Quads exercise
Smith Machine Front SquatHow to do it, with form in numbers
How to do it
How do you do the Smith Machine Front Squat?
- Set the Smith bar at shoulder height and step under it so it rests across the front of your shoulders.
- Cross your arms over the bar, hands on the opposite shoulders, and lift your elbows until your upper arms are level.
- Unrack with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly out.
- Keep your elbows up and sit straight down until your thighs are level with the floor.
- Drive up through your whole foot and stand tall.
Cues
- Elbows up, chest tall.
- Sit straight down between your heels.
- Drive the floor away.
Common mistakes
- Letting the elbows drop so the bar slides forward.
- Leaning forward instead of sitting down.
- Heels coming off the floor.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
A front squat with the bar running on the Smith machine's fixed vertical track, held across the front of the shoulders with the arms crossed (each hand over the bar on the opposite shoulder), as the GIF it replaces shows. The track keeps the bar path vertical, so the squat comes from the legs with an upright trunk.
Starting position
Unrack with the bar across the front of the shoulders, against the throat, resting on the front of the shoulder muscles. Cross the arms: left hand over the bar on the right shoulder, right hand on the left, elbows lifted forward until the upper arms are about level with the floor. Feet shoulder-width, the bar line over the middle of the feet, toes turned out a little.
The movement
Keep the elbows up and the chest tall, and sit straight down between the heels, knees travelling forward and out over the toes. Squat until the hip crease is level with or just below the top of the knee, then drive up through the whole foot to stand tall.
Breathing
Big breath and brace at the top, hold it down and through the bottom, breathe out near the top.
Tempo
About 1.9 s down, a brief touch at the bottom, about 1.3 s up, a pause standing.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bar on the shoulders | 7.5 cm ahead of and 4.5 cm above the shoulder joints | on the front of the shoulders, never on the neck | |
| Upper arms | 10–35° above level (elbows high) | within 40° of level, never dropping below level | |
| Bar line | 3–4 cm ahead of the ankle (over mid-foot) | over the middle of the foot | |
| Stance | shoulder-width, toes out 10° | hip- to shoulder-width | |
| Depth: hip crease vs top of the knee | 3–4 cm below | 0–5 cm below | |
| Knee flexion at the bottom | 124° | 115–135° | |
| Trunk from vertical at the bottom | 12–13° | 5–25° | |
| Knee direction vs toe direction | within 9° | within 10° | |
| Heel lift | 0 cm | 0 cm |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Smith Machine Front Squat is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- ExRx.net, "Front Squat" (bar in front of the shoulders, elbows forward as high as possible)
- Physitrack, "Barbell front squat (crossed-arm position)" (arms crossed to support the bar, elbows forward so the upper arms are parallel to the floor)
- M. Siff, "Front Squat Techniques" (the crossed-arm style for lifters who can't hold the clean grip without wrist pain)
- ACE Exercise Library, "Front Squat" (elbows high, chest up, heels down)
- NSCA, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th ed. (2016), ch. 15, front squat
