The Guide To Barbell Squats
What’s the difference between the main forms of the barbell squat, when and why would you use them, and what do they look like? Here’s a simple guide to answer those questions. Like all such guides, sometimes the answers are over-simplified to focus on the big picture and not get too caught up in the weeds. But for broad general information purposes, it still holds up.
The Low Bar Back Squat
The low-bar squat, performed with a moderate stance and below-parallel depth, yields the largest systemic stress and thus the greatest general strength increases upon adaptation. This follows from the fact that it allows us to use the most weight of any squat variation, and take that heavier weight through a full, long effective ROM, while utilizing the most overall muscle mass. It's the default squat of choice for general strength training.
Although the squat is often considered a quads exercise by bodybuilders or a knee-dominant movement pattern by functional training afficonados, the low-bar squat version of the exercise is really best thought of as a total body movement with focus on the hips. Hip drive is the ‘guts’ of the low bar squat: driving the hips straight up out of the hole is the engine that powers the whole thing.
Because of this, some lifters think the low-bar squat doesn’t work the quad; after all, I just said hip drive is the guts of the squat. But we can easily dismiss this by pointing out that if you flex your knee on the way down and then extend it against the load on the way up, your quads are the only muscles that significantly contribute to this knee extension. While the low bar squat does load the hips, the quads still get a fair share of work.
The low bar back squat performed this way, looks something like this example of me squatting 634 at a meet a few years ago:
Some of the confusion regarding the low-bar squat and quads may revolve around a style of squatting often employed primarily, though not exclusively, by geared powerlifters – those who compete in heavy wraps and suits. This squat style utilizes a very wide stance and vertical shins with very little knee bend. If you've ever been to a powerlifting meet with lifters using multi-ply equipment, you'll surely have heard coaches calling out for their lifters to go, "Back! Back! Back!….UP!" The fact that "Back!" is used as the exclusive cue is instructive. The lifters are thinking solely about sitting back, with vertical shins. The way many lifters do box squats reinforces this movement pattern, which places the load almost entirely on the hip and back musculature, aided by the gear.
And to the extent the knees do flex and extend, the extension is aided by heavy-duty knee wraps which store elastic energy on the way down and release it on the way up, contributing to the lift and potentially reducing the amount the quads work. A squat style like the one below, done exclusively without any below parallel squat training, might under-develop the quads. That type of squat, which is NOT what I’m referring to when I say low bar back squat, looks like this:
Now there’s no doubt that that is a STRONG man. Just holding 1306 lbs would implode the spines of many a mere mortal, like Sauron’s dark tower of Dol Guldur collapsing in on itself after the One Ring was destroyed:
But however strong, this screenshot of the very bottom position of this squat, shows what I mentioned above: shins vertical - literally, not merely relatively vertical compared to high bar or front squats, but literally vertical as in perpendicular to the floor - and a depth that stops well above parallel:
This could lead to an under-training of the quads if the squat alone is the main movement you’d use to train them, and you’d need some accessories to ensure the quads got enough work.
The difference between these two types of squats with a box is illustrated nicely by my friend, Barbell Logic owner and longtime strength coach Matt Reynolds in this video:
However, the surge in popularity of raw powerlifting and general strength training over the past 10-15 years, has brought a much more generally useful squat form back into vogue: squats walked out, moderate stances instead of ultra wide, and taken down to below-parallel depth. This inevitably works the quads quite a bit, along with every other muscle and body part involved in the movement. So even though we don't squat to "work the quads," we squat to get stronger (bodybuilders and physique competitors sometimes excepted), the low bar squat remains a good quad builder as a first approximation. Beginners and early intermediates don’t usually need anything else.
REASONS TO DO THE LOW-BAR SQUAT
The low-bar squat utilizes a tremendous amount of muscle mass over a long range of motion and allows the lifter to handle more weight than the other variants, thus providing the largest training effect of the four versions. It’s therefore suitable as the primary version of the lift for general strength and training purposes.
The High Bar Squat
The high-bar squat can be used effectively for general strength training purposes or for other specific applications, as well as being an option for an injured or limited lifter who can’t low bar squat.
Beloved by Olympic weightlifting coaches, the high-bar squat is also the way you'd squat if no one gave you any other specific instruction. You wouldn't walk up to the bar and put it in a front rack, or press it overhead with a snatch grip, or hold it in the crook of your elbows. You wouldn't even get under it so it rested just below your scapular spine on top of your rear delts. Nope. You'd put it on your traps and take it out that way. The high bar squat seems to be the most intuitive way to do the lift.
