The front squat has been shown to improve posture, increase muscle size and strength, and it even increases ground reaction force for sports. But it won’t work for everyone.
Here are the 10 best front squat alternatives:
- Cross-Arm Front Squat
- Goblet Squat
- Narrow Stance Leg Press
- Front Rack Barbell Split Squat
- Dumbbell Walking Lunge
- Box Assisted Pistol Squat
- Dumbbell Step-Up
- Safety Bar Squat
- Zercher Squat
- Barbell Overhead Squat
This guide covers everything from how to perform the front squat, front squat progressions, muscles used, benefits, mistakes to avoid, and general squatting tips.
Let's dive into exercises you can use to substitute for the front squat!
Table of Contents
What Stops People From Front Squatting?
While the front squat is an excellent addition to your workouts, many people do not have the prerequisite wrist mobility to perform a front rack position. Because of this wrist pain, many people lose out on the many benefits of the front squat.
While wrist pain is probably the number one reason people choose to forgo the front squat, it isn’t the only reason. Some other reasons include:
- Lack of shoulder mobility
- Pain with the bar resting on the front of the shoulders
- You can’t front squat as much as you can back squat
- Lack of upper back strength to stay upright
- You’re too comfortable with the back squat and are afraid to try something new
Whatever the reason is that you find yourself shying away from the front squat just know that there are alternatives. I’ve put together the 10 most effective front squat alternatives that you can include in your training that aren’t the back squat.
Once you're done this article, you'll want to read my Ultimate Front Squat Guide. This guide covers everything from how to perform the front squat, front squat progressions, muscles used, benefits, mistakes to avoid, and general squatting tips.
Basic Front Squat Alternatives
Front squat alternatives are compound exercises that demand the quads more. The higher demand for the quads in the front squat is the front rack position.
A front rack position is the placement of the bar across the front of your shoulders. This position forces a more upright trunk and a forward knee position. This forward knee position causes more load to be placed on the quads.
As such, if we’re looking to mimic the demands of the front squat, we’ll have to place more load in the quads.
1. Cross-Arm Front Squat
The closest alternative to the front squat is the cross-arm front squat. This exercise would be ideal for those people who enjoy front squatting but simply don't have the required mobility in the wrists yet to get into the front rack position.
How To Do It
- Walk into the squat rack and place the barbell on the front part of the shoulders.
- Make sure you’re in the middle of the bar with your setup. The middle knurling (rough part of the bar) should be right in front of your throat.
- Cross your arms in front of you and place your fingers over the top of the bar. Do not wrap your hands around the bar. The bar should sit on your shoulders.
- When you stand up and walk the bar out, make sure to drive your elbows up toward the ceiling. This will ensure the bar does not fall off of your shoulders.
- Place your feet just outside of hip width with your toes pointing forward. You can turn your toes out about 10 degrees if necessary.
- Keeping an upright trunk, lower your hips until you get to roughly parallel to the ground with your upper leg while keeping your whole foot on the ground.
- When you hit this depth, push your feet into the ground while driving your chest and elbows up toward the ceiling.
Pro Tip
If you're doing the cross arm front squat because of a lack of wrist mobility, then you should work to improve these mechanical limitations. The following video is the best wrist mobility routine that I've found.
Note: I would only suggest implementing the first 4:30 minutes of this 10-min routine.
This front squat alternative is also good to implement if you feel like the barbell is choking you during a regular grip, or you find the barbell slipping from your shoulders.
2. Goblet Squat
The goblet squat is scaled down version of the front squat with a dumbbell instead of a barbell. This movement is a great teaching tool for the front squat.
How To Do It
- Use a single dumbbell for this exercise.
- Turn the dumbbell upright, and hold the dumbbell on the top end with your palms underneath and your fingers on the top side.
- Hold the dumbbell directly on your chest, with the top of the dumbbell right under your chin.
- Place your feet just outside hip width with your toes straight ahead to slightly turned out about 10 degrees.
- Keeping an upright trunk, start the descent by bending the hips, knees, and ankles all at the same time.
- As you descent into the movement, push your knees out away from each other and keep your chest “tall.” Lower yourself until your hip crease goes below your knees. This is parallel or “depth.”
- To come back up, push your feet “through the ground” and drive your chest up towards the ceiling.
Pro Tip
Since this is a dumbbell-loaded movement, you can easily incorporate higher volume sets, drop sets, and even training to failure. Higher volume work with the goblet squat will prime you to drive up your front and back squat totals.
Take a look at my article on the Front Squat vs Goblet squat to see whether you should do one or the other, or both based on your goals.
If you struggle with placing your hands on the barbell during front squats, you may benefit from doing the Front Squat With Straps. Check out my guide that explains how to do this properly.
