Q1. What happens to form when the postural muscles, rhomboids, lower traps etc in a beginner in during the front squat begin to fatigue?

When the postural muscles in the upper back start to fatigue the chest will begin to fall forward into spinal flexion and sometimes you'll see the trainee rock forward onto their toes. If this cannot be corrected with a cue then this would be considered technical failure.


Q2. How does use of the hips differ in all three?

I'm not sure what your asking about the hips? Rephrase a full sentence I'll answer.

Q3. Can you do higher rep front squats without technical failure?

The trainee's ability to do high rep front squats is going to depend on the trainees training ability. Someone who front squats frequently is technically efficient and has good thoracic mobility and core stability should be to do higher rep ranges and higher intensities without technical failure. In short it depends.

Q4. Should someone with overly kyphotic posture be doing a front squat?

If someone is extremely kyphotic to the point where they are experiencing pain I would not suggest squatting them at all. They should be seeking help from professionals (PT/Manual Therapist) who can assist them. With me I would have them perform thoracic self mobilization drills to try to gain more thoracic extension. The front squat could eventually be a good exercise to get them to extend their thoracic spine but until they can get upright enough to shelf the bar on their shoulders they should be body weight squatting.

Q5. What happens to the stabilizers when consistently using the RFESS as the primary lower body lift?
When using the RFESS you will be doing more to train for single leg stability. The single leg stance forces you keep the knee from wavering inward or outward. Often I have to cue athletes to contract their glutes to externally rotate/abduct the femur so that the knee stays in line over the toe.

Q6. What is the lowest rep bracket one can use with the RFESS before it becomes unsafe?
In my experience with the RFESS and from what Mike Boyle has seen in his experiences form tends to start deteriorating in 3 rep sets. You start to see too much instability and forward flexion when the loads get to high and the lift simply does not look pretty. This is when I start worry about impending injury. For this reason I keep the rep ranges to 5's at the lowest.

Q7. Should an athlete back squat with a low bar powerlifting setup or a high bar Olympic lifting setup?
What is this athlete training for? Do they have a shoulder issue? How's their thoracic spine posture? Should they even be back squatting in the first place? These are all specifics that are going to help determine the answer to this. If you have a healthy athlete who can do either style does it really make a difference? If I have someone back squat I will have them use a traditional Olympic high bar style.

Q8. Should someone ever use the California front squat grip if their wrists are not flexible enough to use a clean grip?

Usually I have seen the limiting factor in being able to get the arms into the olympic style front squat is not the wrists but actually the shoulders. The wrists are usually quite flexible the fey to getting them to bend them back is teaching the athlete to loosen the grip and rest the bar on the fingers. As far the shoulders I will work on mobility, having the athlete practice pushing up the elbows under the bar and work on improving thoracic mobility as it directly feeds into the shoulder mobility deficit. If all of this is slow to take effect I would either try the California style or have them practice goblet squatting to reinforce the upright posture.

Q9. How does one train to eventually use a clean grip if their wrists are initially unable to hold this position.
Keep the bar at chest level, against your chest in a squat rack. Practice driving your elbows up into the front squat position. Keep the body still and upright, look for movement in the shoulder joint. Also work on other shoulder mobility and thoracic mobility drills.

Q10. Should one just do the FMS when assessing a client or should a coach also put the client on a table and test ranges of motion, muscle extensibility and so on?

The FMS is a great screening tool for you to begin assessing your clients with. It is best to use the FMS to assess how the major joints in the body work together in movement. Passing the FMS does not mean someone moves without dysfunction, it is just a screen of specific patterns. It is important to assess everything that you deem necessary. Table tests, gait tests, assessment of movement during exercise, breathing patterns etc. Remember we should always be assessing, watch our clients at all times, see how they move.



Hope this helped. Thanks for the questions.

-Kevin