"Front squats are amongst my favorite accessories for overhead pressing leg drive, atlas stones, yoke, and… well… everything athletic and strongman." - Martins Licis, 2019 WSM

As somebody who enjoys strongman training, the fact that he included strongmen in his list of people who should avoid the front squat is absolutely wild. The only legitimate reason to avoid front squatting is if your sole objective is to maximize stimulus to target muscles while minimizing systemic fatigue. And like you said, if that is the case then your best bet is to just strictly stick to machines.

I'm mostly a zercher squat enthusiast but front squats are also baller. Callout was well deserved and I think this was one of Mikes most ridiculous vids

I started out as just a "hypertrophy dude", but now I have modified my training to be stronger and more functional (basically hypertrophy+ strongman style stuff) . My main sources for the functional stuff being you and Brian Alsruhe. That said, front squats are awesome and very humbling.

I think Mike approached this wrong. I dont disagree with what he says point-by-point, but I think that extrapolating those points to saying "front squats are bad" doesnt really make sense. For example, local muscular strength and hypertrophy would improve more for the quads with a different exercise since it can be loaded without the "downsides" of the frontsquat by way of more load, in a more controlled manner, and with the local muscle being more of a limiting factor. However, frontsquats give probably 80% of those same gains with the added specificity to strength sports (strong man, powerlifting, etc) AND every day life (posture, thoracic health, learned body mechanics, etc) due to those "downsides". Seems like he just never zoomed out a little. I also LOVE that you brought up that there IS carryover to other squats and the importance of having a variety of exercises over time. Front squats should atleast be a lifters side-chick before big-momma-backsquat starts to hurt. I've watched a couple of these responsive videos to Dr Mike's take on front squats and this is the only one I've liked. Thanks man! Definitely subscribed

Enriki went scorched earth on Mike.😂 As an Oly lifter myself I agree with every word. Fantastic video.

I think you nailed it in the head Mr Enkiri with the word of the century.."Myopic"..these influencers 🤏 never consider things such as power, balance, mobility, joint and tendon integrity, nervous system recruitment, etc.. these things are utterly important for a long quality of life.. just continue to knock em down.. they'll learn someday.. Stay strong 💪

I'm mainly a bodybuilder ( although I do dabble in some calisthenics ;) ) and I gotta say, I'll never stop doing front squats thanks to you ❤

It's funny Mike is concerned with the bar compressing his shoulder joints and his lungs/breathing but he also has no problem getting so big he can no longer overhead press. Reminds me of reading the intro to Wendler's 5/3/1 and him talking about getting out of breath walking around the block. So many stories like that. Sounds like a "i turned myself into a 240+ pound immobile chunk of muscle" type of problem. I wonder if the front squat is uncomfortable to Mike because he's just dysfunctional physically. Not going to be a problem for 99% of people.

You were one of the people that finally got me to incorporate front squats in my regimen. Really regret not including it from the start, but I'm glad I eventually did. I've gotten even more gains in my back squat and quad size where I was stalling out before. My back strength, which I already thought was great, got even better as the front squat hit areas that deadlifting and rows didn't. Takes about a month or two to get comfortable with em, but it's worth it.

Enkiri, i never really did Front squats before, but have now learned to love them because of your channel. It is a learning curve, but you will get better and i can see the benefits in my squat form already.

I just switched from beck squats to front squats due to a workplace neck injury. I will say, they're not easy and are humbling. I back squatted 510lbs and can barely do 315. This tells me front squats are going to fix a lot of weaknesses and mobility issues. Also, if you have spine issues, they have much less axial loading and imo are better for spine health. Cheers!

Love the thumbnail. Dr Mikes foot is perpetually in his mouth these days

Just as an aside, your point about his “stress on your shoulders” aspect reminded me of Mike criticising Jeff for saying “never internally rotate your shoulders.” Somewhat ironic.