3. Narrow Stance Leg Press
The narrow stance leg press is an exercise that emphasizes the quad muscles, making it an ideal candidate for an effective front squat replacement exercise.
With this version of the leg press, you’ll use a closer stance to increase your shin angle, which will place more of the load into the quads.
How To Do It
- It’s best to use a plate loaded 45-degree leg press for this exercise. However, a cable-loaded leg press will also work just fine.
- Place your feet right at hip width with your toes pointed straight ahead. Placing your feet lower on the foot plate will increase your shin angle while placing them higher on the foot plate will decrease this angle through the movement. A greater shin angle will yield more quad activation.
- As you begin the movement, allow your knees to track past your toes while keeping pressure on your whole foot, heel included.
- Allow your knees to bend for as long as you can keep your whole foot on the footplate (heels don’t come off) and your back flat. This is your range of motion.
- When you hit the bottom of the movement, drive your feet back toward the starting point while squeezing your quads.
Pro Tip
If you really want to hammer your quads pretend you’re also doing a knee extension while performing the eccentric, or negative, part of the movement. This will activate the quads to a higher degree and take much of the load off of your hamstrings. More activation means more growth.
Check out my article comparing the eccentric vs concentric squat, and how tempo impacts the technique.
Single Leg Front Squat Alternatives
Single leg exercises can be a great alternative to the front squat for two reasons:
- Having to balance on one leg actually helps to increase neural drive to the muscles of that leg. This means you get more activation of the quads even with lighter loads.
- It can help to decrease what’s called the bilateral deficit. You have a dominant leg, much like a dominant hand, and training on one leg can help decrease imbalances and reduce injury potential.
4. Front Rack Barbell Split Squat
The front rack barbell split squat is a front squat alternative that still uses the “front rack” position. However, since this is a single-leg exercise, the load will be lighter and won’t place the same strain on the wrists.
Since this is a front-loaded movement, just like the front squat, it will force you to keep your trunk “tall” and emphasize the quads, much like the front squat.
How To Do It
- Walk into the squat rack and place the barbell on the front part of the shoulders.
- Make sure you’re in the middle of the bar with your setup. The middle knurling (the rough part of the bar) should be right before your throat.
- You’re going to place your three middle fingers under the bar just outside of your shoulders with your elbows pointing slightly up towards the ceiling.
- Walk the weight out and set up with one leg forward and the other behind you, like you’re going to do a split.
- The width of your stance is important here. If you’re too wide, you’ll put too much weight on your back foot as you descend. Keep your stance a little bit more narrow. In the bottom of the movement, your back knee should be about an inch or two behind your front heel.
- To begin the descent, bend your knee and allow it to track forward while keeping your whole foot on the ground. Keep your elbows pushed up towards the ceiling as you descend.
- Keep going down until your back knee almost touches the ground, but don’t let it actually touch the ground.
- Once you hit the bottom of the movement, push your feet “through the ground” and drive both your chest and elbows up towards the ceiling until your front leg is straight.
Pro Tip
You can actually use this movement as a mobility exercise if you use really light loads (something you could do for 15-20 reps). To do so, take a wider stance and keep your back leg almost completely straight as you descend. Your range of motion will be limited, but with the added weight, you’ll get a really good stretch in your hip flexors.
5. Dumbbell Walking Lunge
The walking lunge is a great variation to target the quads the way the front squat targets them.
You’ll need a good amount of space to perform walking lunges. About 10 yards of an uninterrupted line will do, as you can double back halfway through your set to get more volume into your sets.
How To Do It
- Grab two dumbbells and about 10 yards of the walkway.
- Take a bigger-than-usual step forward and lower yourself towards the ground by bending your front knee and lowering your hips.
- As you lower your hips toward the ground, try to keep as much weight on your front leg as possible. Try not to split your weight between your front and back leg. A good rule of thumb is about 80% and 20% on the front and back legs, respectively.
- As you descend, let your front knee travel forward to the right over your front toes to slightly past your front toes.
- Keeping weight on your whole foot, push your front foot into the ground and stand up straight.
- Go right into the next rep on the opposite foot without taking any steps in between reps.
Pro Tip
If you really want to challenge your quads as you go down into the lunge, allow your knee to track forward as far past your toes as possible while keeping your whole foot on the ground. This will safely and effectively put most of the load into your quads.
6. Assisted Pistol Squat
The assisted pistol squat is great for decreasing the bilateral deficit and relieving tension and stress on the quads.
Pistol squats done in a good position with an externally rotated hip can be incredibly beneficial to the Vastus Medialis Oblique, or VMO. Your VMO is responsible for properly tracking the patella (kneecap) and locking out the knee at terminal extension.
Another great benefit of the assisted pistol squat is being able to train through a full range of motion, or “ass to grass.” Since you’re on one leg, you won’t be as limited by various hip range of motion deficiencies.
