Whether you're looking to attack your squat from the back, the front, or both, squats have many benefits, but which one is best for developing strong quads?
As a trainer, I've used both methods with clients over the years, and which one you favor will depend on goals, loading, mechanics, weights, and your experience, but there is a superior option for your quads and core: the front squat.
Before you even think about loading up your plates, I highly recommend refining your technique by learning how to do squats to cover the essential movements. Below, I explain how to do front and back squats, their benefits, differences, and how to properly prioritize each for your strength training programs.
Front squat vs back squat: what’s the difference?
Squats strengthen your lower body and build lean muscle, but you'll load the bar along your upper traps and rear delts for a back squat or along the front of your body above your chest and anterior delts for a front squat. Both variations work the same muscle groups, including your hips, quads, glutes, hamstrings, and abs.
Due to the position of the bar, the back squat places more emphasis on the muscles of the posterior chain (back of the body), including the lower back, glutes, and hamstrings, while front squats place more emphasis on the muscles in the front of the body, including the quads, abdominal muscles, and hip flexors, as well as the upper back.
How to do a back squat
- Place your bar at about chest height using a squat rack.
- Grasp the bar with an overhand grip at shoulder width and wrap your thumbs around the bar.
- Reach under the bar and place the bar across your upper back and shoulders.
- Pull your elbows back slightly and lower your shoulders to create a shelf for the weight
- Stand and step back with the bar
- Place your feet hip or shoulder width apart.
- Pre-stretch your body by bracing your core and squeezing your glutes
- Push your hips back and lower yourself into a squat position. Keep your chest lifted and your back straight
- Lower yourself until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, then pause at the bottom.
- As you exhale, push through your feet to stand up.
- Squeeze your glutes as you extend your hips.
How to do a front squat
- Place your bar at about chest height using a squat rack.
- Use an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder width
- Place your elbows under the bar and place the bar high on the front of your shoulders while avoiding your neck.
- Spread the bar by lifting your elbows and secure it with your hands or fingers depending on wrist flexibility, then move back
- Keep your back flat, your stomach and glutes tight and your chest lifted, pre-stressing your body
- Follow the steps above to perform the squat.
Lifters with limited upper body mobility, particularly in the shoulders, wrists, and forearms, find front squats more difficult and often struggle to hold the position. However, a good, reputable trainer will review your mechanics and be able to recommend grip options and substitutions, as well as exercises to strengthen and open up tight or weak areas before lifting.
That said, you don't want to rely too much on your wrists and arms during the front squat, as the bar needs to be positioned high enough on your shoulders with some support from your palms or fingers to secure the weight. In fact, when setting up, I encourage clients to position the bar and then extend their arms away from them to check that the position is correct.
Unless you're working toward a specific goal, including both barbell squat variations can help you develop your technique, but if one doesn't work for you, consider skipping it.
Front Squat vs Back Squat: Which is Better?
If you're looking to build lower body muscle or leg strength in the gym, consider adding squats to your routine.
This is a fundamental functional exercise and is among the top five compound exercises in weightlifting. To prioritize your hamstrings, focus on the back load of your squats and to work your quads and abs, consider the front squat.
While barbell squats, especially back squats, allow you to load maximally, which is best for strength training and one-rep maxes, you can also load forward or backward using dumbbells, kettlebells, and resistance bands.
Think goblet squats, for example, or front rack squats. If you're thinking about sticking with dumbbells, here are 5 things I wish I'd known before trying barbell squats for the first time.
Your mechanics, injuries, and gym experience may determine which squat is best for you, but another benefit of front squats is the reduced impact on your lower back and knees. For many lifters, front squats put less stress on the lumbar spine and knee joints, and research backs this up.
A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that the front squat “is as effective as the back squat in terms of overall muscle recruitment,” but is potentially better for knee problems, tears, and long-term joint health. The front squat’s positioning can help lifters maintain an upright posture, while a heavy load toward the back can sometimes send the chest forward.
For those into powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting, back squats are a key exercise to master, so if competition is your goal, you may want to focus your efforts on perfecting your back squat form.
On the other hand, front squats help prepare you for cleans, jerks, snatches, and other technical exercises that require lifting weights in front of you and lifting a barbell forward.
Whether you’re preparing for a competition, hypertrophy training, or strength training, squats are a solid addition to your program. But remember, they’re knee-dominant, so adding hip-hinge movements like deadlifts will help diversify your routine and create a more complete lower-body program. Just like push and pull days strengthen your chest and back, respectively, during upper-body workouts, you can leverage this into leg day by using a hip hinge and knee-dominant movements.
Overall, the best squat is one that you can consistently perform, develop, and use without injury to get the best results. If something doesn't work for you, avoid it, and when developing a strength training program in the gym, I highly recommend working with a trainer first to help focus your training efforts.