In other random news, I've been working out at the gym a lot lately and made the mistake of asking Matt to increase the intensity of my leg routine — ordinarily I just hit the machines but yesterday he had me doing these super intense lunges and
bar squats with extra weight.
The hip drive is absolutely crucial in the low
bar squats because without your posterior chain working, you are only working with a fraction of the muscles and strength that you could develop.
If you are doing high
bar squats, there is no reason to look down.
But during Low
Bar Squats, you can look up or down depending on the stage of your training and also preference.
I prefer to use high
bar squats for these.
In terms of overall strength, glute and hamstring development, the low
bar squats is superior.
Supplemental lift (heavy work): This would be a compound movement like incline bench, deficit deads, rack pulls, and safety squat
bar squats done heavy to supplement your main movement.
If you're doing low
bar squats and going too low, your lower back will round excessively and that can cause back pain as well.
High
bar squats in the picture on the left with bar placed on top of your traps.
See the difference by reading my post on high
bar squats vs low
bar squats.
High
bar squats or olympic squats is quad dominant and it puts more stress on the spine because the upper body is more upright.
Squat atg on the high bar or breaking parallel on the low
bar squats and don't let your knees buckle inwards as described in my How To Squat article.
It also helps improve your overall technique even if you do low -
bar squats mainly.
For the high
bar squats, try bending at the knees first.
Low
bar squats takes the stress of your low back which is an advantage when you train heavy.
My favourite way to strengthen the gluteus medius is to do paused atg high
bar squats using a light weight.
Low
bar squats on the right, bar placed lower on the upper back.
Your upper body is more upright on the high
bar squats and you lean forward more on the low
bar squats.
just keep in mind that when you have your hands to your sides, you're essentially doing a squat rather than an actual deadlift, so you might want to stick with either doing regular back squats or the trap
bar squats but not both, otherwise you'll overwork your quads.
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bar squats, core training, deceleration training for lower body, dynamic isometrics, explosive lower body training, hip mobility, jumping, knee stability, landing mechanics, lower body training, lower body workouts, plyometrics, squats, step - ups, strength mobility, unilateral training Posted in accelerated muscular development, strength training to improve athletic performance, strength training workouts 5 Comments»
With that said, the leverages for most people are more advantageous when doing low
bar squats; hence why most powerlifters low bar back squat in competition.
Any squat variation can be used including Barbell Squats, Safety
Bar Squats, Goblet Squats, Overhead Squats, Front Squats, Deadlift Squats, Zercher Squats, Kettlebell Squats, etc..
Leg Extension with 60 lbs for 20 reps superset with Split Squats with 10 lb dumbbells Front
bar squats for 3 sets for 15 reps superset with 1 set step ups on bench (I was not feeling good by this time).
Safety
Bar Squats 135X10, 185X10, 225X8X12X12 Leg Ext 70X15, 80X12X12X10 my quads were screaming by this time!
From back squats and front squats to box squats, sumo squats, and low
bar squats, all variations are effective.
The one with a longer torso and shorter femurs would be better at high
bar squats, squat very deep and keep an upright back with relative ease, while the one with a shorter torso and longer femurs would prefer low
bar squats, squat just below parallel and constantly lean forward.
So even though theoretically the high
bar squat hits your quads better, the low bar position allows for a greater load placement on the quad muscles and therefore results with more overall quad muscle recruitment than the high bar position.
Some people think that since performing a low
bar squat simply means moving the bar 2 - 3 inches farther down your back, its effects don't differ much from those of a high
bar squat, but that's not the case.
Even if the athlete in question has a perfect back squat a smarter choice for some would be a safety
bar squat or a front squat with a harness
Why Low Bar Back Squat or what are the Low
Bar Squat benefits?
High
bar squatting versus low
bar squatting is a frequent point of contention.
There's more lean forward than a high -
bar squat encourages, and that's because I still use a lower bar position — but that's what works for me.
To learn the correct High
Bar Squat bar placement might feel uncomfortable in the beginning and requires some practice.
The terms High Bar Back Squat or High
Bar Squat are used interchangeably and the «High Bar» simply refers to the barbell position on the shoulders or better on the back.
The correct High
Bar Squat bar placement needs a little bit of practice and feels uncomfortable on the neck or trapezius muscle when you start out learning the correct High Bar Back Squat form.
Olympic Weightlifters have used and continue to use the high
bar squat as a training exercise to improve the performance of their competition lifts, the Snatch and the Clean & Jerk.
The high
bar squat is more knee dominant and reflects a squatting pattern, whilst the low
bar squat is more hip dominant and reflects a bending pattern.
To achieve correct High
Bar Squat bar placement, you just need to know a few key points, which makes the learning process fairly simple and you will achieve a great High Bar Back Squat technique.
As I referred to earlier, the high bar refers to the bar position on the shoulders, so the question stands out what is the correct High
Bar Squat bar placement?
All things considered, these points can often cancel out - low
bar squatting to a box may spare the quads, but worsen the tendency towards lower back hyperextension, so addressing this via exercise selection can simply make things worse.
However, this does not mean every low
bar squatter will sumo deadlift, as arm length also plays a large part in the set up.
Adding 10 - 20 lbs on
the bar every squat session is not uncommon.
Your knees are a lot safer when you squat ATG on the high
bar squat or when you break parallel on the low
bar squat.
On the other side of this spectrum, Idalberto Arranda uses a high
bar squat and he has short femurs with a long torso.
On the high
bar squat, the bar is placed on top of your traps.
If you go too low on the low
bar squat, it will cause excessive lower back rounding and this is not good for your spine.
For the low
bar squat, powerlifters prioritize the hamstrings and glutes over quads as they are more important in the lift.
While you should still break parallel, it's not beneficial to reach the ATG depth like in the high
bar squat (where the knees reach full flexion).
You can go lower on the high
bar squat.
You can have a wider stance with a low
bar squat and narrower stance the high
bar squat.