How To Do It
- Stand on one foot about 6-8 inches in front of a rack. You’ll have your opposite leg straight out in front of you with your foot about 2 inches off the ground.
- Hold onto the rack in front of you.
- Bend your knee and let your hips travel towards the floor, keeping your whole foot on the ground. As you lower yourself, allow your knee to track forward as far as it can while still being able to maintain your entire foot on the ground.
- As you lower yourself, you’re going to “screw your foot into the ground,” like you’re trying to point your outside and away from your body.
- Support yourself by walking your hands down the rack as you lower yourself toward the ground. You can use as little or as much assistance as you need to keep your balance.
- When your hips go as low as they can while still keeping your whole foot on the ground and your back flat, push into the ground and walk your hands back up the rack until you’re standing straight up.
Pro Tip
With this movement, it is incredibly easy to “sit back” because you’re holding onto a rack. You want to stay as upright as possible throughout this movement to keep the tension in your quads high. You can accomplish this by “finger tipping” the rack before you instead of holding on for dear life.
You can also perform this exercise using a TRX or suspension trainer. There is a video of this version below.
Note: The assisted variation is where you should start, but aim to make it more difficult until you perform a full-depth unassisted pistol squat.
Wondering whether front squats improve other exercises? Check out my article: Do Front Squats Improve Deadlifts?
7. Dumbbell Step-Up
The dumbbell step-up is a classic single-leg exercise that can provide an effective alternative to the front squat. This is also a relatively easy and low skill exercise.
To get the most out of this exercise, you will want to use a box (or bench) that puts your knee at roughly 90 degrees.
Your goal with this exercise is to keep the load on the front leg. It’s tempting to push through your back leg, especially when you start to fatigue but stay disciplined by keeping your back knee locked when it’s on the ground.
How To Do It
- Grab two dumbbells.
- Place one foot on top of the box or bench with your knee directly over the edge of your toes with your trunk upright and your chest “big and proud.”
- Without letting your top knee track forward from where it starts, push your front foot into the box and stand up straight.
- Begin the descent by unlocking your knee and sitting slightly back so you can go back down in the same path as you came up.
Pro Tip
You can increase the difficulty of this movement, focusing on the negative on the way down. As you go down, count 3-5 seconds and spread that time throughout the whole range of motion. This will increase your time under tension which will help with growth.
Check out the alternatives to the Bulgarian Split Squat.
Advanced Front Squat Alternatives
Advanced front squat alternatives will provide you with extra loading capability because they include specific barbell variations.
You should only attempt these variations if you already have proficient technique in the front squat and have experience with the other replacements for the front squat on this list.
These variations are typically used by powerlifters, Olympic weightlifters, and Strongman athletes to build quad strength.
8. Safety Squat Bar Squat
More and more gyms are investing in safety squat bars, so you’ve probably seen one at your local gym.
They look funny, but the bar's camber, or bend, serves an important purpose. It puts the plates at the end of the bar in front of you, which makes it function as if you had the weight in a front rack position while it’s on your back.
The safety squat bar forces you to maintain an upright position, so the stimulus is essentially the same as a regular front squat.
How To Do It
- Get under the bar with a back pad across your upper back and the side pads resting on your traps.
- Hold the handles against your chest and not out in front of your shoulders to get the full effect of the front squat. Holding the handles up will put the plates closer to where they would be in a back squat.
- Place your feet just outside of hip width with your toes pointing forward. You can turn your toes out about 10 degrees if necessary.
- Keeping an upright trunk, lower your hips until you get to roughly parallel to the ground with your upper leg while keeping your whole foot on the ground.
- When you hit this depth, push your feet into the ground while driving your chest up toward the ceiling.
Pro Tip
If you want to grow, you can increase your time under tension by performing a pause squat with this variation. Pause for 2-3 seconds in the “hole” or bottom of the squat. While you’re paused, don’t relax. Keep your whole body nice and tight. This will increase your time under tension and even help increase your hip mobility.
Check out the complete guide to Hack Squat Alternatives.
9. Zercher Squat
The Zercher squat is probably the most difficult front squat alternative. It's used by Strongman athletes who need to mimic certain competitive movements, such as picking up a stone.
However, this is still a fun variation to learn if you're not a Strongman athlete. It will challenge your core, balance, and overall lower body strength.
Instead of holding the barbell on your shoulders like a front squat, you rest it in the crack of your elbows. It removes the strain on your wrists but causes more stress on the biceps and front delts.
Because the weight is in front of you, it will force you to maintain an upright position, much like in the front squat.
Check out my complete guide to the Zercher Squat and its benefits, as well as my article comparing the Zercher squat vs front squat.
How To Do It
- Set up the barbell on a squat rack where you can comfortably place your elbow crease underneath the bar.