I don't really understand viewing an exercise as optimal or not. If it is fun, and has some benefits, I'll do it. If I was an Olympia finalist it may be more important, but oddly enough, my invite didn't show up this year.

Absolutely! I wish I would have started with the front squat (or had this advice) and built my base that way. Would have saved years of back pain when I had to take steps back to build my foundation correctly. Front squats or Zombies or Zerchers are hard but they build the body the right way.

I think if there was a gun to my head to build the biggest quads I'd just hack/SSB all day. I don't really see a problem with RP programming recommendations for pure natty bodybuilders because it really just amounts to "increase weight on exercises that mess up the muscle group until you deload and add a set if you don't feel much of a pump". And I do think a lot of natties myself included have an emotional attachment to freeweights. That being said the problem I do have moreso is that a lot of us are using the college gym leg press that stops you at parallel if you aren't 6ft2 and can't really be arsed to drag 50 yoga mats to get you the extra ROM, which means investing the extra time into becoming a freeweight master is as reasonable of a bet as you can ever get, where accepting a longer break-in period to unlock a good variation is probably worth not having to use as many poorly built machines.

These big moves are like the paint roller, and the smaller isolation movements are like the brush you cut in with. Doing nothing but isolation didn’t give me almost any gains. Someone said just do these six moves for 6 months and see what happens. I blew up. After years of training I went from 165 to 235 in a year and a half. People accused me of juicing. Later, I threw in a few (very few) isolation and when I cut down to 190 I was as lean as I was at 165 and had put on 25 lb of muscles in two years. For a lifelong natty that’s great. And, I don’t think I would have approached that with a bunch of concentration curls and lat raises. I’ve never seen a natural lifter get big lifting light weights. Front squats are great. Mike is myopic. There is no reason not to do them.

watching Dr. Mike's old videos back from his Juggernaut Training Systems days feels so surreal now. his interviews with Konstantins Kostantinovs and Mikhail Koklayev seem like they were done by a different person than the garbage I just watched now

Another good reason to front squat is that it doesn't require a rack. Clean it up and squat it down. You don't need safeties because when (not "if") you fail it dumps out in front of you. A couple of weeks ago I brought a 5 foot barbell and a stack of plates to a frozen beach and did Cleans, OHPs, and Front Squats. I really enjoy my workout field trips, but I'm not bringing machines or doing back squats.

Alec's quads are bigger than mikes roidgut, nuff said

I started front squatting on Wednesdays while doing Starting Strength and kept them when I moved to Texas Method. I took my front squat from 185 to 315 without even moving them off my light day, and I am definitely athletically challenged.

You are strong on that lift (and many others) I started doing front squats about two years ago. I find them hard but I love doing them!

I think they are just running out of ideas and resort to such kind of BS. That's great video material for you though :) Personally, I prefer Mike for the comedy and Alec for solid training advice ;)

Thank you brother, so refreshing to listen to your videos, all these steroid influencers giving advice is utter bullshit their testosterone is 50 times that of us natural so when they say something its a whole other set of rules to them. Im a natural front squatter and couldn't agree with you more.

Even people on gear do front squats. Ronnie Coleman never missed out on front squat. Ronnie Coleman has been on stage and won 8 Mr.Olympias. I feel like this is Dr.Mike lashing out, in any way that he can, at the industry that won't give him a shot on stage because of his bad genetics. Dr.Mike, you aren't meant for competitive body building. Stop being toxic and petty sir...

1:42 I saw his comment section..most newbies started fearing the front squat, fear mongering works 😬

I really respect Dr. Mike and I like his content. However, you are correct on this. A front squat is such a fantastic movement for so many reasons. As someone who competed in strongman, a front squat is a staple. For overheads, for object loading, for front carries, even as an accessory for deadlifts - it’s a staple with carryover to so many events.

The Back Squat is like the moon. The Front Squat is like the moon's reflection on the rising tide.

