Front Squat to Bench with Barbells

🎯 Quadriceps🏋️ BarbellCompoundHamstrings (2°)Calves (2°)

How to do the front squat to bench with barbells

  1. The Front Squat works the same muscles as the rear squat without placing the weight of the bar on your shoulders. This exercise can be a good substitute for people with back and neck injuries. By using a bench you remind yourself how far to squat down
  2. Steps
  3. Place a bench behind you.
  4. Place the barbell on your upper chest, resting it across your front deltoids and holding it with your arms crossed securely.
  5. Keep your head and back straight, abs drawn in and your toes pointing slightly outward.
  6. Slowly “squat” down so your upper thighs are parallel to the floor.
  7. Slowly return to the starting position.
  8. Note: Practice the squat without any weight to allow yourself to become comfortable with the movements. Do not sit on the bench during the exercise.

Muscles worked

The prime movers are the quadriceps across the front of the thigh, which straighten the knee and, just as importantly, control it on the way back down.

Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the hamstrings assist hip extension and slow the knee down; the calves control the ankle and hold the heel position.

Every exercise for:QuadricepsHamstringsCalves

How this movement works

Several joints move together, so effort spreads across a chain rather than concentrating in one place. Coordination is part of the difficulty: the movement is only as good as its weakest link, and improving it often means fixing a position somewhere other than the muscle you meant to train.

It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.

What you need

A barbell locks both hands to one bar, so neither side can drift and the load climbs in plate-sized steps. That makes it the simplest way to add weight and the least forgiving thing to bail out of.

Every exercise using:Barbell

These train the quadriceps too, using equipment this one does not:

Related exercises

Illustration: Everkinetic — CC BY-SA 4.0 — license. Modified versions are shared under the same license. Full attribution →

ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.