Squat question.....arms?

LuckyLeprechaun

When squatting, I discovered that if I press upwards with my arms against the bar while I am raising up from the squat, it *seems* to make it easier on my legs.

I described it to my husband, to ask him if I had discovered a cheat, or if I had just figured out that squatting is more than making your legs do all the work. He says he thinks it sounds like a cheat, which could lead to a bad habit, which could hurt my shoulder.

What do you all think? I'm looking straight ahead, concentrating on the straight up and down motion of the bar, am I allowed to press it up with my hands? This only sightly relieves the pressure from the back of my neck, it doesn't actually lift the bar out of position by more than a cm at most.

So can my arms help? Or does my *kitten*/thighs have to do all the work?

taso42

Your arms/hands should not be supporting any weight. They are only there to hold the bar in place. When you say "relieves the pressure from the back of my neck", I worry. The bar should not be touching your neck. Sounds like it's up to high.

http://stronglifts.com/squat-bar-position/

Even in the high bar position, I don't think it should be putting pressure on your neck.

But to directly answer the question, I don't think it's cheating per se. Your legs are still lifting the same amount of weight. What you're doing might just be compensating some somewhat bad form, and making the exercise feel easier.

Qarol

Taso? Did you get a sex change???

:laugh:

tameko2

He gets jealous of our group so sometimes he stalks us. I bet we have lots of stalkers, because of awesome.