I struggle with bar positioning with the low bar squat. The bar tends to roll up my back a bit. I do my best to squeeze my upper back to create a good shelf. I definitely struggle to carry the weight on my back vs my arms, as a thumbs around grip is very uncomfortable on my wrists and I can get elbow discomfort easily with a thumbs on top grip.
Just not sure what to actually do or work on to improve this. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
Hey Chase,
Do you happen to have a video of your squat I could check out? Also, what program are you currently running and how often are you low bar squatting?
-Jordan
Hi Jordan, thanks for your response. I tried to attach a video but it says “new users can’t add attachments”.
I worked with coach Joe P last year and have been running similar programming to what he had designed for me. Currently low bar squatting 1x/week and giving front squats a try the other day. He usually had me doing low bar twice per week, using paused or pin squats on the 2nd day.
Chase,
In looking at your video, I don’t see any evidence of the bar rolling up your back. When that happens, it’s usually because the bar is a bit high and/or people are lifting their elbows up + rounding the thoracic spine. I see some elbow lift, but the load isn’t heavy enough for you to really struggle against.
I do think that your elbows should be a little bit more down/forward. I would not squeeze your upper back per se, as I think this cue loads the upper limb in some. Whether to use a false, thumbs around, or talon grip is hard to say from here. All are viable and it’s mostly personal preference, tolerance.
Depending on your movement concerns and symptoms now, I may changing technique and/or grip as suggested above, as well as programming to only expose you to low bar under a low load situation to start, e.g. 3-0-3 tempo squats x 8 reps @ RPE 6 for a few sets, or something like that. I may also add in dedicated bar-only low bar “stretching”.
Thank you very much, Jordan! This makes sense and I will apply these suggestions.