Lol you combined AE into RP, that was delightful, made me lol. So today I was at the squat rack, I'm trying to get used to the back squat movement. I feel I'm not doing it right but I want to try and try again. I thought I'd try the front squat today and tried to position the bar. Again, I felt like I wasn't doing it right. I should have got my phone out and looked it up but I started feeling uncomfortable so I put it on my back and just did that. I feel like I'm hinging and pushing with my back and I don't like how that feels. I know I can't expect to just be able to do it perfectly without practice so that's what I'm doing. I'm 6'2 and I have heard that people over 6 foot have problems with the back squat. I'm going to try again soon after watching this and GVS's video again.

One of the most well thought out and succinct rebuttals I’ve seen. The passion definitely shows!

You convinced me to start front squatting again.

I've never been a fan of Israetel, something always seems off about him - even though he always seem so educated and factual. I mainly didn't care about his advice, because he is clearly a steroid-head and when he says non-sense like steroid make only 10% difference, I couldn't care less about him. However after this video he is just laughable. He basically said "don't do front squats, cause they are harder". Some exercises shouldn't be done cause they are harder in a weird or dangerous way - f.e. balancing with barbell on a bosu ball, but this is not the case with front squats. They are extremely useful. Few years ago I've been also humbled by this exercise, cause I had to cut my barbell weight in half and I couldn't even grab the bar (I had to wrap my arms around it - lack of shoulder mobility). After few weeks I gained additional shoulder mobility, trained shoulders, trained the core, trained the knees. So what the hell this "dr Mike" is talking about? Is PhD in exercise science actually counter productive? It seems so.

these science based lifters told low volume was better but now they saying 52 sets per muscle group per week is optimal. its basically reinforces the point that just because something isnt scientifically studied doesnt mean it is scientifically wrong. 2:50 was epic

I learned how to front squat from you,,I did so much front squats when I had shoulder injury at work. Love your videos keep it up bro.

Dan John has also said on numerous occasions that he would have people learn the goblet squat, then the overhead squat, and then the front squat. Once they had got good at these movements, he would introduce the back squat into their training. He too has very high regards for the front squat, and that is saying something.

All the real lifters are starting to call this guy out ..I like it

Yea, I’ve stopped watching his videos about a year ago. As you said, he views everything through the lens of “How does this impact muscular hypertrophy in the immediate term?” This problem is most lifters aren’t worried about absolutely maximizing every ounce of possible muscle they can pack onto their frames. Most regular people want to look good but also be strong and improve their longevity. His videos are great if you’re a new, enhanced bodybuilder. Everyone else should seek other advice.

got my best quad growth from focusing on heel elevated front squats also pretty sure mike likes the ssb and that thing tries to fold your ass over neck first, so based on his arguments it would be worst for quads than the backsquat despite being arguable more stable.

Re: hypertrophy, whenever I lift at home, I don't have a leg extension machine, so I use the front squat to isolate my quads. Front squats straight after low bar squats is *BRUTAL.* I'm primarily a powerlifter, then a *Hypertrophy Enjoyer 🗿* secondarily. Btw: front squats always give me a *MAD* bonus ab pump, *free ab gains!*

It’s funny how he talks about bandwidth to keep the arm up. Like ye. U need bandwidth to keep ur chest up in the back squat. In fact that’s the whole point. It’s a cue to stay tight, upright and drive up. And minimised hip involvement. Which is great for quads. If it comes off. Ur shoulders dip and the bar falls. That’s something Mike would agree with if he thought about it. The front squat merely limits how much u can lean forward

Agreed. I like programming in the front squat as a variant to back squats or hack squats as well as to add volume and do not see the "down sides" as really concerning. Normally I like RP's content but this one, and a couple others here lately, have been head scratchers...

Spot on. Front squats really punish bad form and this is amplified with Zombie squats, which I Incorporated after watching your excellent video. I would advocate newbies starting with front squats just to get the form on point. The only drawback with this exercise is very minor and that is getting used to having the bar touch your throat. Keep up the good work.

