Insider secrets for a Lean Body Training & Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Bo | Page 18

Training & Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body
TruthAboutAbs.com
three (not necessarily during the same phase of your workouts) will yield the best
results for overall muscular development, body fat loss, and athletic performance.
Front squats are moderately more difficult than back squats, while overhead
squats are considerably more difficult than either back squats or front squats. I’ll
cover overhead squats in a future article. If you are only accustomed to performing
back squats, it will take you a few sessions to become comfortable with front
squats, so start out light. After a couple sessions of practice, you will start to feel
the groove and be able to increase the poundage. Let’s take a closer look at front
squats in particular.
To perform front squats:
The front squat recruits the abdominals to a much higher degree for stability due to
the more upright position compared with back squats. It is mostly a lower body
exercise, but is great for functionally incorporating core strength and stability into
the squatting movement. It can also be slightly difficult to learn how to properly rest
the bar on your shoulders. There are two ways to rest the bar on the front of the
shoulders. In the first method, you step under the bar and cross your forearms into
an “X” position while resting the bar on the dimple that is created by the shoulder
muscle near the bone, keeping your elbows up high so that your arms are parallel
to the ground. You then hold the bar in place by pressing the thumb side of your
fists against the bar for support. Alternatively, you can hold the bar by placing your
palms face up and the bar resting on your fingers against your shoulders. For both
methods, your elbows must stay up high to prevent the weight from falling. Your
upper arms should stay parallel to the ground throughout the squat. Find out which
bar support method is more comfortable for you. Then, initiate the squat from your
hips by sitting back and down, keeping the weight on your heels as opposed to the
balls of your feet. Squat down to a position where your thighs are approximately
parallel to the ground, then press back up to the starting position. Keeping your
weight more towards your heels is the key factor in squatting to protect your knees
from injury and develop strong injury-resistant knee joints. Keep in mind – squats
done correctly actually strengthen the knees; squats done incorrectly can damage
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