting low bar back squats to high bar?

My plan is to get my hb back squat nice and strong, and then get into oly lifting, but I cant get a strong HB backsquat if I cant do one...haha.

Any advice?

Brian DeGennaro · 03-30-2009, 05:05 PM

Do you have any video of your squats?

George Mounce · 03-30-2009, 06:37 PM

Do you have lifting shoes?

Chris H Laing · 03-31-2009, 03:18 AM

I can get videos, and I do have lifting shoes. The rogue dowins.

Brian Lawyer · 03-31-2009, 07:22 AM

See if any of this helps:
Everett says on his DVD that everything has to conform to an upright torso. By that I mean sit down in a squat position, lift your chest make your torso upright, and then position Knees, hips, toes, etc. all around maintaining that upright torso position. From there, you would have your squat stance. Probably your toes should be flared quite a bit and knees wide. Feet shoulder width. You can try sitting down against a wall to set your torso straight and sit down on your ankles.

Also, why are you waiting to train Olympic lifting? If you do an overhead squat with the bar you should start working on snatches and C&J's.

Chris H Laing · 03-31-2009, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Lawyer

Also, why are you waiting to train Olympic lifting? If you do an overhead squat with the bar you should start working on snatches and C&J's.

I'm waiting because I cant do an overhead squat with good form. Its like a weird LB back squat cept I'm holding the bar up instead of resting it on my back.

I wanna wait because I feel like if I have a strong HB back squat, it will help me with the upright position, so I can start training the FS and OHS more effectively.

Brian DeGennaro · 03-31-2009, 10:32 AM

Getting that OHS better will guarantee a good FS and BS.

From my assumption you have long legs and/or inflexible ankles which is making you lean over so much with your toes pointed slightly out. Guess what? Turn your feet out even more, there's nothing wrong with it. It suits your body type.

That's my .02 and my assumption. Longer femurs are going to make you shoot your hips back and head forward the more straight ahead your feet are.

Arden Cogar Jr. · 03-31-2009, 10:53 AM

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I'm in a similar quandry.

I can back squat (in high bar narrow foot fashion) a LOT more than I can front squat (like 250+ kilos compared to 165 kilos). Granted I didn't start front squatting on a regular basis until last Fall (actually, I couldn't hold the bar in the rack until last Summer).

To remedy this discrepancy, I've stopped back squatting all together. Now, all I do is front squats and OHS. I've also widened my stance on both my front squat and OHS to more accurately reflect my recieving stance in the clean and snatch.

Am I going about this properly?

All the best,
Arden

Brian DeGennaro · 03-31-2009, 11:00 AM

Yes you are, Arden. Front squats will naturally raise your back squat or keep it where it is at since it's so damn high. I'm pretty sure my back squat's gotten up there as a result of front squatting for the past 2 months. I'm using weights for FS I normally use to rep out on BS so I'm positive. I've also found that it's very important to push the knees out while FS'ing and OHS'ing and keep pushing even as you lock the weight out.

I wish I had a 250kg+ BS...

Arden Cogar Jr. · 03-31-2009, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian DeGennaro

Yes you are, Arden. Front squats will naturally raise your back squat or keep it where it is at since it's so damn high. I'm pretty sure my back squat's gotten up there as a result of front squatting for the past 2 months. I'm using weights for FS I normally use to rep out on BS so I'm positive. I've also found that it's very important to push the knees out while FS'ing and OHS'ing and keep pushing even as you lock the weight out.

I wish I had a 250kg+ BS...

Thanks Brian,
It's all relative. You look great on a beach and I'm simply "big and scary looking" to my 11 year old daughter's friends.

I'll stay the course and keep on plugging.

All the best,
Arden