Damn the thumbnail got me...i was really hoping athlean x had weighed in on this 🤣🤣

I switched over to more hypertrophy focused training, which for me just means doing compound lifts with slightly higher reps for me lol I still do front squats, just now I'm going more set of 5-8 rather than 3-5, I'm also only a few months in after starting back lifting so I'm way weaker now, but I find even with handling way less weight on them they were insanely well for leg and upper back size

I cannot agree more with this response video. And as a senior lifter (53), I can mention additional aspects that can be increasingly important with aging. (I) Having gone through cervical disk herniation, front squats are a fantastic option for me to continue increasing quad strength safely. (ii) Although I can still do low-bar back squats despite the above-mentioned neck injury, I have to limit volume because they stress my right shoulder, while I do not have any discomfort with front squats. (As Alec has rightly pointed out.) (iii) I feel much safer pushing my front squats as they are much easier to bail if one gets into trouble. (The tragic accident J. Vicky suffered cannot happen with FSQs.)

If you know much about Mike, you would know Mike has a permanent hard on for Big Z. There is a video of Big Z and Martins Licis doing zombie squats together, and they love them. I had to do a rebuild for nearly all of 2023. I wanted to give low bar an honest try. I started with just the bar. When I got to 150 lbs, my brain was just shutting down all power production. The shoulder mobility was killing me. I did three sets with 150 and could do no more. Switched to high bar 1 minute later and busted out a 5x5 with only 30 seconds of rest between sets. Right now I am front squatting and loving them

I love fitness youtuber drama. I remember vividly the whole Greg and Geoffrey situation...

With my long a$$ legs, I’ve yet to find a front squat variation that feels good. To blast the quads I usually do split squats or close stance squats

I saw RP's vid on front squats and was wondering when Alec would do this vid 😂 . Was very skeptical of RP's take personally.

During the front squat, my shoulders hurt and I get bruises on my collarbone, so I had to give up, no matter how great it was, unfortunately it doesn't suit me 😒

I allways thought stability "fireing" is good for muscle growth!? When it become the other way?!?

I love front squats for the simple reason you load the spine less, and you are more upright, which intices you to "cheat" less. Takes a while to learn, but worth it. Trying to reach 70kg on this movement

Back squats cause me shoulder discomfort and front squats don’t. I had a shoulder surgery years ago and didn’t regain my shoulder mobility, thus back squats cause me shoulder discomfort. I would say wrist and elbow pain or discomfort is more likely to occur with front squats, not shoulder pain or discomfort.

I love how passionate this guy is about lifting

This vid is great! Mike’s vid was terribly nocebic and fearmongering, it was awful to see. All of his points are terrible and misinformation. No front squats won’t hurt you, and for the comments saying that he is just focusing on hypertrophy, there have been studies that compared front squat to back squat and they have similar or BETTER outcomes for hypertrophy. So he’s wrong about his main thing anyway

I loved front squats but I sadly got tendonitis in both knees from overdoing leg workouts. I'm slowly recovering and plan to do these again soon.

I knew a response was coming anyway... front squats are the truth for big natty legs.. just asking for some advice here: i am in a pretty bad situation now the current gym that i am going to doesn't have a squat rack and only has a squat stand with no spotter arms. squatting with no spotters might look hardcore but because of the risk it carries and recent news of justin vicky(rip) i just am scared to push myself to squat in low rep range. i just can't. how ever i can suck up the pain and do zercher reverse lunge which i have done in the past and i love the results it brought me. i remember u making a video on doing a strength accumulation phase where u get strong as shit on your heavy knee flexions(ie squats) and combining them with volume work to get maximal growth. all i am asking is can i use the reverse lunge exercise as my strength exercise and complement itnwith legpresses for volume work. this period might last for 1-2 years

Dr. Mike will never utter the words "It might not be the best for hypertrophy, but there are other factors to consider." Strength, athleticism, specific sport applications, quality of life, get all that from another channel, because Dr. Mike is only here to make you as big as possible. KZfaq lets us get many opinions, and no single channel is the gospel. I watch lots of iron channels and some calisthenics channels too.

