Front Squat
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds drills like this into your personalized off-ice program, week by week. Your first week is free.
How to Do It
Set the bar in the front rack position — resting on the front deltoids, elbows HIGH and forward. Feet shoulder-width, toes slightly out. Keep elbows high throughout — if they drop the bar rolls forward. Sit DOWN between the knees — more vertical torso than a back squat. Descend until hip crease is below the knee. Knees track over toes. Drive the floor away to stand — chest up, elbows stay high.
Why It Works
The front squat demands a more upright torso than the back squat, which better replicates the skating position — knees forward, hips loaded, spine tall. It develops quad dominance while requiring serious upper-back and core strength to hold the bar. For hockey players it is an excellent tool for building knee strength and the forward-lean positioning used in the skating crouch.
Hockey Transfer
Builds quad strength and upright posture — mimics skating stance. Goalies live in this position. If you play goalie, front squat is non-negotiable.
Coaching Cues
- "Elbows high"
- "Keep bar on front delts"
- "Stay upright"
- "Deep squat"
Common Mistakes
Elbows dropping — kills the front rack and dumps the bar forward. Elbows up, always. Heels coming up — ankle mobility issue. Work dorsiflexion or use small heel lift temporarily. Leaning forward — front squat requires more upright torso than back squat. If you lean, the load is too heavy. Wrist pain in the rack position — work wrist flexibility or use a cross-arm grip temporarily.
Progression / Regression
Pause front squat (3s at the bottom) — builds bottom-position strength for low skating stance.
Goblet squat — same upright torso demand with much easier load management.
Primary Muscles
Energy System
Strength/neural
Put it to work
on the ice.
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds exercises like this into a personalized off-ice program — created by a sport scientist and former national-team coach. Your first week is free.
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