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Any reasons why you should or shouldnt use these?
Squat Pad, or Towel? What are the effects?
- Thread starter ThePolishHammer
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bignate73
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it changes where the bar sits in relation to your upper body, basically shifts the length of the "lever" arm in the movement. its like doing bicep curls one way all your life and then waking up one morning and your forearms are 2 inches longer. the same weight is going to be heavier. the problem being is that its not your biceps affected, but your lower back. (in this case) the bar being moved forward and up also shifts your center of gravity, this extra offbalancing can really throw your squat out of whack.
the pad can also tend to set the bar up higher than you are accustomed to (and if too thick) can really push on your cervical spine. the bar should sit below C7 but if you have a fat pillow on your neck keeping you from looking up or even straight ahead....its not too comfortable.
also remember your chest will tend to follow where your eyes point, so if the nasty pad is pushing your head down or even straight ahead, your chest will point in that direction as well.
can you tell i dont like pads?
a small towel might alleviate some of the pressure of the bar on your upper back without throwing off your squat. but then again....a couple extra sets of shrugs will add some pad as well. hehehehe.
hope that helps.
the pad can also tend to set the bar up higher than you are accustomed to (and if too thick) can really push on your cervical spine. the bar should sit below C7 but if you have a fat pillow on your neck keeping you from looking up or even straight ahead....its not too comfortable.
also remember your chest will tend to follow where your eyes point, so if the nasty pad is pushing your head down or even straight ahead, your chest will point in that direction as well.
can you tell i dont like pads?
a small towel might alleviate some of the pressure of the bar on your upper back without throwing off your squat. but then again....a couple extra sets of shrugs will add some pad as well. hehehehe.
hope that helps.
Nate and Spatts have it right on. The biggest problem I see is that it raises your centre of gravity higher, which makes it much tougher to not tip forward while squatting. You will get used to it. When I first started sqatting 135lbs hurt my shoulders, I squat about 300 more lbs for reps now and dont feel a thing
Gymtime, are you referring to COG? With a towel...yeah, probably not an issue. With the pads though, they can roll easy, so if you set it where you'd normally set the bar, you may find that the bar wants to roll down your back at heavy weights....and nobody likes to have their arms torn off at the shoulder (Merely a flesh wound!). Because of this, people will tend to lean forward more or carry the bar too high (or both) to work around this obstacle. That can be a problem.
vinylgroover
New member
I prefer to 'feel' the weight. Gives my body better feedback on form, technique etc.
gymtime said:
Please...You don't even have me by a year........
BTW, I have used a pad and had no problems with rolling, (The knurling keeps it from moving) and it didn't really feel all that different height-wise. I don't use one now because I have a custom 1.5" thick bar, and it is very comfortable without the pad.
But, I could see how it could cause problems or uncomfortableness (is that a word?) for others.
Joker
