Smith Machine Front Squat

Muscles worked by the Smith Machine Front Squat

Primary

GlutesGluteus MaximusQuadsQuadriceps Femoris

Secondary

Lower BackErector SpinaeGlute MediusGluteus MediusHamstringsHamstring Muscles

Also called: glute, glutes, gluteus maximus, buttocks, butt, quad.

Equipment

Smith Machine

Also called: smith bar, guided barbell, fixed barbell, smith press.

How to do the Smith Machine Front Squat

1. Set the bar at upper-chest height and step under it so it rests across the front of your shoulders, against your collarbones.
2. Cross your arms over the bar or take an open front-rack grip, and drive your elbows up until your upper arms are close to parallel with the floor.
3. Unrack the bar and stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and slightly forward of it.
4. Sit straight down, keeping your elbows high and your torso upright, until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor.
5. Drive through the middle of your feet to stand back up, and repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Form tips

• High elbows are the whole exercise. As soon as they drop, the bar rolls off your shoulders onto your hands and the rack position collapses.
• Set the safety stops just below your deepest squat position before you unrack anything -- on a front squat the fastest way out of a failed rep is to let the bar go.
• Standing slightly ahead of the bar lets you keep your torso vertical. Under a fixed path, a stance directly beneath the bar forces you to lean and pushes the bar off the front rack.

At a glance

Smith Machine Front Squat in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Banded Squat
• Barbell Back Squat
• Bodyweight Squat
• Box Squat
• Bulgarian Split Squat
• Dumbbell Front Squat
• Dumbbell Pistol Squat
• Dumbbell Split Squat

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "smith-machine-front-squat",
  "name_en": "Smith Machine Front Squat",
  "name_de": "Smith Machine Front Squat",
  "name_es": "Sentadilla Frontal en Máquina Smith",
  "description_en": "A squat on the Smith machine with the bar racked across the front of the shoulders, where the fixed path and the upright torso keep the work on the quads.",
  "description_de": "Eine Kniebeuge an der Smith Machine mit der Stange vorn auf den Schultern abgelegt, bei der die geführte Bahn und der aufrechte Oberkörper die Arbeit im Quadrizeps halten.",
  "description_es": "Una sentadilla en máquina Smith con la barra apoyada al frente sobre los hombros, donde la trayectoria fija y el torso erguido mantienen el trabajo en los cuádriceps.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "push",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "equipment": "smith_machine",
  "body_part": "upper_legs",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "gluteus_maximus",
    "quadriceps"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "erector_spinae",
    "gluteus_medius",
    "hamstrings"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "leg_day"
  ],
  "variation_group": "squat",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Set the bar at upper-chest height and step under it so it rests across the front of your shoulders, against your collarbones.",
    "Cross your arms over the bar or take an open front-rack grip, and drive your elbows up until your upper arms are close to parallel with the floor.",
    "Unrack the bar and stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and slightly forward of it.",
    "Sit straight down, keeping your elbows high and your torso upright, until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor.",
    "Drive through the middle of your feet to stand back up, and repeat for the desired number of repetitions."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Stelle die Stange auf Höhe der oberen Brust ein und tritt darunter, sodass sie vorn auf deinen Schultern am Schlüsselbein aufliegt.",
    "Kreuze die Arme über der Stange oder nimm einen offenen Front-Rack-Griff und schiebe die Ellenbogen hoch, bis die Oberarme fast parallel zum Boden stehen.",
    "Entracke die Stange und stelle die Füße etwa schulterbreit und leicht vor der Stange auf.",
    "Gehe gerade nach unten, halte die Ellenbogen oben und den Oberkörper aufrecht, bis die Oberschenkel mindestens parallel zum Boden sind.",
    "Drücke über die Fußmitte wieder nach oben und wiederhole für die gewünschte Anzahl an Wiederholungen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Coloca la barra a la altura del pecho alto y métete debajo para que se apoye al frente de los hombros, contra las clavículas.",
    "Cruza los brazos sobre la barra o toma un agarre frontal abierto, y sube los codos hasta que los brazos queden casi paralelos al suelo.",
    "Desengancha la barra y separa los pies aproximadamente al ancho de los hombros, ligeramente por delante de ella.",
    "Baja en línea recta manteniendo los codos altos y el torso erguido, hasta que los muslos queden al menos paralelos al suelo.",
    "Empuja desde el medio de los pies para volver a subir y repite el número de repeticiones deseado."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "High elbows are the whole exercise. As soon as they drop, the bar rolls off your shoulders onto your hands and the rack position collapses.",
    "Set the safety stops just below your deepest squat position before you unrack anything -- on a front squat the fastest way out of a failed rep is to let the bar go.",
    "Standing slightly ahead of the bar lets you keep your torso vertical. Under a fixed path, a stance directly beneath the bar forces you to lean and pushes the bar off the front rack."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Hohe Ellenbogen sind die ganze Übung. Sobald sie absinken, rollt die Stange von den Schultern auf die Hände und das Front Rack bricht zusammen.",
    "Setze die Sicherheitsablagen knapp unter deine tiefste Position, bevor du überhaupt entrackst — beim Front Squat ist das Ablegen der Stange der schnellste Ausweg aus einer misslungenen Wiederholung.",
    "Etwas vor der Stange zu stehen erlaubt dir einen senkrechten Oberkörper. Bei fixer Bahn zwingt dich ein Stand direkt unter der Stange in die Vorlage und schiebt die Stange vom Front Rack."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Los codos altos son toda la ejercicio. En cuanto bajan, la barra rueda de los hombros hacia las manos y la posición frontal se desmorona.",
    "Ajusta los topes de seguridad justo por debajo de tu posición más profunda antes de desenganchar nada: en una sentadilla frontal, soltar la barra es la salida más rápida de una repetición fallida.",
    "Colocarte ligeramente por delante de la barra te permite mantener el torso vertical. Con una trayectoria fija, situarte justo debajo de la barra te obliga a inclinarte y empuja la barra fuera del apoyo frontal."
  ],
  "met": 6.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/smith-machine-front-squat-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/smith-machine-front-squat-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "smith-machine-front-squat");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.