Newbie, squats, my upper back hurts

kerricus

I did squats with a bar and weights this morning for the first time. It hurt to have the bar sitting on my upper back (almost the back of my neck). I had the bar sitting on a vertebra. I asked the instructor if that was normal and she said yes, for some people.

*Is* it normal to have the bar sit on your vertebra? Is it normal to hurt (it feels bruised)?

Is there something I can do to prevent it from hurting/bruising next time?

roxierachael

You can play around with positioning (high bar vs. low bar squats) or even front squats. Some gyms have padding that you clip or velcro to the bar. As you build the muscles in your back, it will hurt less.

skinnyinnotime

I have the bar much lower down, across the shoulders, pressed together.

lwoodroff

this programme is for low bar back squats. If you squeeze your shoulder blades together, you will create a 'shelf' (this will become easier with more lifting!). The bar sits along that, nowhere near your neck! It's probably at least 4 inches lower.

If you get 'Starting Strength' by Mark Rippetoe (the first few chapters are freeeee on kindle/emulators, including the squat chapter) there are lots of diagrams and explanations

krokador

Yeah, even for high bar squats, the bar shouldn't be touching your vertebrae. Then again I did the same thing the first time I squatted with a bar and it bruised too. No fun

This might help you out a bit, i think the picture is actually pretty telling: http://www.crossfitfly.com/whats-the-dif/
As you can see, even the high bar doesn't sit on the lump behind the neck. Your hands are going to be wider apart on a low bar squat, so that may be where you want to start to correct your form - widen your hands a bit.

If it helps you set it into position, here's the way I do it: You'll want the bar about level with your collarbone. I put my hands with ring fingers on the rings of the bar (thumb over, not around), pull back to have straight arms then shove myself under the bar as centered as possible, digging it into my shoulder blades as I bend forward, then I straighten up my back (and bend my knees a bit) with my back held tight and find that sweet spot where the bar just "sits" on the shelf created by the shoulder blades. I find this is actually harder to do with a lighter bar though! (Probably because it moves if I shove against it)

The one thing to remember is that you want to be tight ANY TIME you have the bar touching you (and that is with any lift, even simply picking up dumbbells off the ground *clears throat and looks around shiftily* Yeah, I hurt myself the very first day I stepped into a gym retrieving a 10lbs dumbbell...).

Hope this helps

kerricus

Thanks, everyone. All your replies were extremely helpful. Squeezing my shoulder blades together is the key.

(Incidentally, when I did those squats, it was part of a BodyPump class and the instructor told me I was doing it right. I already didn't like the class, but knowing that she was wrong just seals the deal. I'm not going back.)