Squats and discomfort in shoulder area?

Try squeezing your shoulder blades together to form a better pad for the bar to sit on. Don't have the bar too high. Is there a coach to check your form?

If you've never done barbell squats, the honest answer is you just have to suck it up. Even if your bar position is correct, it will feel uncomfortable when you first start. Eventually it feels natural even when you have 300+ lbs.

Just keep doing them. You get used to it.

Don't use a pad!!!

Srs though as posted above, Layne Norton does 1 good video.

Thers a pad you can get to wrap the bar,it should get better as you build muscle thatll pad tjat area

Or don't do squats. There are many exercises that work legs also.

goldthistime wrote: »

What's wrong with using a foam pad? Is it any different for men vs women? I can't imagine doing squats without it. I have a big thick one and I find when I do squats at the gym (where there is a pad but it's thin) I'm miserable. How is this different than, say, bike shorts? I can't cycle for long without the extra padding in my bike shorts either.

Because it's 100% unnecessary and you really don't want another layer of material between your body and the bar at higher weights.

Sounds from the description that the bar may be higher on your back, close to your neck. SL5x5 calls for low bar squats. What you want to do is get your hands as close to together as possible and push your elbows back. This creates a shelf between the scapula and traps for the bar to rest on. There are many videos on youtube that will show good squat form. Check out Mark Rippetoe and Allan Thral.

FWIW, doing squats w/a bar plus heavy weights across your back is simply uncomfortable. All the "adjustment" in bar, arm and/or shoulder position in the world will NOT make it much better, especially when you're squatting over 200 lbs (90kg).

There are only 3 things that can make it "feel" better:

1) a thick dense foam pad which cushions the bar but also raises the center of gravity
which in turn may cause balance problems and does not change the point of pressure on the neck/shoulders;

2) the Manta Ray, which is a hard plastic accessory that provides a stable platform on which the bar can rest on your shoulders and that distributes the pressure of the weight of the bar more widely across the shoulders; and

3) a fully padded safety squat yoke bar which transfers the weight slightly forward but makes lifting really heavy weight about as comfortable as possible.

I've got all 3.

The foam pad is the cheapest and will deform and degrade quickly under heavy weight. All of them except the thickest and most expensive are junk and if you get a really thick one you run into center of gravity and balance issues.

The safety squat yoke bar is the BEST but it costs around $400 plus shipping and tax, where applicable. I've got the one made by eliteFTS that I got for only $240 off of Craigslist. I do all off my squatting w/it, unless I'm too lazy to lift the 60# 8 ft long monster out of the bar rack.

In that case, I just use the Manta Ray which only costs about $45. Forget about the foam pads which cost as much or more. It's absolutely the best and most affordable thing you can buy to make your squatting more comfortable and it small and light enough to throw into your bag when you go to the gym. No need to use the scuzzy gross beat up pads often found there.

BUT don't be decieved!!! DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, buy any of the cheap, soft foam knock offs of the Manta Ray sold on eBay, Amazon and elsewhete on the Net.

Only buy the TM'd blue hard plastic Manta Ray. It's the hard plastic that distributes the weight better across the shoulders and makes the product so durable.

Happy squatting!