Squat Technique

[axisofblood]

Hi people, recently I've been struggling to get my squat technique right. I have a problem the bar crushes my spine and its very painful, I found this video of a front squat http://www.coopersguns.com/videos/exercise-encyclopedia/rectus-femoris/front-squat/

Is this a good squat to be doing or would you recommend regular squats? Any help is much appreciated.

 

[Czar87]

Hi people, recently I've been struggling to get my squat technique right. I have a problem the bar crushes my spine and its very painful, I found this video of a front squat http://www.coopersguns.com/videos/exercise-encyclopedia/rectus-femoris/front-squat/

Is this a good squat to be doing or would you recommend regular squats? Any help is much appreciated.

You should do both, but regulars are better cause then you can use more weight.

Is it your upper or lower back ? Right from the beginning push your shoulder blades back together to secure your upper back and then fill the belly with air and push it out to secure lower back.

 

[axisofblood]

The top of my back, where the bar rests on my traps, the bar sorta crushes the disc its resting on and its very painful.

thx for the reply

 

[wakefib]

that guy didn't go near what i would consider a squat. that was a half squat (just before 90).
if you are going to do front squats, i would recommend going lower (i would recommend going lower when doing any squats). you can also use a clean grip to hold the bar.

 

[Czar87]

The top of my back, where the bar rests on my traps, the bar sorta crushes the disc its resting on and its very painful.

thx for the reply

Read the training sticky about squats.

Pushing shoulder blades together will cure this problem. You were just loose

 

[axisofblood]

Thanks guys

 

[carlsuen]

or if u're really skinny, then that might be expected too.. either put on more weight or get used to it..

but definitely read up the training vault or the PL board on the squat..

 

[curgeo]

When I started training a looooong time ago, I had the same problem. I was 128lbs at 18 and 5ft5. I had no muscle to support the bar and it hurt my back. I am not saying that you are small, I am saying that you probably lack some muscle in the upper back and traps to comfortably do a back squat.

That being said...the best way to cure that problem is to keep doing back squats. It makes sense that the body adapts to the training load right? That is why we get stronger and larger...adaptation. The body adapts to force...hell, you can walk a different way and your bones and muscles will adapt to the new gait....so it would make sense to cure the weakness of the upper back to keep back squatting and to also do some upper back work like shrugs or high pulls or even tbar or pendlay rows to accelerate the growth.

Just make sure you can tell the difference between muscle pain along with weight bearing pain on the bones as opposed to bone, muscle or tendon/ligament stress that could lead to injury.

Keep plugging away. You will be fine.

 

[Protobuilder]

Squats can be tough to learn and even tougher to do correctly but it's worth it. Keep working on it and don't give up.

You could be resting the bar too high so that it's sitting on your neck. That's bad. LoL If you've got it setting across the traps (or if you're doing more of a powerlifting squat, resting the bar lower on your rear delts), and your shoulder blades pulled back tight, you should have some pad for the bar to float on.

Overall though, it just takes getting used to. When I first started, the bar really bugged me. Now, I have zero discomfort from the bar. It's very natural. But at first, it wobbled around, ground into my neck, rotated, et.c It was ugly. LoL Keep at it. If at all possible, post a vid of yourself squatting.

 

[Czar87]

My q is, i box squat and i used to do shoulder width stance but wanna go for a power stance, but cant go wide and sit down to paraller just yet because my hips or inner hips start to ache. Wich should i do, adjust my box above paraller and power stance or go with narrower stance, just little pit wider than shoulders to get my flexibilty right? Im middle of 3x5 and go for a 5x5 next week.


Thanks

 

[Illuminati]

My q is, i box squat and i used to do shoulder width stance but wanna go for a power stance, but cant go wide and sit down to paraller just yet because my hips or inner hips start to ache. Wich should i do, adjust my box above paraller and power stance or go with narrower stance, just little pit wider than shoulders to get my flexibilty right? Im middle of 3x5 and go for a 5x5 next week.


Thanks

start with a slightly higher box, and work your way down. when you go from using a narrow (oly) stance, to using a PL stance, this pain that you describe is normal.