Probably two years ago now, I switched from high-bar squats to the low-bar variation. “High-bar” and “low-bar” simply refer to where the bar is placed on the back.
The high-bar is the one that you see most people doing, and the one that you will likely do most naturally if you walk into the gym and attempt a squat. It’s when you just sit the bar on top of your shoulders, and therefore must maintain a pretty vertical angle with your torso in order to keep your center of balance at the middle of your feet. The low-bar takes some work to get to for some people, but is overall a better, more efficient movement. There are plenty of reasons that I prefer it, but the main one is that it simply recruits more muscle and therefore enables you to lift more weight. This is good because lifting more weight means you get stronger, and getting stronger makes life better in general.
Yet, there is a problem that many of my clients experience when I prescribe them the low-bar squat instead of the high bar; they simply can’t get their arms low enough to hold the bar in this position! Some can’t do it at all, others can but experience pain in their shoulders or elbows afterward. So, I wanted to give you a quick process to work on this, in order.
-The first thing you can do is play with your grip type and grip width. Sometimes, flexibility isn’t the issue, and taking a different type or width of grip is an easy fix. People have different anthropometry (proportions of the parts of their body), and this DOES affect their approach to form regardless of what your high school coach or Aunt Becky told you. For some, moving from a regular to a “thumbless” grip helps with this tremendously. It is exactly what it sounds like; you put your thumbs over the bar with the rest of your fingers instead of wrapped under it. This immediately changes your wrist position to be more straight, and it adjusts your arm position along with it. You may think “That doesn’t sound very secure!” Well, we aren’t bench pressing here where you may drop the bar and guillotine yourself, we’re talking about your hands just “pinning” the bar to your back. This is a minor adjustment that can go a long way. Also, change up your grip width. If you naturally have a narrow grip on the squat, try widening it a bit, and vice versa. If you try this and still can’t get it fixed, move on to step two.
-Sometimes, flexibility really is the issue. When that is the case, do two things. First, keep squatting. The more you do it, the more flexible you will become. Secondly, incorporate a few key stretches into your routine. Shoulder dislocations (though the name is unfortunate) are excellent. You are not actually dislocating your shoulder, but rather taking your rotator cuff through its range of motion. Grab a broom stick or band, start with it in front of you resting on your thighs or legs, move it upward in an arcing motion until it is above your head, and then force your arms downward behind you, keeping your arms straight the entire time. Try to, over time, move your hands closer together and do this. Band pull-aparts are excellent as well, as are adding some face-pulls and barbell rows to your routine to strengthen these muscles. Google these movements or ask me for a link to a good video of them if you’d like!
-Finally, if you can’t get the bar into the low-bar position, keep high-bar squatting until you can. High-bars may not be the best, but they are WAY better than not squatting at all!
I hope this helps, and please message me for clarification or with further questions!
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