The front squat is a powerful lower body exercise also known as the little brother of the barbell back squat. It requires the lifter to place the barbell on top of his front shoulders, squat down and get back up.
The movement calls for a decent wrist flexibility. For that reason, many people experience wrist pain during front squats. In this article, nattyornot.com will present you a few solutions to this problem.
1.Use the cross grip when you front squat.
The cross grip (bodybuilding grip) eliminates completely the need for flexible wrists due to the neutral hand positioning.
The main disadvantage of this grip is that it provides less control than the regular (clean grip). However, after a certain period of time, you will get used to it.
If you don’t plan on doing weightlifting movements like the power clean, you don’t need the clean grip.
The legendary Dave Draper performing front squats with the clean grip.
2.Use straps to reduce wrist stress.
Straps can be put to a very good use during front squats. If you wrap a pair of straps around the bar, you can use them as handles. Observe the pictures below for further clarification.
image credit: http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/
image credit: http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/
Note: The images above are from the article:
Straps For Higher Rep Front Squats – Doug Nassif
This method offers more bar stability compared to the regular cross-over style and is particularly good if you want to do front squats for high reps.
3.Improve your wrist flexibility and mobility.
You can perform mobility and flexibility exercises to make your wrists more flexible. For ideas consult the video by John Cortese.
4.Wrap your wrists
Even if you do everything correctly, it’s still pretty easy to strain your wrists. This is why people often use wrists wraps during front squats. Make sure that your wrist wraps do not restrict the blood flow to the area.
5.Use the front squat harness
The front squat harness is a great device that will allow you to front squat safely without extra stress on your wrists, arms and shoulders. You can use it for Zercher squats too.
Louie Simmons using the front squat harness
image via: www.drdarden.com
i will try the clean grip but yes hard on my wrists. i heard your front squat should be 80 per cent of your back squat .