Legs
Front Squat
What it works
Mainly: Quads, Glutes. Also: Core, Upper back.
Setup
Bar resting on the front of your shoulders, elbows up high. Fingers under the bar are a guide, not a grip — the shelf is your shoulders.
How it goes
Stay upright the whole way down. The moment your elbows drop, the bar rolls forward and you lose it, so keep driving them up as you stand.
Two things people get wrong
- Gripping the bar with the hands instead of resting it on the shoulders, which wrecks your wrists.
- Going too heavy too early — this lift punishes a rounded upper back immediately.
If the kit’s busy
Goblet squat with a dumbbell held at the chest.
Also written as: Front Squats
In these programmes
These are setup and execution cues, not coaching. If something hurts, stop — and if you're training around an injury or a health condition, get a professional's eyes on it first.