Front Squat vs. Back Squat for Strength & Muscle Growth

Key Points:

• A new study had resistance-trained women train either front squats or back squats twice weekly for twelve weeks.
• Both groups increased quadriceps muscle thickness similarly, but the back squat group saw superior gains in 1RM leg press.
• Front squats shift more of the work to your quadriceps and thus unload your lower back and hip extensors slightly compared to the back squat.

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Which is better for strength and lower body muscle growth: the front squat or the back squat?

A study out of Brazil, published just a week ago, helps shed some light on this matter.¹

Front Squat vs. Back Squat for 12 Weeks

The researchers recruited 29 healthy females between the ages of 18–30 with at least six months of resistance training experience (although the mean training experience was two years).

The participants were randomized into either front squat or back squat training. The randomization was pair-matched based on their 1RM in the leg press exercise, to ensure equally strong groups at baseline.

Both groups trained two lower body workouts per week for twelve weeks.

Here’s how the workouts looked:

What does ITV stand for?

Individualized training volume.

See, the squat training volume was based on the participants’ habitual quadriceps training volume and increased by 20%. The squat training volume was then increased by another 20% after weeks 4 and 8. On average, the front squat group did 19.1 ± 4.1 sets of squats per week, and the back squat group did 21.9 ± 5.4.

The set volume of the other exercises remained the same (two sets per exercise and session) throughout the whole program.

Before and after the twelve weeks of training, the quadriceps muscle thickness was measured at three different sites on the thighs of the participants, and their strength in the leg press exercise was tested.

The Results: Similar Muscle Gains, But Divergent Strength Gains

After twelve weeks, the quadriceps muscle thickness had increased similarly in both groups, with mean increases of ∼4.4% for back squat and ∼5.1% for front squat training.

This growth was evenly distributed across the three measurement sites (30, 50, and 70% of the thigh).

For the 1RM leg press, however, the story was a bit different.

The back squat training group increased their 1RM in the leg press by a whopping 37%, whereas the front squat group “only” increased by 20%. This was despite the back squat group being ~12% stronger in the leg press at baseline (though not a statistically significant difference in baseline strength).

Note that the leg press wasn’t one of the exercises trained in the program. It was merely used as a non-specific strength test and was only tested (with some familiarization) before and after the training intervention.

So why did the back squat group gain so much more strength in the leg press?

The researchers point out that the back squat has a greater hip flexion angle than the front squat, which may have contributed to the difference in strength gains.

I think so, too. The back squat is simply a bit more similar to the leg press than the front squat is.

In addition, I believe the hip extensor muscles (mainly glutes and adductors) are worked slightly more in the back squat compared to the front squat, and they are important muscles in the leg press.

Back Squats Will Probably Challenge Your Hip Extensors A Bit More

While both front and back squats challenge your lower body muscles, the back squat distributes the workload a little more evenly between your knee extensors (your quadriceps) and your hip extensors (glutes and adductors).

If you look at the back squat from the side when you’re around the bottom of the exercise (roughly the hardest part of the movement), the barbell is placed roughly between your hip and knee joints. This allows both your knee and hip extensors to chip in and share the load.

In the front squat, your knees are generally pushed way further out in front of the bar. This increases the moment arm your quads have to work against to lift the weight, effectively meaning that any given quad strength you have will not allow as heavy a weight to be lifted compared to a shorter moment arm.

The result is that your quads will likely be the limiting factor for how much weight you can lift. And possibly, your quads will be maxed out before your hip extensors are really challenged.

For this reason, I think the back squat is the better exercise choice for most people when it comes to developing the hip extensor muscles and increasing leg press strength.

Should You Do Front Squats or Back Squats? My Opinion

All in all, I think the present study showed that both front squats and back squats are effective for building bigger and stronger quadriceps.

For the reasons mentioned in the previous section, I still think the back squat might be a slightly better lower body exercise in general and for most people.

But really, I think you should stick to the variant you enjoy the most and feel the most comfortable (or least uncomfortable) doing. If we step back a bit, we see that the front squat and back squat really are two quite similar leg exercises.

While there are small differences in joint angles and kinematics in the front squat and back squat, it doesn’t seem to make much (actually barely any) difference in lower body muscle activity. ^{2 3 4 5}

Some more considerations, off the top of my head:

• If you are a powerlifter, you should probably focus more on the back squat.
• Conversely, if you are a weightlifter, you should probably focus a bit more on the front squat (or at least a very upright back squat).
• Do you have lower back pain or a problem hitting proper squat depth? Try the front squat.
• For some people, the front squat is a bit easier to learn, which may warrant its use. It could also be a stepping stone in a squat progression toward learning the back squat.

Both are excellent quad exercises, and I think you should give each a shot to see which one you like better. Or alternate between them in different training blocks.

Or skip squatting altogether and just curl in the squat rack. You do you, buddy. 💪

More comparisons of the squat and other exercises:

• Leg Press vs Squat: Which is Better For Muscle & Strength?
• Deadlift vs. Squat: Muscles Worked, Benefits, and Strength Ratio
• Squats vs. Leg Extensions For Quad Growth: New Study
• Romanian Deadlift vs. Squat vs. Hip Thrust: Comparison of Muscle Activity
• Smith Machine vs. Free Barbell Squats?

References

1. The effects of squat variations on strength and quadriceps hypertrophy adaptations in recreationally trained females. European Journal of Sport Science 24(1):6-15.
2. A Comparison of Gluteus Maximus, Biceps Femoris, and Vastus Lateralis Electromyography Amplitude in the Parallel, Full, and Front Squat Variations in Resistance-Trained Females. J Appl Biomech. 2016 Feb;32(1):16-22.
3. A biomechanical comparison of back and front squats in healthy trained individuals. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Jan;23(1):284-92.
4. Muscle Activation Patterns of Lower-Body Musculature Among 3 Traditional Lower-Body Exercises in Trained Women. J Strength Cond Res. 2018 Oct;32(10):2770-2775.
5. Kinematic and EMG activities during front and back squat variations in maximum loads. J Sports Sci. 2015;33(10):1058-66.