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front squats are def a pain in the ass, i agree they seem to be even more specific, which would mean slightly better gains from front vs back.

i kept straining something in my upper back when i was front squatting.. i actually enjoyed going below parallel on front squats too, instead of half, trying to reverse at half, with a front squat, is torture.

i dont know why but i have never felt any pain on shoulders or upper back while doing front squats, even though i used crossed arms stand.
But somethimes i feel they put much presure on the calves

obviously, your calves are lagging and you need to do more seated calf raised.

Quote from: LBSS on September 22, 2011, 07:01:14 pm

Quote from: ruso15 on September 22, 2011, 06:10:17 pm

i dont know why but i have never felt any pain on shoulders or upper back while doing front squats, even though i used crossed arms stand.
But somethimes i feel they put much presure on the calves

obviously, your calves are lagging and you need to do more seated calf raised.

WTF is wrong with you!!

i don't know, but certainly not anything with my calves. they feel great.

Tis true. What the front squat does is eliminate hamstirng involvement, the glutes are still very involved if not more involved.   Take 2 big groups of people and have one group do back squats and jumps and one do front squats and jumps it wouldn't surprise me if the front squat group made better vert specific gains due to the inherent increased lower body loading involved (you can't lean forward and take stress off the legs) - they do have some advantages (harder to cheat, less lower back involvement, more lower quad involvement etc.). But they're also kinda a pain in the ass.  

Trust me, Kelly, with the right proportions plenty of forward lean is possible in the front squat. I am living proof!

I actually felt my quads a lot more with the back squat with after my layoff. Just plain ol' back squatting had them quivering and aching during the session. Second place were the adductors with very little pain in the hamstrings and none in the glutes.

A few days later when I front squatted my glutes were threatening to give out. Quads didn't feel anything at all.

This isn't empirical proof of anything. I just found it surprising.