The high-bar squat is characterized by a more upright, vertical torso than the low-bar squat. Since every squat requires the bar to stay in balance over the middle of the foot (at least when you use heavy weights; you're free to do whatever you like when it's light), the more vertical back angle means the knees must shift farther forward to keep the bar over mid-foot.
The knee angle is thus more closed at the bottom of the movement. This leads to more of the work (as a percentage of the load) being shifted to the quads and less to the hip musculature. However, since the torso isn't as vertical as in the front squat and since the bar isn't carried on the front delts, more weight can be lifted in the high-bar squat than the front squat, leading to an intermediate between the low-bar squat and front squat when it comes to load lifted, systemic stress, and overall strength adaptation response.
Here’s what a high bar squat looks like from not too different a view as the low bar video above. This is a set of 455x5, high bar:
Though the front isn’t the best angle to observe the differences, you can still see that in the picture of the low bar squat on the left, I am:
more leaned over (torso more horizontal)
just below parallel - not quite as deep
shins not as steeply angled
compared to the high bar squat on the right. The difference isn’t drastic, but isn’t minute and inconsequential either.
REASONS TO DO THE HIGH-BAR SQUAT
The high-bar squat is the go-to option if the low-bar squat can't be performed for some reason. Excessively tight shoulders, whether structural or due to a lack of mobility, are the most common culprit. Structural problems can't really be fixed as far as I know, but mobility problems usually can be fixed with consistent mobility/flexibility work.
The high-bar squat may also be used as an assistance variation for more advanced lifters. I use it this way myself - as seen above. Sometimes variation is a good tool to stay motivated to train without getting bored, a bit of variety is the spice of life. While this may sound trivial, it may be a legitimate issue for people who’ve been squatting for many years. If you're still within your first year of training, you're still working on your fundamentals and building your basics up, so employing variation solely to alleviate boredom is likely a cop-out from doing the hard work that you don't want to do.
Another reason is, indeed, to squat while focusing more on the quads without as much fatigue on the low back. We often say novices don’t have weak points, they’re just weak. But late intermediate and advanced lifters may have weak points. If one of those is quads, and you want to get some good extra work in, but without fatiguing your low back as much as the more horizontal torso low bar squat does, high bar may be a good option for you. This works great on a 4 day split type program where one lower body day is lighter squatting and heavier pulling, and the other is heavy squatting and lighter pulling. Something like high bar squat / heavy DL one day, and then low bar squat / DL variation like deficit or snatch grip on the other day, slots well.
I will also say that, perhaps much to the surprise of many who are critical of the principles of people like me who are in the Starting Strength orbit, it's obvious that the high-bar squat is an effective way of squatting as general strength preparation for Olympic weightlifting. Just look at the fact that almost every successful Olympic lifter in history has used the high-bar squat as the primary heavy squat variant in training.
It doesn’t mean it’s definitely and unquestionably the best way - I suspect, as I have written about before, that low bar squats could play a useful role for olympic lifters too. But it can’t be denied that they’ve gotten extremely strong, and snatched and cleaned huge weights, by using the high bar squat as a general strength tool.
The Front Squat
The front squat is absolutely necessary for Olympic weightlifters. It can also be used effectively for general strength training, though not as effectively as either the high-bar or low-bar squat. It has useful applications to advanced lifters as well, in various cycles of training.
The front squat departs from the high-bar and low-bar squats in that the bar is carried in the rack position on the meat of the deltoids, which are bunched up by raising the elbows. It's trapped in place by the hands and fingers, but the weight of the bar is supported by the delts and torso.
Since the bar must stay over mid-foot at heavy weights, an extremely vertical/upright torso is required in the front squat so as not to lose the bar forward and have to dump it. The torso is even more upright here than in the high-bar squat, leading to an even more forward knee position. This closed knee-angle shortens the hamstrings even more than in the high-bar squat, limiting their contribution in the movement. Additionally, an even larger moment arm between knees and bar and shorter distance between hips and bar ensure that the quads do a larger percentage of the work here, and the posterior chain less so.
Here’s a picture of Russian olympic medalist Dmitry Klokov at the bottom of a 550-lb front squat, wherein you can see the classic upright torso, well below parallel depth, and significantly more angled shins to accommodate:
The front squat also works the thoracic erectors to a greater extent than the low-bar or high-bar squat. Depending upon the depth of the lifter's chest and thorax, there can be quite a long moment arm between the bar and the t-spine erectors, causing them to do a lot more work to keep the torso rigid and upright, as is necessary for force transmission and to avoid leaning forward and dumping the bar. In both back squat variants, there's virtually no moment arm at the thoracic erectors.
