High bar Squat vs Low bar Squat

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  • armylife
    armylife Posts: 196 Member
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    You are correct, I did use the wrong language to describe the lever/fulcrum system the body become during the squat.

    But, it is not intuitive to me that the low or high bar squat places more emphasis on either posterior or anterior chain with equal weight. There is little in the EMG studies that indicates that muscle activation as more that a margin of error difference between the two as far as hamstrings are concerned. There is a much deeper body of work supporting stance has more of an effect on muscle recruitment if you want to focus on your gastrocnemius, but again not hamstrings.

    http://www.professoralexandrerocha.com.br/biblioteca/2013_9_22_10_39_32_.pdf

    But all of the information is a distraction to a beginning lifter that is just getting started. Any squat is better than no squat.
  • mrnobodi95
    mrnobodi95 Posts: 21 Member
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    I think another thing that I was curious about was that a lot of beginner programs suggest squats 3 times a week (SL, SS, ICF), since the squat is the supposed king of all exercises. Most of these programs refer to the Low-bar squat, which is why I was wondering whether the high-bar squat is still a "king exercise" compared to the low-bar even though it doesn't use the posterior chain.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    mrnobodi95 wrote: »
    I think another thing that I was curious about was that a lot of beginner programs suggest squats 3 times a week (SL, SS, ICF), since the squat is the supposed king of all exercises. Most of these programs refer to the Low-bar squat, which is why I was wondering whether the high-bar squat is still a "king exercise" compared to the low-bar even though it doesn't use the posterior chain.

    Whoa -- don't ever thing highbar squat "doesn't use the posterior chain" -- it's still a very effective whole body lift (including the posterior chain). At *most*, it uses the posterior chain somewhat less than a lowbar squat (and evidently, from the shitstorm my comment set off, there's a lot of controversy around that).
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    Keeping it simple and using terms that are used in the study of Kiniesiology which is the study of human movement; if your hips Flex then the counter to that is that they must extend. If the hips extend your glutes and hamstrings are recruited. Bar position could dictate how much of a stimulus each receives but regardless of bar-position, those muscles must be recruited; period. I would be interested in reading any EMG studies that compare the two to see if there are significant differences, unfortunately I can't get into my school's library this morning. LOL
  • foursirius
    foursirius Posts: 321 Member
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    Shouldn't be an issue
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    LolBroScience wrote: »
    Doesn't matter, pick whichever is more comfortable or allows you to move more weight.

    this.

    I do high bar- I feel like my thoracic is under a weird compression under low bar.

    From what I understand many people can move a higher percentage of weight on low bar- but I just have never gotten used to it- but I should- My form is a high/low hybrid- I'm not really in one camp or the other.

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