15/10/2025
Front squat vs Back squat
Front squats make your quads, hamstrings, glutes and back muscles work harder than back squats with less weight needed. Logically this will be in part due to the nature of balancing the weight in the front of your shoulder and having a more vertical spine position.
Studies show during 1 rep max lifts your muscles work harder during the front squat than the back squat. Meaning you can get the same if not better training stimulus with less load.
Less load on the bar, means less force through your body. This has the potential to reduce the risk of you getting injured while training.
This being said, the back squat is an easier movement to learn for most people, especially with the weight pushing you into the bottom of the squat. Which is why it's a far more common lift seen in gyms across the world. It will allow you to put much more weight on the bar, more weight means more force generated so theoretically leading to more power/strength gains.
Both movements are very useful for everyone. Being able to train with less load and get good gains is massive for very active people as high load all the time isn't good for recovery. And maximal load with the back squat will allow you to produce more force with athletic performance. A combination will always yield the best result and will transfer into sports well.
