Squats - the bar hurts my shoulders

Mine always hurt the following day so I'm really interested to hear any ideas!

Before pads....they rolled and duct taped towels.
Have you acomplished where you are by being a sissy? Suck it up Buttercups! You can do it!

When I used to workout in college, I developed a bum shoulder which made it difficult to use a bar for squats or bench press. Have you thought about using dumbbells? Not sure if the weight of each dumbbell would be too much for you...

Are you definitely putting the bar on the right part of your shoulders? It shouldn't be directly on your shoulders. When you use the bar your elbows should go as far back and up as possible which creates a 'shelf' at the very top of you back, this is where you place the bar. (I learned in detail how to use a squat rack when i did my gym instruction)

Hope that helps the problem.

Katie
xx

Are you doing any shoulder/back excersises?

My husband, who is in incredibly good shape, was told by his physical therapist that he shouldn't do that move anymore. It is apparently too hard on both the shoulders and the back. Instead, she told him to squat with weights by his side for the same effect without the shoulder and back injury risk/pain. I think she also said that using a hip sled was a good option, too, though that isn't free weights.

Here's a video that might help you. The ladies are lifting HEAVY and they aren't using a pad or towel of any kind. Their elbows are pulled way back and the bar is resting on the "shelf" created by the back and shoulder blades, not the shoulders themselves. Good luck and don't risk injury.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEkpST0vSbg

That barbell is really starting to hurt my shoulders. They have a pad at the gym, which I use, but it's old and worn out in the middle (I asked them to get a new one - hopefully they will, and hopefully that will help). But - even with that pad, I'm having a hard time supporting the bar on my shoulders because it hurts. I pull my shoulder blades together to try to give the bar a nice "shelf" to sit on, but it is still just so heavy on my shoulders and it hurts. I'm still adding weight slowly (currently, I'm up to 110 lbs), but I always wonder if my shoulders will be able to continue supporting the weight as I add more.

Is this kind of like grip strength - that my shoulders will get better at supporting the weight as I increase it? Or is there something else that I should be doing?

The back squat is a great leg and full body exercise, gratz for stepping forward and doing it. Secondly, there is no replacement for this movement. Not holding dumbbells at your side, not a leg press, nothing. The closest thing would be deadlifting with a Trap Bar.

This movement is uncomfortable for sure but worth it. Here's an exercept from Jim Wendler on Squat Form, which is applicable for your issue.

Proper bar placement depends on your body type and what’s most comfortable to you. Some people have shoulder problems and can’t carry the bar very low. Others just plain suck at high bar squatting. Place the bar where it allows you to reach depth with good form. It’s just that easy.
• I like taking a full grip on the bar, but I used a “thumbs-around” grip for the first half of my squatting life. I don’t see this as a deal-breaker.
• Keep your elbows down and try to force them under the bar. This will cause your hips to drive first out of the bottom of the squat. It’ll also keep your chest high and prevent you from squatting with your legs first instead of your back. The first thing to shoot up with many people is their *kitten*. Remedy this by pushing with your hips and keeping your elbows under the bar – or at least trying to.
• Arch your upper back hard for the entire lift. This will cause your lower back to arch, too.
• Grip the bar with the narrowest grip you can manage without hurting your shoulders. This will ensure that you remain tight throughout the lift.

Also, checkout YouTube for "So You Think You Can Squat" for any additional pointers that might help you. Lastly, just go to ****'s Sporting Goods, or any other Sporting Good store and get your own pad.

The bar should not be on your shoulder, it should be placed more on the back then the shoulder

Are you definitely putting the bar on the right part of your shoulders? It shouldn't be directly on your shoulders. When you use the bar your elbows should go as far back and up as possible which creates a 'shelf' at the very top of you back, this is where you place the bar. (I learned in detail how to use a squat rack when i did my gym instruction)

Hope that helps the problem.

Katie
xx

This!!!!

And yes there are very good alternatives that will provide a very similar level of benefit.

As an alternative, the front squat engages all the same muscles and is often considered a better movement by some body builders, this is a hot topic of debate, but nobody debates both or amazingly effective. The front squat is very popular with ladies as it is considered VERY glute enhancing...

As a further alternative, the overhead squat, where you hold the bar with arms fully extended above you, will not only go along way to improve your back squat form, but also turn your core into a powerful thing with the strength of iron.

Some rules on the back squat

-Bar should not touch your spine, EVER
-Forget the padding, it makes an unstable ledge
-Place your hands as close together on the bar as possible, this will squeeze your shoulder blades together, tighten up across your abs and chest and shoulders. IMAGINE bending the bar around your body like you are SUPERMAN!!! NOW you have a nice ledge for that heavy bar
-Always squat to or below parallel. Do not make me come back to this thread and explain the physics and why squatting short of parallel is BAD BAD for your knees. Cause I will
-Keep your ab and core tight all the way down, if you are bending forward at the bottom, you are using to much weight, use the overhead squat to teach your lower back muscles to activate at the bottom of the movement

I love heavy squats as it seems like you can set a new PR every week for a very long time once you start doing them

Yes, the shoulder shrugs work the traps nicely in addition to any other shoulder work you do. I would worry about getting an over developed neck or anything.

Do yourself a huge favor and watch "So You Think You Can Squat" on YouTube. Dave Tate and his group are one of the best teachers of Squatting, Benching, and Deadlifting.

- I agree about the Pad, if you can do without you should.
-The Front Squat is a great exercise but is more technical than the Back Squat, recommend mastering the Back Squat first.
- Experts are starting to disagree about the core tightness and from what I've been seeing are teaching to push out with your belly as to not create any spine issues.

I've honestly found the front squat to be very simple, and you usually do it with less weight, thus more reps and more practice. The weight being at the front also almost forces your knees to stay back behind your toes, and forces you back into a squat. I think working the back squat, without working the front squat and overhead squat is holding yourself back. I rotate them along with single legged squats which I truly suck at.

Ok, so this morning, I dropped my load to 100# and focused on my form. I wish I had a spotter to help me confirm, but I don't... I think I did okay. I have been doing the "shelf" as instructed, but I may have had the bar sitting up too close to my neck, so I let it be down a little farther (which was harder on my shoulders/arms for having to be back so far to hold the bar - I assume that will improve over time). I also focused on keeping my butt up, chest out and my weight in my heels with my knees pressing out. And I did it without a pad. It wasn't awful, but it didn't feel great on my back - see, I'm not saying 'shoulders' anymore :-) I did step-ups with the bar and a 65# load and by the end of that, I was pretty sick of the bar!! I did notice with the step ups my knees really tend to come in. I’m going to have to lighten my load and work on my form there. I’ll watch Steps 4 and 5 of the So You Think You Can Squat series to learn what exercises I need to do to strengthen my hips (I believe he’s going to go there when he pushes the guy to fail – I just didn’t have time to watch the rest last night). So anyway – I just wanted to thank everyone for your feedback. I’ll continue to work on this – and I’ll try to do it without the pad if possible.

I have to share my proud moment - today I did the cable triceps pushdown with 40#!!! I started barely able to do 20# a few weeks ago (this is a new excercise I've added to my plan). I could barely get 8 reps with good form, but this is a big improvement!! I've very happy!!

Congrats on your new personal record!

Good work working on your squat. You will not master form all at once. But you should definitely never use a weight you cannot squat with good form. I would say that if you can squat where your knees do not go out past your toes, your knees do not bend in, and your back stays stable, you can progress in weight.

Again, start the break at the hip, then the knees second. This will almost always lead to a much better squat.

Check out box squats for another excellent training drill.