- Place the barbell in the crease of your elbow, and think about keeping your fists under your chin by flexing your biceps.
- Walk the barbell out of the rack, squat down, and ensure you're squeezing your core tight.
- When the barbell touches your thighs, you can raise yourself to the start position.
Pro Tip
This is going to be a very foreign set up for even the most seasoned gym goers. As such, start off with lighter loads so you can feel comfortable. This exercise places a lot more stress on the forearms and biceps than a traditional front squat so it may take some time to work your way up to loads that will be challenging on your legs.
Check out this complete guide on Front Squat Mobility: 17 Must-Do Exercises
10. Barbell Overhead Squat
The barbell overhead squat is a very challenging exercise but it has a ton of benefits.
Having the bar over your head forces you to maintain an upright position placing the focus on your quads. When done properly, it also helps strengthen overhead stability, core control, and hip mobility.
This exercise won’t be loaded as much as many of the other front squat variations, but it will challenge you in ways these other variations simply cannot.
How To Do It
- Address the barbell in a squat rack and place your index finger on the power rings. If you know what a snatch grip is, you can also use this.
- Get under the bar like you would for a traditional back squat.
- Stand up and walk the weight out. Press the barbell over your head with your feet just outside of hip width with your toes pointed straight ahead. You can turn your toes out 10 degrees for comfort if you’d like.
- While keeping your chest big and proud, unlock your hips and bend your knees to allow your hips to lower while keeping your arms locked and the weight over your head.
- As you lower your hips screw your feet into the ground.
- Allow your hips to lower while keeping the weight over your shoulders until your hips are as low as they can go while keeping your whole foot on the ground.
- Push your feet into the ground and drive the barbell up towards the ceiling to stand up.
Pro Tip
You’re going to be limited by your shoulder mobility, so if you plan to use the overhead squat start really light with just the barbell or even a dowel rod. Over time you’ll be able to increase the load as your shoulder mobility increases.
Check out my comparison of the Safety Bar Squat vs Front Squat.
Reasons to Choose a Front Squat Alternative
While front squats offer many benefits to your physique, you may be unable or unwilling to add them to your training routine.
However, it’s not always possible, and you may need to choose a front squat alternative for one of the following reasons.
Lack of Shoulder Mobility
Lack of shoulder mobility leading to wrist pain is probably why people avoid front squats. If this is you, work to increase your thoracic (upper back) mobility and scapular (shoulder blade stabilizer) stability.
These two things will help to increase your shoulder range of motion leading to wrist pain-free front squatting.
Pain with the Bar Resting on the Front of the Shoulders
This is another really common reason people look for front squat alternatives. You’ve got less muscle on your shoulders than you do your upper back, so there’s less cushion. Over time exposing yourself to the front squat more often will help make this pain go away.
You Can’t Front Squat as Much as You Can Back Squat
This is the most common reason that people don’t front squat. In the beginning of exposing yourself to the front squat, you won’t be nearly as strong, and that’s ok. Incorporating the front squat can help you back squat more over time, and the change in stimulus will help your legs grow.
Lack of Upper Back Strength to Stay Upright
This can be frustrating. You feel like your legs have a lot more in them, but you just can’t stay upright when you add more weight. Spend some time doing row variations to strengthen your upper back, and you’ll handle more weight quickly.
You’re Too Afraid to Try Something New
The gym is already intimidating for some people, so it can be scary to think about trying something new. Just know that everyone there is cheering for you and wanting to see you be your best you. Don’t ever be afraid to try something new that could help you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the Barbell Front Squat Be Substituted?
Yes. Two great exercises, the goblet squat and the safety squat bar squat, offer a nearly identical training stimulus to the front squat. They’re both axially loaded and force an upright posture, so if you want to change it up and get the same benefits of the front squat, give these two a try.
Are Front Squats Necessary?
No, you can build an incredible physique without using the front squat. However, it is a great way to target the quads and add a little variation to your training.
Is the Front Squat an Alternative to the Leg Press?
Yes, and no. While they both target the quads, glutes, and hamstrings, the front squat is a superior exercise if you’re looking to increase your strength for sports. The front squat forces you to transfer force through your body like you would when sprinting and jumping. The leg press lacks this functionality.
Do Powerlifters Do Front Squats?
Yes, they do. Many powerlifters rotate many squat variations into their training to gain strength and adapt to different stimuli in their training.
Final Thoughts
A good front squat alternative will mimic the front squat's effects. These alternatives should be compound movements incorporating the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and core.
Many of the front squat alternatives discussed are good pre-cursors to the front squat. So once you master these variations, you'll be in a better position to feel confident and strong during the front squat.
If you're performing a front squat alternative because you get pain in your wrists or shoulders while front squatting, I encourage you to deal with these underlying issues rather than avoiding the front squat altogether.
