Help with Squats?

[jdanger]

My other lifts went up

As one would expect when we learn how to squat properly and not do some Frankenstein hip hinge squat (see abomination wasn't even an exaggeration after all). One of Rip's lines is that people without coaching naturally high bar in the beginning because quote "they don't know better". Which is true, and good even. It's the natural position one would expect to place load on their back. Problem is he solves the problem by moving the bar down the back to facilitate a less dirty quasi-squat rather than teaching people how to actually squat.

The problem most beginners have is they don't know how to squat. Like, for serious. The first thing I do when teaching someone to squat is ask them to show me an air squat without any instruction or demonstration because I want to know what their idea of a squat is before I do anything. Know how big a bridge you're going to have to cross. One of the major issues you see in a lot of people when you put them on the spot like this is that they revert to a hip hinge dominant move where they attempt to squat on top of their legs. We don't squat on top of our legs, we squat between them.

What's interesting is that the hinge dominant move looks a lot like, you guessed it, the low bar back squat. You can get someone squatting mostly on top of their legs but sorta in between to parallel with a little hacking and then solve the bar issue by forcing it down the back in a loaded squat but what you haven't done is teach that person how to actually squat.

To teach someone how to really squat between their legs the way we were designed to we often have to do a lot more work. Kids are pretty easy since even if sedentary they are still pliable and closer to the time when they knew how to squat by default (as a toddler). Adults are tough because you've got to undo and unglue years and years of dysfunctional movement and all the structural and tissue (and psychological) issues that go along with it. But you can make it better. It takes longer and doesn't get people into their ego lifts as fast but you can get there.

So Rip and I agree that beginners don't know how to squat (real enlightening I know) we just differ in how to fix it. He throws people a bone and teaches them how to hit big weights with something that looks similar to a squat. I tell them to (wo)man up and learn how to squat (this is probably why I'm not very popular). It's the difference between smashing a square peg through a round hole and taking the time to finesse that damn square into a circle. We weren't born squares. We only learned to be that way over time spent in an unnatural world. Embrace your inner circle! Alright that one got away from me a little bit. I apologize. Squats = life in case you didn't know.

jdanger, master of nonbiased reporting. (Yes, I know you followed up with a compelling argument. This line just made me laugh)

Well yeah. I'm biased in the same way anyone is when they happen to be right.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Well yeah. I'm biased in the same way anyone is when they happen to be right.

Wow, you sound like my wife there.

You have convinced me a bit to try messing with high bar a bit again and see how I like it now that I'm a bit down the road into lifting again. Two questions:

Do you use the tampon with high bar? I remember in high school it used to leave these ghastly marks across my shoulders even with one.

High bar doesn't work the posterior chain as much as low bar does, or so I've heard. Do you have to add other stuff in to make sure you have balance or are deadlifts and their variants enough?

[jdanger]

You have convinced me a bit to try messing with high bar a bit again and see how I like it now that I'm a bit down the road into lifting again. Two questions:

Do you use the tampon with high bar? I remember in high school it used to leave these ghastly marks across my shoulders even with one.

Your wife must be right a lot.

And this guy frowns on your shenanigans. Seriously though, it gets better. The soft tissue gets more resilient over time. Think calluses on your shoulders/back. But not that creepy.

High bar doesn't work the posterior chain as much as low bar does, or so I've heard. Do you have to add other stuff in to make sure you have balance or are deadlifts and their variants enough?

Yeah but were you planning on doing nothing but squatting anyway? If you aren't anterior dominant now high baring isn't going to drive you there unless you decide to do nothing but squat for long periods of time and even then, I'm not sure because I know of no one who's tried this. Remember the primary movements we're discerning between here: squatting and hip hinging. Balancing those two things is not a particularly hard challenge but it does mean different things for different people. Generally if you're hitting deadlifts and some form of hip hinge assistance you aren't going to create any imbalances. Again I feel the posterior chain is best trained in proper posterior chain dominant exercises and if you've been low barring you're probably relatively weak up front anyway so a little "imbalance" is actually "balance".