I often like his advice but doesn’t mean i will follow it . I do push pull legs , the strength day i do back squats on the hypertrophy day i do front ( zombie ) squats. I found the front squats at higher reps helps my back squatting 🤷‍♂️

Ive heard dan green talk about how front squat built his quads...for powerlifting. But the guy looks like a bodybuilder 😂

Dr. Mike has been getting weirder and weirder lately. Not sure what’s going on.

Oh this is fabulous 😁 As a front squatter, thank you!

Not the iron graveyard 😂

I learned to front squat first. I couldn't imagine doing any other kind.

That chest is looking thick!

Lol at the Hipppp drrrive Mike Rippetoe pun 😂😂😂

I would love to be able to incorporate front squats. I think they’re great. But my frame (orangutan arms, short torso, long femurs) makes them nearly impossible. The time that I would spend developing my technique to the point that I could get anywhere close to my back squat could be time I spend on improving my back squat. As it stands, I do use a cambered bar for some of my squat work, and it moves the plates closer to the front of my body, though not in line with the clavicle like a true front squat. And those have done wonders for my leg drive on a deadlift. So again. Wish I could do them, but I’ve got something that gets me at least halfway there and cost me zero additional time in feeling out and developing technique. For someone in his forties, that’s a win.

"To wrap things up, wobbly and shaky legs when you squat can be due to many reasons. It can indicate issues like poor technique, excessive fatigue, poor technique, muscular imbalances, insufficient food intake, or dehydration." - so 15 years later you're still not stable in this exercise. Front squatting will build muscle sure, as compared to not doing anything or choosing even less affective exercises, but it's not the best way to build any muscle group and there's better uses of your time. It's like saying eating nothing but crawdads from a river will help you lose weight better than eating Mcdonalds... well no fucking shit. But is it the best option available? If you want advice on how to chase perfection intelligently and as efficiently as possible, watch dr Mike. If you just want advice on becoming stronger than you are now, listen to literally anyone on youtube including this guy

Idk man, I front squatted 335 ass to grass and still get called out for skipping legs

Isn't goblet squat with a dumbbell very much a front squat without a barbell.

That strongman comment was so off, i dont really know where he got that from... Also he didnt use imo the best argument which i would gave him - frontsquats are much harder to do for reps, because you start to loose bracing...but shoulder dicomfort? Pressure on lungs? What? Not even talking about things like back health, spine compresion, posture, core strenght and all those things in which fs would absolutely win

Hey Mr science dude You know what would fix the "not stable enough" problem Lower the weight and get stronger😂 You know Alec, my favorite fitness video period is the one you said about how people lost the sauce and started training to look like Goku as opposed to getting strong like him I was stagnant for so long because the pump and fluff channels have gotten so trendy that I started thinking maybe they were right But no No matter how many strict high reps I did No matter how full and pumped I felt My muscles NEVER grew I decided to front squat because of you actually I adopted your athletic mindset as opposed to the swollen tumor that everyone wants to be And not only did I gain muscle and LOOK better, I feel stronger too You, Alex and Geoff are the Trinity of not only good information, but entertaining content

Hahahahaah i knew Alex wad gonna respond as soon as i saw Mikes video 😂😂😂😂

Mike Israetel is a dude on gear that preaches use of easy exercises

Dr Mike is a literal clown

I love the sensation of front squats but I always end up throwing in the towel after a few sessions because of pain. Using straps or cross arms or doing zombie squats never clicked for me. The front rack position (I use 3 fingers) works well but for the fact I get this burning sensation in my right palm and wrist + pins and needles - during the squat - and several days after. I assume it's some nerve related thing. Even just applying some gentle pressure by pressing my fingers onto something triggers it after its onset. My issue specifically with the other methods of placing the bar is the bar ends up pressing against my throat and causing uncontrollable coughing and choking. Maybe I put the bar too far back? I place it behind my delt. If the bar instead rests on top of my delt, I don't choke but I struggle with the bar slipping off.

