Legs · Smith Machine
Clean Grip Smith Front Squat
How to do the clean grip smith front squat, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Smith Machine
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Squat
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Set the Smith bar across your front delts with a clean grip, fingers under the bar and elbows high. Unrack it, then squat down keeping your elbows up and torso tall, and drive through your heels to stand.
- 1Your quads and core working as you sit straight down
- 2Your elbows staying high to keep the bar shelf solid
- 3Pressure through your heels on the way up
Common mistakes
- Letting your elbows drop and your chest fall forward
- Letting your knees cave in or heels lift
- Losing your brace; breathe between reps, not during
Muscles worked
The clean grip smith front squat mainly works the quads and glutes, with the hamstrings, lower back, upper abs, and calves assisting.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesPrimary
- HamstringsSupport
- Lower BackSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- CalvesSupport
Kovo programs the clean grip smith front squat for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More quads exercises
- How to do the resistance band squat
- How to do the resistance band squat to press
- How to do the resistance band thruster
- How to do the resistance band squat walk
- How to do the barbell squat
- How to do the barbell bulgarian split squat
Last reviewed June 2026.