ways to prevent bar bruising
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angelbarbz123
Posts: 23 Member
Idk if it's just me but whenever I'm doing squats on the Smith machine, I have like a little bruise on my lower neck kinda at the top of my spine from the machine. Is it because of the clothes I'm wearing like should I wear a jacket or something to cover it to not rub up against my skin, or what are ways to prevent this? Thank you! 
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Replies
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Get out of the smith machine and earn the callous.0
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^^0
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I wrap a towel around the bar when going heavy. It definitely helps. Keep at them. Squats are king.0
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Never noticed a bruise from squats, except when doing front squats where the bar rested on my arms. Don't use the smith machine either. Mostly, I get bruises from deadlifts. They happen and go away. Haven't noticed a difference based on clothes either though except I like to wear knee-hi socks so that helps a little with deadlifting.0
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The bar is in the incorrect position. First, it's in a smith machine. Second, it sounds like it's too high on your neck. It should be resting on your traps.0
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TheReloader wrote: »The bar is in the incorrect position. First, it's in a smith machine. Second, it sounds like it's too high on your neck. It should be resting on your traps.
Yup. Are you pinching your shoulder blades together and resting the bar on the ridge made by your traps for high bar squats?0 -
Looking beyond the issue of where on the neck/shoulders the bar is residing, the OP's question about bruising due to the bar is still relevant, since on heavy squat day I also get bruises across my shoulders for a day or two after, and I know I'm positioning the bar correctly.
In my experience, wearing different clothes doesn't seem to make a difference, as I get the same bruising whether I wear a t-shirt or a tank-top. Wrapping a towel helps because the bar doesn't actually make contact with your body, but I feel a better mind-muscle connection when I feel the bar, maybe that's just me.
The good news is the bruising is not a requirement, as I only get the bruising on my heaviest days anymore, but when I squat lighter I don't bruise. Used to, not anymore. The body gets used to the situation. Keep at it, yours will as well.0 -
TheReloader wrote: »The bar is in the incorrect position. First, it's in a smith machine. Second, it sounds like it's too high on your neck. It should be resting on your traps.
This. The bar should be resting on your traps, a bit lower than where I'd guess you have it resting.
I also agree with nossmf, as you get stronger and build more muscle mass, the bar will rest on that and not the bone.
I always used a pad before I started doing CF. At that point I deloaded a bit and just used the bar and worked on positioning the bar correctly I now squat fairly heavy and don't have any bruising issues.
Front squats and bruising....now we we're talking.0 -
Yes, this. throw your shoulders back and your traps should provide a nice little pad to rest the bar on, it shouldn't be touching your spine.TheReloader wrote: »The bar is in the incorrect position. First, it's in a smith machine. Second, it sounds like it's too high on your neck. It should be resting on your traps.0 -
The smith machine is a terrible place to squat. If you’ll look at the line, it isn’t vertical. Not to mention the lack of engagement in stabilizer muscles (but then you could put a slider over your chairs and toilet and not have to worry about stabilization in that functional range).
Most gyms have pads you can use or you can use a towel. Also, experiment with placement of the bar. It sounds like you’re doing a high bar squat. You can shift the bar down, further back onto your delts and do a low bar squat that might be more comfortable.0 -
Smith versus BB aside, either way over time you're going to develop some marks where the bar lies. I have a light callous where the bar lies but the good thing is that it's even easier for me to tell when the bar is in position. lol!
I'm not sure why you would bruise, I'm guessing the bar is not in a good spot and that can be attributed to the Smith machine. The problem with the Smith machine in that regard is that the bar is fixed and you really can't properly adjust to your movement pattern. Try using a barbell for a while and practice your form, see if anything changes. You don't want a pad or anything on the bar because that can throw off the range of motion and form, so be careful with that. With practice and over time it will become natural and it won't hurt.0 -
Iron_Miss_Canada wrote: »Get out of the smith machine and earn the callous.
This for sure, also, stop carrying the load on your neck, carry it where it belongs, on your traps.
Rigger
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I do squats without the machine but I sometimes do some squats on the machine but should I not? And what do y'all mean by callous?0
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A callous is a thickening of the skin, the body's reaction to protect your skin from repeated rubbing. Doesn't always have to be nasty, think of the fingertips of a guitar player.
By squatting regularly, where the bar touches your shoulders it might move slightly during each rep, whether rolling up and down or twisting slightly. Usually not a large motion, but if done constantly on the same spot the body will still toughen up to protect itself. So if you have "earned a callous squatting" it means you've done enough squats, with the bar in the correct position every time, to force the body to develop a callous.0 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUNRPK2FBv8
Smith machines do not go in an appropriate vertical movement. In this video, pay particular attention to when he has a PVC pipe beside the woman squatting and you can see a beautiful vertical movement pattern. This is what you want to do, and should do with a barbell.
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okay so just get off the Smith Machine, got it. Thank you!AllanMisner wrote: »https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUNRPK2FBv8
Smith machines do not go in an appropriate vertical movement. In this video, pay particular attention to when he has a PVC pipe beside the woman squatting and you can see a beautiful vertical movement pattern. This is what you want to do, and should do with a barbell.
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Looking beyond the issue of where on the neck/shoulders the bar is residing, the OP's question about bruising due to the bar is still relevant, since on heavy squat day I also get bruises across my shoulders for a day or two after, and I know I'm positioning the bar correctly.
In my experience, wearing different clothes doesn't seem to make a difference, as I get the same bruising whether I wear a t-shirt or a tank-top. Wrapping a towel helps because the bar doesn't actually make contact with your body, but I feel a better mind-muscle connection when I feel the bar, maybe that's just me.
The good news is the bruising is not a requirement, as I only get the bruising on my heaviest days anymore, but when I squat lighter I don't bruise. Used to, not anymore. The body gets used to the situation. Keep at it, yours will as well.
Agree...what you need to do is bruise a few times and your body will get use to it until you increase to a even more extreme weight. I dont care how big of a badass you are you squat some weight you are gonna be sore. I just did 315 (bar in right place) and I can barely wear a bra. What will happen tho is you will learn to love that feeling and be proud of how it got there. Keep going angel and you are going to find bruises in place you have no clue how they got there. But you will wear them with pride because you busted your *kitten* to get them!
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Workin my way up to get there! And 315!? Dang maybe one day I'll be able to squat that heavy right now the highest I can squat is 120! You're the badassmaybebaby34 wrote: »Looking beyond the issue of where on the neck/shoulders the bar is residing, the OP's question about bruising due to the bar is still relevant, since on heavy squat day I also get bruises across my shoulders for a day or two after, and I know I'm positioning the bar correctly.
In my experience, wearing different clothes doesn't seem to make a difference, as I get the same bruising whether I wear a t-shirt or a tank-top. Wrapping a towel helps because the bar doesn't actually make contact with your body, but I feel a better mind-muscle connection when I feel the bar, maybe that's just me.
The good news is the bruising is not a requirement, as I only get the bruising on my heaviest days anymore, but when I squat lighter I don't bruise. Used to, not anymore. The body gets used to the situation. Keep at it, yours will as well.
Agree...what you need to do is bruise a few times and your body will get use to it until you increase to a even more extreme weight. I dont care how big of a badass you are you squat some weight you are gonna be sore. I just did 315 (bar in right place) and I can barely wear a bra. What will happen tho is you will learn to love that feeling and be proud of how it got there. Keep going angel and you are going to find bruises in place you have no clue how they got there. But you will wear them with pride because you busted your *kitten* to get them!
! Thanks for the info as well, will put to use!
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If you absolutely must: you can use a bar pad, but once you move the bar to the right position i doubt it would be necessary.
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