1] IT BUILDS QUADS
The front squat forces you to maintain a more rigid upright position, transferring the bulk of the tension from your glutes and lower back and placing it firmly on your quads. Experienced lifters will tell you that their glute soreness is minimal after a heavy day of front squats - the polar opposite yarn spun by big back squatters. But since your glutes, hamstrings and core musculature are still firmly engaged throughout the lift, you are able to
move heavy weight loads, meaning max stimulation for the main players: your quads. Many pro bodybuilders claim to have seen the greatest progress in their quad development when they started including the front squat into their programs.
Read here for LIFT SAFE: 7 TIPS FOR AVOIDING SERIOUS INJURY
2] IT'S NOT THE BACK SQUAT
Guys who finally give in to the benefits of the squat eventually become believers in the move. They quickly start adding plates to the bar and find that they are
gaining appreciable mass - not just in their legs, but everywhere. And once those
gains start to pile up, it's hard to convince them that there is any lower body lift worth doing besides the traditional squat. Forgetting for a moment that it has a slightly different muscle recruitment pattern, it's important to remember that those
savory gains will come to a screeching halt at some point unless you add new variables to your training program. And that's the case for any bodypart. Once you have mastered the back squat, you'll be able to shock your legs into
new growth by simply moving the bar from your traps around to your clavicles.
3] IT'S DIFFICULT
Doing the front squat in your gym will set you apart from the cozy, vanilla-training crowd simply because it's more difficult. You get all the same stomach-churning nausea from a hard set of front squats, only with the extra inconvenience of having a heavy bar bearing down on your upper pecs, collarbones and delts. It's not uncommon for front squat newbies to boast fresh bruises every week to go along with their ever-widening quad sweep. If for no other reason, mix in the front squat to train in a way that's unfamiliar and to snuff out weaknesses in your routine. If you always train to your strength, you'll never change your look.
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