Oh it gets better bro.... The hypertrophy heads won't even give him a pass. GVS roasted him over this too. That would be one of the guys you corrupted into front squatting Alec! Lol I'm hoping to see Alexander Bromley roast him too. After his "exercise science is killing your gains" video, I've been hoping to see him go off again. This has all been chicken soup for the performance lifters soul. If I could like the video twice I would. I love watching y'all roast the evidence based crowd when they get to smelling themselves too much.

Oh good, another "expert", telling us another "expert" is wrong. Just what we need.

oh no stabilizers have to kick in during heavy compound movements who wouldve thought

front squat is def my fav exercise

I love me a good N-Kai-Rai dismantling video!

My legs blew up after incorporating front squats

Hi, Alec. Great video. I'm curious--would a lifter with particularly long femurs and a short torso stand to benefit especially from front squat programming? I can't help but feel hip dominant in any back squat variation because I require so much hip flexion / torso lean to get my squat to depth. It's as if my high bar squat is like everyone else's low bar squat because of the way I'm proportioned.

I really hope people keep linking mike this video till he responds...

Front Squat and High Bar Squat are both better than Low Bar Squat for quad development, as low bar is a hip hinge dominate movement.

Great video brother thank you❤

The fact that even Athlean X himself has endorsed the front squat in the past makes this so much funnier

I was hoping to see your take on this 👍

I stopped taking him seriously when he recommended supersetting pull ups and heavy deadlifts.

the og of front squats has come too save us

Uuuuu I've been waiting for this video 🤩

RP’s content has been on the decline recently. It seems like their videos are just 90% sex jokes, 10% actual lifting information. And then the lifting advice is just rage bait half the time

Re: "limited bandwidth" Sounds more like a symptom of mind-muscle neurosis than any kind of problem with the movement. Also how is the high-bar squat so superior for "general/overall" development if the low-bar is so inadequate? Seems to me like a low-bar and front squat combined can prove quite potent, at least for some rather common anthropometries (e.g., not Mike's) as well as lend to overall better posterior development (as well as coordinating the anterior and posterior to function in tandem--important for pulls from the floor, but he doesn't can much about those much either), which is generally less trivial than quad development anyhow.

Personally I don’t love front squats but I will prescribe them from time to time. I’m a powerlifter and it’s a great way to build posterior chain while squatting and is huge in new lifters. At this point I’ve also heard enough advanced lifters say that front squats have carried over well to their deadlift that I think it’s better for that than the back squat because of how it taxes the erectors. Also I don’t feel the low bar isn’t bad for leg growth. It may not isolate the quads as much as high bar but they are still working equally as hard if the load is increased - you’re just getting more assistance to from the posterior. Think of it like a belt - is your core working harder with 200lbs beltless or 250lbs with a belt? Probably very similar imo.

Only 45 seconds in but I’m sensing an instant classic

I love Dr. Mike's material, but I have to agree with Alec on this topic.

I had a similar thing happen with Greg Doucette where I enjoyed his content and learned some things from it, then he started making more outlandish, click-baity claims and now he's a fitness charlaten. I hope this was a one-time thing for Dr. Mike and that he doesn't fall down the same path.

Yeah, never though Mike would fall into the rabbit hole of fitness influencers, HE was one of the few who i looked every new video after escaping Cavaliere fan club, welp, at least I know better when some phony tries to sell me the "very best of the best"

Zombie front squats hit my adductors glutes and abs in a wayp that back squats never could.