Front squats

Simply put, the front squat is an essential lift for someone who strength trains seriously. This post is intended to provide a brief outline of the essential elements of a good front squat.

First off, learn how to do a proper squat using no weight whatsoever. If you cannot do a proper squat with a straight back, keeping your feet flat on the floor.......keep working. The front squat is a technical lift and good technique is paramount.



Front Squat Guidelines

1). Grab an Olympic bar with hands slightly closer than shoulder distance apart

2). Rotate bar upwards so the the bar is resting on the front of the shoulder and your palms are facing upwards.

3). Elevate your elbows upwards so that they are perpependicular to the line of your shoulder.

4). Drop slowly into a deep squat keeping your elbows high.

5). Your butt should drop slightly below knee level at the bottom of the squat

5). Keep your elbows high and in line with the shoulder througout the entire duration of the lift....this is the essence of a proper front squat.

Keep working peoples!


For good video clips of proper front squatting technique, check out www.crossfit.com

Images courtesy of www.crossfit.com

Final days......

To clarify.......I am actually referring to the amount of time left to train outside rather than the impending destruction of mankind.

To that end I will not stand on my soapbox and launch into a long-winded, opinionated, and self righteous diatribe on the merits of working out on a track......or field. No, that is for another time my friends because today is all about business. You will however need a track or other suitable outdoor facility
(ie. field).

This workout involves two of my favorite things, running short to moderate distances and throwing in a strength element. The addition of strength really stimluates and activates aerobic power as well as some anaerobic elements.

Anyway, without further ado, I introduce the "tracker".

TRACKER

Run- 2,400 m (fast)

After the run immediately perform

Push-ups- Complete an eight set pyramid doing "travelling" push-ups".

Set #1 - 8 push-ups *travel into the next running lane (approximately 3 feet)

Set #2- 7 push-ups *travel into the next running lane (approximately 3 feet)

Set #3- 6 push-ups *travel into the next running lane (approximately 3 feet)

Sets#4- 5 push-ups *travel into the next running lane (approximately 3 feet)

etc, etc

Continue downwards until you reach one push-up. This leaves you with a total of 36-push-ups in total for the set. Incidentally, this works great on an
8-lane running track. The push-ups should be done with as little rest as possible until the entire set is completed.

P.S. You musttravel between each set. You can't just decide to do a straight set of 36-push-ups because you don't want to look like a dork.

Advanced- repeat this circuit 2-3 times taking about 1-minute between each round

Intermediate- try it once and see how you feel

Hope all is good out there peoples?

M