The glutes also get a large share of work here even though the moment arm against them is shorter than the high-bar and low-bar squats, due to the lack of availability of the severely shortened hamstrings to help extend the hip. This is one of the reasons your glutes get so sore when you front squat heavy, but don't when you low bar squat heavy, despite the significantly greater load on the bar in the low-bar squat.
REASONS TO DO THE FRONT SQUAT
The front squat is as a necessary assistance exercise for an Olympic lifter. It mimics the catching and recovering position of the clean, but can be done under conditions of greater control by taking it out of the rack, which allows the use of more weight. This advantage in loading allows strength to be developed that otherwise couldn't if all front squats were only done as clean recoveries, and this strength directly carries over to the clean itself, for obvious reasons.
The front squat can also be used for people who can't back squat for some reason, or as a general strength builder. Though it should hopefully be apparent by now that as a general strength builder, useful as it is, the front squat is still inferior to both the high-bar and low-bar squat due to the lower weight that must be used, the reduced use of the hamstrings and low back, and the resultant lower systemic stress.
It may also be used as an assistance lift to get more focused quad, thoracic erector, or abdominal work into the movement while not stressing the system as much as a heavier low-bar squat, which needs a longer recovery period. This isn't to say the front squat is easy. If you've read this far and are still not differentiating between "easy" and "systemic stress," you might want to start over and read more slowly.
The Overhead Squat
The overhead squat has a lot in common with the low-bar squat (you read that correctly, it’s not a typo), but because it necessitates such a drastic reduction in load, it's a weaker choice for general strength training.
The overhead squat (OHS) is similar to the front squat in that it's the position assumed when an Olympic lifter catches the snatch, like the front squat is the position assumed when a lifter catches a clean. However, it's very different in that the degree of torso lean is highly variable. Because the bar is held locked out at arms-length overhead, the shoulders can go deeper into flexion to account for a more horizontal torso and they can be placed less into flexion for a more upright torso position at the bottom.
Another significant difference between the overhead squat and the front squat is the recovery. At the bottom of, and throughout the front squat, the torso must remain upright or else the bar will get too far forward of the mid-foot balance point and be lost forward. This applies to both the front squat done out of a rack and recovery from the clean. By contrast, in a heavy overhead squat and snatch, even when the bar is caught or brought down with a vertical torso, there's a noticeable back angle change out of the bottom and the hips are used as the primary driver out of the hole.
To illustrate this, we’ll look at gold medalist Lu Xiaojun’s snatch. First the whole thing:
Lu catches his snatch here, super deep and upright - almost like a front squat in some ways:
but by the time he's recovered and risen to just below parallel, his back angle has changed significantly to the horizontal:
Look closely. The angles of the knee, hip, and back look familiar, don’t they? It's because they're exactly what you'd expect to see if Lu were performing a low-bar squat. And indeed if you watch the video closely, you’ll see that hip drive with a stable back angle - just like the low bar squat - is the primary driver out of the hole once this position is assumed. Not a chest-leading front-squat like motion.
REASONS TO DO THE OVERHEAD SQUAT
At first glance, it would seem obvious that much the same as the front squat is used by Olympic lifters to train for strength specific to recover from the clean, the overhead squat should be used to train for strength specific to recovering from the snatch. However, many Olympic lifting coaches feel that it doesn't really need to be trained as its own lift (at least beyond an introductory phase), since squat strength is never the limiting factor in an overhead squat and squat strength is already better covered by the other squatting the lifter is doing.
For CrossFitters, the overhead squat is used often in CrossFit WODs and has even been used in the Games, so if you're a competitive CrossFitter, it makes sense to train it for that purpose, and not necessarily only in complexes.
For general strength purposes, the overhead squat is more a display of total body strength and mobility but not a really great developer of it, due to the significantly reduced load that must be used compared to the low-bar squat, high-bar squat, and even the front squat. Is it useless? No one would suggest that. But when we're looking for the most efficient tool for the job, the other squat variants (especially low-bar) are better developers of squat strength, and the Olympic lifts themselves train and develop the total body control and mobility that the overhead squat requires. So while not useless, you don’t see a whole lot of rigorous training in the overhead squat, for pretty good reason.
The Zercher Squat
I like these, but come on, don’t be a weirdo. They’re not one of the main barbell squat variants. Unless you’re Grizzly, in which case do whatever you want and we’ll love it.
A shorter and even more simplified version of this article originally appeared on T-Nation in October 2015.