This is my first attempt at incorporating front squats into my program. I worked up to 255 then dropped back down to 205 for 3 sets of 5. With the heavier weight I was definitely GMing too much, ended up supporting the weight with my wrists to wrestle it up which felt awful. I can LB back squat 355. My observations: My knees were sore the next day. Is my stance too wide/feet angled out too much? I feel like my chest should be more forward and my upper back not as rounded, but in order to rack the bar to where it felt stable I had to bring my shoulders forward. Should I be able to rack it but still have my shoulders back more, or is this nothing to worry about?
Toe angle/stance width are okay if you can maintain proper knee/foot alignment. Can't see it from the video, but it does look like you're overpronating a bit. Rest is fine.
Try racking the bar a bit higher. See how the below is almost at his neck. It's hard to tell from the video, but it almost looks like the bar is touching the top of your chest inches down from the neck. To me, that makes a huge difference. I front squat with a much narrower stance and do not point my toes out near as much as I would on a back squat, but I've seen other front squat fairly wide with toes pointed out.
Ah, yeah it definitely wasn't up there by my neck. Thanks for the tip, I think that'll make a difference. When I do that should I try to retract my scapulae and bring my shoulders back or is some forward shoulder positioning normal?
I also wanted to ask, should I get some heel elevation going? Not gonna buy new shoes but I could do the plates under the heels thing.
I just focus on elbows up and back tight. The biggest issue is elbows going down and weight transferring forwards. I actually focus on my upper body a lot more on front squats than I do on back squats. My legs are easily strong enough to get the weight up, so the big issue is having my upper body hold the rack position. As for shoes, I have been front squatting in chuck's just fine.
