High bar vs low bar squats?

threnjen

Which do you use? Why?

I've realized that I do high bar, and am curious if one is "better" than the other. I'm not even sure how I would switch it out.

TravelsWithHuckleberry

I didn't know the difference so hit up the Google and found this article: powerliftingtowin.com/high-bar-vs-low-bar-squats/, which you might find interesting. (I skimmed, so if it's lame, my apologies.)

threnjen

Great link, thanks!! Well crap... I really should be doing low bar D= How do I relearn it?! ugh...

Llamapants86

Thanks for the link crabada. I personally do a not super low bar. So I am kind of in between low bar and high bar, but more low bar than high, if that makes sense...

canadianlbs

threnjen wrote: »

Well crap... I really should be doing low bar D=

i'm curious why you feel that way now. not putting you on the spot and it's not like i 'know anything' that would lead me to discourage you, but i'm interested. also, it's a persuasive article and it seems to have drawn a fair bit from the piece by mark rippetoe that certainly persuaded me to try it. but on the other hand, just because someone writes a persuasive article needn't mean they know what's the right thing to do in your case.


[fwiw section]

for me, i switched very recently so i reserve every right to be in here three weeks from now with a completely changed mind. but so far i'm happier with it than i ever got with high bar. for me, the main reason for switching was my upper back. i've already got imbalance/scoliosis/old whiplash/something which gives me quite a left-right asymmetry around the shoulders and back. and having the bar higher up meant my back was having to act as a longer fulcrum for the same weight, so it's not surprising that it didn't take me too long before i hurt myself. the extra length from the high bar probably just compounded the twist that i already had.

it's not like i didn't know i have this, but i also found it impossible to correct it with the bar carried high since in that position it doesn't 'interfere' with your back at all. low bar is working better than i could have hoped for, simply because it traps my back/shoulders against the bar and i'm really locked into something that has to be square.
- point 1: with low bar i can't corkscrew even if my body wants to, and
- point 2: even supposing a curve tries to start or my left shoulder tries to give up i can catch it and stop it, because i can feel it happen and i know what i need to do to get right. that side of my shoulder loses contact with the bar. in high-bar, i never knew what my own back was doing because the bar was above my shoulders.
- point 3: it's forcing flexibility into my shoulder on the left side in a way that the high bar did not.
- point 4: i'm actually able to keep my back tight and strong because i have something to work against, instead of just guessing. so my hopeful side is thinking that this might in time actually correct my weakness on the left side. i'm definitely using way more back with low bar than i did when i was high, but that could just be because when i was doing high bar i never gave any real thought to my back.

jcdoerr

Interesting link so far, only about halfway through but I'll be sure to finish it before my next lifting day. I'm about the same as you Llama, somewhere between a low and high, just where the bar and form feels most comfortable. I don't like low bar now that I'm hitting high weights (for me) because I feel like the bar bends me over/forward too much. With it a little more toward a high bar placement I can keep my back in the proper position but still engage the glutes more than the quads. Obviously this means I need more core strength, which I'm working on with accessory moves every day.

krokador

Low bar gives you better leverage. High bar has more carryover and givs you more direct strength gains.

Look up Johnnie Candito. He's a fairly respectable powerlifting guy and he recommends high bar as a strength building exercise and low bar more as a peaking lift to work on before a meet. He has a pretty recent video where he talks about the pros and cons and it all makes sense.

Personally I do high bar now. The bone structure behind my neck doesn't allow me to have it quite as high as some people demonstrate it but it sits just below that. Low bar puts too much torque on my knees and I already have a forward lean issue which only gets more apparent if I allow myself to bend over.

spirit095

I use a middle high/low bar position. Probably more on the high bar side, though. I just do what's more comfortable for me. I've tried low bar and it felt like the bar was just going to slide off of my back. It felt awkward for me. I like Johnny Candito. I've looked him up before and pretty much do the hybrid squat stance he talks about.

logg1e

Mehdi advocates a low bar. It's the only bit of his advice that I don't try to follow. I'm just comfortable with the bar high up.

threnjen

Oooh I have a forward lean issue, so maybe I should avoid low bar.
It seems like people do a mixture. Surely the benefits of one over the other cannot be too extreme. Like it is not going to make the difference in when I hit goal weight lol.