08Nov 2019 by BR Srinivasan
Is squatting the knees past the toes bad?

Is squatting the knees past the toes bad?

Blog
Let us talk about two variants of Squats, the Front Squat and the Back Squat. The Front Squats are Quad Dominant. And your knees will definitely go well past your toes. Owing to the fact that the hamstrings are very shortened in this Squat, they do not contribute towards any hip extension. The Back Squat, at-least in the Low Bar Back Squat, where the Hip Drive forms a very important component, the Posterior Chain of Muscles (the hamstring, the glutes and the lower back) contribute quite heavily towards Hip Extension. Here, the emphasis is on Hip Drive. However, here too, the knees will go past the toes, but only just a bit. Exactly how much, depends on an individual's anthropometry, but it is nowhere as much ahead of the toes,…
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06Nov 2019 by BR Srinivasan
What’s the better choice for athletes, front squats or back squats? Why?

What’s the better choice for athletes, front squats or back squats? Why?

Blog
What sport is the athlete participating in? In any case, obviously, Front Squats and Back Squats are done for Strength, (please do NOT use them for purposes of conditioning...there are FAR better and LESS riskier ways to conditioning). Front Squats will concentrate more on the Quadriceps. Back Squats concentrate more on the Posterior Chain (Hamstrings, Glutes, Lower Back). If we take an example of a track athlete, most of their workouts use the quads predominantly. The posterior chain muscles lag behind in strength development, usually. This is ok until the athlete tries to stretch their own limits (as they would, during competition and when they are trying to improve on their Personal Best during practice). There comes a point when the hamstrings for instance are not able to keep up…
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