Front Squat (Clean Grip)Muscles Worked
The front squat works your quads hardest, while your abs work to keep you upright under the bar and the glutes and hamstrings help you stand. With the bar racked on your front delts in a clean grip, your torso stays more upright than in a back squat.
PrimaryQuads
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Intermediate
- Type
- Compound
- Force
- Push
How to do it
- Rack the bar at about shoulder height and step in so it sits on your front delts, right against your collarbones.
- Place your hands just outside shoulder width with your fingertips under the bar, then lift your elbows until your upper arms point forward.
- Stand up to unrack, step back and set your feet about shoulder width apart with your toes slightly out.
- Brace your core and squat straight down between your heels, keeping your elbows up and your chest tall.
- Go as deep as you can with an upright torso, then drive through your whole foot to stand back up.
Form tips
- Keep your elbows high throughout, because if they drop the bar rolls forward and your upper back rounds.
- The bar rests on your shoulders, not in your hands, so a loose fingertip grip is enough.
- If your wrists are tight, use a slightly wider grip or fewer fingers on the bar while you work on mobility.
Why it made the list
No. 6 of 13
Best Quad Exercises
Shifts quad emphasis even higher than back squat by keeping torso more upright. Less lower back stress.
More quad exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Front Squat (Clean Grip) sets in KasMaker and watch your quads, abs, glutes, and hamstrings fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
