squat bar

[Stas.]

So i had a collar bone fraction and now that it is fully healed i tried doing squats with a easy weight of 50kg. I heard there are different types on how to hold the bar, i think i use a high hold where the bar goes across the shoulders, but this has an unpleasant pressure on my neck and the collar bone. Then i tried experimenting on holding the bar lower but then it looks like my arms are going to break and it feels it could slip. So i am wondering if there are any sites or threads on squat bar holding that i missed whilse searching, because i cant find any...

[tuareg]

there's nothing wrong with holding the bar lower, i used to think that it would slip, but it doesn't.

[Aiden Bloodaxe]

Cram it into your posterior delts by keeping your hands in a straight line with your forearms & lifting your elbows without wrapping your thumb around the bar.

[Kon-El]

Squeeze your back tight to create a shelf for the bar.

On a side note, low bar squats are the only exercise in which I've benefited from having winged scapula, heh.

[Stas.]

Cram it into your posterior delts by keeping your hands in a straight line with your forearms & lifting your elbows without wrapping your thumb around the bar.

i tried this and it was quite good, the bar was easy to control and keep in place. But i have a question. Should you feel a light stretching feeling in your shoulders? maybe my shoulders are not flexible enough, because i felt a harder stretch in the shoulder that was injured.

[Aiden Bloodaxe]

It may be a lack of flexibility which will sort itself out soon enough. Also, keep a lookout for the injured shoulder being less flexible & consequently resulting in uneven loading on your back, if you do notice this then it should be compensated for by using a slightly wider grip on the side that is injured.

[Stas.]

will do, thanks.

[JimmyKewl]

hahaha lietuvis XD sveikas!

[Stas.]

Sveikas! trickeris busi ar siaip uzsuki i sia svetaine? :smile:

[JimmyKewl]

jo man patinka ! tricks!!! XD cia ateinu tik del publicus ir videos xDDDD hahahahah

[Ashtar]

I think holding the bar low is what powerlifting squatters do right? Makes it even more posterior chain and less quads or something?

[Aiden Bloodaxe]

It reduces the level arm on the back & involves more muscle mass.

[Ashtar]

Well, using more weight would use more mass.

[Aiden Bloodaxe]

Well, the low bar allows the use of more weight & therefore mass, but I was talking about how it uses more muscle groups / mass through it's ROM compared to the other squat variants.

[Stas.]

excellent.

[Rahf]

Well, the low bar allows the use of more weight & therefore mass, but I was talking about how it uses more muscle groups / mass through it's ROM compared to the other squat variants.

It's also beneficial when you take into account the equipment that they use (notably the suit which stretches and thus, tenses as you squat).

I reckon "More weight..." is just due to the fact that powerlifters actually lift more than others do, hence the expression that low bar placement allows for more weight. A guess, mind.

[Ashtar]

Powerlifters would adopt the stance which lets them use the most weight though, so it's not a bad assumption that it's the best pose for that.

But then again, powerlifters also train deadlifting, so it could be that they're trying to adopt a pose that emphasizes the same muscles as deadlifting. Even so, you usually hear people having higher back squats (even with upper bar) than front squats so there must be something to that about more potential development in the posterior chain.

[anfeyd]

It's also beneficial when you take into account the equipment that they use (notably the suit which stretches and thus, tenses as you squat).

I reckon "More weight..." is just due to the fact that powerlifters actually lift more than others do, hence the expression that low bar placement allows for more weight. A guess, mind.

People who typically use the low bar placement have a more pronounced forward lean which engages the hamstrings to a greater extent, allowing more weight to be lifted.

This can also be accomplished via high bar, however, the greater lever arm reduces the amount of weight that can be lifted.

[Ashtar]

Leaning forward doesn't let you drop your hips, so isn't it more an issue of shifting weight forward above the hip rather than below the knee (by dorsiflexing more)? Or they also widen the stance too...

[anfeyd]

The hips don't need to drop for hamstring involvement to occur Ashtar. The hips need to go back which is accompanied by the torso leaning over.

[Aiden Bloodaxe]

It's also beneficial when you take into account the equipment that they use (notably the suit which stretches and thus, tenses as you squat).

I reckon "More weight..." is just due to the fact that powerlifters actually lift more than others do, hence the expression that low bar placement allows for more weight. A guess, mind.
I'm not sure how we got on to powerlifters here, apart from maybe that they more commonly use the low bar squat. I'm talking about anybody in general, not a specific set of athletes, plus I'm not sure whether they typically use more muscle mass because of the wider stance they usually use which dramatically reduces the distance needed to travel to hit parallel & also the fact you mentioned about them using equipment that assists in the lifts, meh.

[Ashtar]

The hips don't need to drop for hamstring involvement to occur Ashtar. The hips need to go back which is accompanied by the torso leaning over.I know that, I was not implying this. I was talking about dropping the hips to get the 'below parallel' angle needed to have a rep count in a squat in powerlifting competitions. This is their #1 goal.

[Asian Tim]

You could also do front squats to keep it off your back.
and you're also working out more stability muscles too.

[Ashtar]

Er, I wouldn't say more stability muscles... they both involve stabilization. With more upright squats it is more of a front/back and left/right whereas with more bent over squats it gravitates toward the rotational stability like in deadlifts/GMs. When you're bent over, if your spine rotates (one arm drops, other goes up) then it will fuck you.

[Stas.]

should i feel i slight tension in the lower back when doing weighted squats?

[Ashtar]

Yes, because you should feel slight tension in your lower back doing them unweighted, running, or even just standing up too.