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People often say that FS works your rectus abdominis and I don't doubt it because squatting makes my abs stronger (I don't specifically train abs).

But since you have to keep the weight from falling forward, I think the core muscle most worked up is the spinal erector. Am I right? If yes then how much does front squatting contribute to your rectus abdominis?

loads, you abs stabilise your spine. You'll feel it more in your erectors but your abs are getting worked. That's what they do best.

Perhaps a bit tangential, is there still "agonist-antagonist muscle" in isomectric contractions such as this?

maybe, maybe not, I guess you could maybe think of abs and lower back as agonist/antagonist. I don't mean to sound obnoxious but does it really matter? What I mean is, it's quite a strange thing to ask. So long as you're squatting and doing the other big lifts then everything is getting worked

I was just curious, thanks!

BTW the reason I made this thread is that I kinda hesitate to repeat what the others say about FS works the abs beautifully as I don't understand the matter clearly.

that's cool man, it just struck me as an odd question.

Truth is, there's loads about the function of certain muscles and things that I don't understand, but once you've done the exercises for a while you see the positive effects they're having on your body and you think "I don't understand it, but I love it!"

All the core muscles come into play since you need to keep the body stable. The forces are going in every direction, not just pulling you forward. Any heavy exercise where you're standing will work every core muscle through stability. Front squats in particular work abs since you're more upright that in the backsquat. It's all relative. You can think of front squats working the front of the body and back squats working the back of the body and you would be partly right. Both work everything to some degree, it's all a matter of emphasis. Surprisingly, one of the best ab exercises is dead hang chin ups.

I don't mean anything bad but how do you know it? And what about pull-ups?

There was a series of articles by Brett Conteras on Tnation where he did an EMG on certain muscles for different exercises to measure peak contraction etc. Abs contracted the most during chin ups and I think bicep curls believe it or not. Yeah pull ups would be similar too.

Clip, the "core" muscles don't participate in the lift on squat, in terms of moving the weight. They form a tight cylinder around the lumbar spine, keeping it in an optimal position to bear the weight. That's why they are all working on any lift that requires lumbar stabilization--squat, DL, press, chins, etc.

I agree with you..........

Pretty clever to get the link in the message but change the color so you can't see it.

This depends entirely on form. In a front squat your posture is more upright than in back squats. This means the abs get a chance to work to prevent you from falling backward. They don't get much of this during back squats because you are tilted more forward, back squats like good mornings are more deadlift-like.

In a front squat, even if you tilt forward slightly, the closeness to upright posture gives the abs a chance to work. Like consider if the ratio for erectors/abs to be 60/40 versus 90/10 for back squat, throwing something random out there to give general idea of what is meant.

So, you can see how abs work to keep from falling backwards during a FS, but you can't see how they work when they keep you from buckling during a plank? (reference to another thread for any confused readers)

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