Exercise Library
Front Squat + Back Squat
The front squat + back squat complex is a way to push leg and trunk effort past what can be done with just front squats.
Perform 1-3 reps of the front squat. Rack the bar and immediately take it back out in back squat position, and perform your back squat reps—usually considerably more than front squat.
Because the back squat places less stress on the trunk and uses more leg and hip musculature, we can continue back squatting past when our front squat would fail. This lets us get more reps into a set to tap into more motor units and plain old guts. Often we’ll take the back squat to near max reps rather than a prescribed number.
Purpose
Because the back squat places less stress on the trunk and uses more leg and hip musculature, we can continue back squatting past when our front squat would fail. This lets us get more reps into a set to tap into more motor units and plain old guts.
Programming
This complex is appropriate to use on a day of heavy front squatting, so the front squat reps are between 1-3, and back squat reps may be 5-10 depending on the athlete and how hard it’s desired to push them. A set number of each can be prescribed, or a set number of front squats followed by max rep back squats, or max front squats (short of failure of course) followed by max rep back squats (it can be a good idea to limit the top end of max reps to 10 or fewer to avoid marathons by athletes with unusual stamina).
Perform 1-3 reps of the front squat. Rack the bar and immediately take it back out in back squat position, and perform your back squat reps—usually considerably more than front squat.
Because the back squat places less stress on the trunk and uses more leg and hip musculature, we can continue back squatting past when our front squat would fail. This lets us get more reps into a set to tap into more motor units and plain old guts. Often we’ll take the back squat to near max reps rather than a prescribed number.
Purpose
Because the back squat places less stress on the trunk and uses more leg and hip musculature, we can continue back squatting past when our front squat would fail. This lets us get more reps into a set to tap into more motor units and plain old guts.
Programming
This complex is appropriate to use on a day of heavy front squatting, so the front squat reps are between 1-3, and back squat reps may be 5-10 depending on the athlete and how hard it’s desired to push them. A set number of each can be prescribed, or a set number of front squats followed by max rep back squats, or max front squats (short of failure of course) followed by max rep back squats (it can be a good idea to limit the top end of max reps to 10 or fewer to avoid marathons by athletes with unusual stamina).
