Smith Machine Front Squat

A squat on the Smith machine with the bar racked across the front of the shoulders, where the fixed path and the upright torso keep the work on the quads.

How to do it

1. Set the bar at upper-chest height and step under it so it rests across the front of your shoulders, against your collarbones.
2. Cross your arms over the bar or take an open front-rack grip, and drive your elbows up until your upper arms are close to parallel with the floor.
3. Unrack the bar and stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and slightly forward of it.
4. Sit straight down, keeping your elbows high and your torso upright, until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor.
5. Drive through the middle of your feet to stand back up, and repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Tips

• High elbows are the whole exercise. As soon as they drop, the bar rolls off your shoulders onto your hands and the rack position collapses.
• Set the safety stops just below your deepest squat position before you unrack anything -- on a front squat the fastest way out of a failed rep is to let the bar go.
• Standing slightly ahead of the bar lets you keep your torso vertical. Under a fixed path, a stance directly beneath the bar forces you to lean and pushes the bar off the front rack.

Muscles

Primary: Glutes (max), Quadriceps

Secondary: Erector spinae, Glutes (medius), Hamstrings