Our Friend Taylor Shares The Benefits Of Front Squats vs. Back Squats
Hey AC Community!
We are so excited to share our friend, Taylor, with you! He played college baseball at Gonzaga University and now works as the Director of Strength at Push Performance. Taylor has extensive knowledge in physical activity and we are so happy to have him share his knowledge with you! Take it away Taylor!
Hey AC! Let’s jump right in. I recently graduated from Gonzaga University, where I majored in Kinesiology and Physical Education. During my time at Gonzaga, I also played baseball where I gained my passion for being in the weight room. The weight room has allowed me to learn valuable lessons about life, my career, and how I want to be as a coach. Since the age of 5 the only thing I wanted to do was play baseball. Throughout my time as a player, I struggled with weight gain, which led me to educate myself on how to become bigger and better. Through that I learned that doing the correct exercises in the weight room was the key to success. Though my baseball career ended, I am using all that I learned through my baseball experience and my Kinesiology and Physical Education degree when I work with each and every athlete. This helps me better their experience as a player and help them be successful in the game of baseball / softball.
Within the weight room it is a strength coaches job to keep athletes healthy and ready to compete! Therefore, I am here to share one of the first things I learned… the benefits of Front Squats vs. Back Squats. When it comes to rotational sports such as baseball, volleyball, tennis, golf, etc. protecting the lumbar spine becomes that much more important.
During a Back Squat as an individual descends the pelvis shifts into an anterior tilted position putting the lumbar in extension. The posterior bar placement results in compressive and heavy forces placed on L1-L5. This anterior position can put major stress on the lumbar spine and lead to potential injuries such as a slipped disc or pars fracture.
Front Squats (as seen in the pictures above) keep individuals strong and they also keep their lower back healthy and their upper back mobile. As an athlete descends into a Front Squat, rather than the pelvis shifting anteriorly, the more balanced placement of the bar allows the pelvis to stay in a neutral position. This neutral position keeps the torso upright, leading to anterior core engagement which is going to stabilize the lumbar spine. The extension needed to keep the chest up will come through the thoracic spine. The thoracic is where our rotation, extension, and our flexion should come from, while a strong core supports the lumbar.
In summary, if I coached you, I would recommend you do Front Squats vs Back Squats for the reasons listed above. Enjoy!
If you have more questions or want to connect you can find me on Instagram @tdavis_perform and twitter @tdavis_perform.
Thank you,
Taylor Davis
“Add Positivity to the world!”