The Front Squat is an advanced barbell squat that primarily trains the quads, with the glutes and hamstrings assisting. It is useful for building lower-body strength through a squat pattern.
Primary muscles
quads
Secondary muscles
glutes, hamstrings
Equipment
barbell
Difficulty
advanced
TARGET AREA
Muscles worked
Primary muscles
quads
Secondary muscles
glutes, hamstrings
THE MOVEMENT
How to perform
Set the bar on the front of the shoulders in a secure front-rack position and take a stable stance.
Lift the elbows, brace the torso, and keep pressure through the whole foot.
Descend between the hips while keeping the chest and elbows controlled.
Drive through the floor to stand without letting the elbows collapse.
IRONYOU / CORE
Core cues
Keep pressure balanced through the whole foot as you descend and stand.
Let the knees and hips move together instead of forcing one joint to do all the work.
Use the deepest range you can repeat while keeping the torso and feet controlled.
STAY SHARP
Common mistakes
Losing foot pressure or letting the heels lift.
Changing depth dramatically from rep to rep.
Adding load before you can keep a consistent brace and bar/body path.
YOUR PROGRESS
Your strength
Use your best set to calculate your current IronYou rank and see what comes next.
IRONYOU RANK CALCULATOR
127 exercises. One ladder. Your first rank is free.
Published reference points from the production IronYou rank system.
IronYou has 13 strength ranks: Copper I–III → Silver I–III → Gold I–III → Titanium I–III → IRON. IRON is the highest IronYou rank. The public standards tables show the estimated 1RM required to enter Silver I, Gold I, Titanium I, and IRON. Standards vary by sex and bodyweight.
Logged load: total barbell load. Public value: total barbell load.
Front Squat Strength Standards — Male
Male
Published estimated 1RM thresholds by bodyweight. Load is recorded as total barbell load.
Front Squat estimated 1RM strength standards by bodyweight and IronYou rank — Male.
Bodyweight (kg)
Silver I
Gold I
Titanium I
IRON
50 kg
75.5 kg
99.9 kg
124.4 kg
175.4 kg
60 kg
83.4 kg
110.5 kg
137.5 kg
193.9 kg
70 kg
90.5 kg
119.9 kg
149.2 kg
210.4 kg
80 kg
96.9 kg
128.3 kg
159.7 kg
225.1 kg
90 kg
102.5 kg
135.8 kg
169 kg
238.3 kg
100 kg
107.6 kg
142.5 kg
177.4 kg
250.1 kg
110 kg
112.1 kg
148.5 kg
184.9 kg
260.7 kg
120 kg
116.2 kg
153.9 kg
191.6 kg
270.1 kg
Front Squat Strength Standards — Female
Female
Published estimated 1RM thresholds by bodyweight. Load is recorded as total barbell load.
Front Squat estimated 1RM strength standards by bodyweight and IronYou rank — Female.
Bodyweight (kg)
Silver I
Gold I
Titanium I
IRON
40 kg
42.2 kg
55.9 kg
69.6 kg
98.1 kg
50 kg
56.7 kg
75.1 kg
93.5 kg
131.8 kg
60 kg
66.2 kg
87.6 kg
109.1 kg
153.8 kg
70 kg
72.3 kg
95.7 kg
119.2 kg
168 kg
80 kg
76.3 kg
101 kg
125.8 kg
177.3 kg
90 kg
78.9 kg
104.5 kg
130.1 kg
183.4 kg
100 kg
80.6 kg
106.7 kg
132.9 kg
187.3 kg
Values are estimated 1RM thresholds required to enter the named IronYou major rank tier.
Standards are derived from the production IronYou Rank V1 model.