Front vs Back Squat / Shoes vs No Shoes
A general goal for your squats is to minimize the difference in position between back squat and front squat, and between wearing weightlifting shoes, and no shoes.
In short, this means a back squat posture that’s as upright as it can be, and a proper squat stance with excellent ankle mobility.
There will always be a difference in the back angle between a front and back squat because of the bar placement. The bar will be in the same place relative to the foot, and then the trunk will either be behind or in front of it.
The question that often arises from the above is that if the posture is so similar, what is the point of doing both squats? In the answer is pretty simple: we can load back squats at least slightly heavier because the bar placement makes it easier for us to keep the trunk rigid. This means a little more loading on the legs and hips. The front squat then places more stress on the trunk, which is an important trait to train for the clean and jerk.
Minimizing the difference in positions with and without shoes is trickier because it’s dependent on mobility, and primarily ankle mobility, which can be very tough to improve. Just keep in mind that ankle range of motion is only one reason we wear weightlifting shoes, and wearing them to artificially increase that ROM is not an excuse to not continue working on approving the actual ROM.
In short, this means a back squat posture that’s as upright as it can be, and a proper squat stance with excellent ankle mobility.
There will always be a difference in the back angle between a front and back squat because of the bar placement. The bar will be in the same place relative to the foot, and then the trunk will either be behind or in front of it.
The question that often arises from the above is that if the posture is so similar, what is the point of doing both squats? In the answer is pretty simple: we can load back squats at least slightly heavier because the bar placement makes it easier for us to keep the trunk rigid. This means a little more loading on the legs and hips. The front squat then places more stress on the trunk, which is an important trait to train for the clean and jerk.
Minimizing the difference in positions with and without shoes is trickier because it’s dependent on mobility, and primarily ankle mobility, which can be very tough to improve. Just keep in mind that ankle range of motion is only one reason we wear weightlifting shoes, and wearing them to artificially increase that ROM is not an excuse to not continue working on approving the actual ROM.
