Shoulder flexibility for low bar squat

[Greggot]

Hello,

I'm following the guidelines of Rippetoe's Starting Strenght for the major lift. I have a shoulder flexibility problem for the low bar squat. I end up with the wrong wrist position that is pretty painful with a loaded bar.

See below, my bad position on the left and the good one on the right.

I've been doing some stretches with no improvements so far.

What would be the best stretches to improve this position ?

PS : if you want to take a closer look to Rippetoe's low bar squat position and why it's better, here is a useful video

[Rik]

Where are your hands on the bar? Taking a wide grip will help. As for tightness, likely pec minor that is the problem.

Let's not get into the low bar vs. high bar debate.

[Greggot]

Well, too wide ! Narrower is better for support.

Something like this I guess :

[SwissDanny]

It takes time... time under the bar will work wonders too. I went from having to hold the bar at the sleeves to holding it slightly inside of the outer ring, over about 18 months. The goal is not narrow, but tight as you can without compromising the wrists too much (I actually think the "good example" is exaggeratedly neutral wrist... Rippetoe doesnt suggest that hand position for benching, rather the bar resting across the palm with as little lever to the wrist as possible)

But there is great stuff in the shoulder series, the banded and stick stretches and pec stretches all lend themselves pretty well to being done in a gym environment.

[Greggot]

Thx ! I already own every Vimeo series of Kit and the book too ! I will dig into it and get to work. Hopefully, it will go faster than 18 months because I'm motivated to improve my squat now.

[SwissDanny]

I doubt shoulder mobility is the limiting factor in anyone's squat progression. Probably hip and ankles, core stability, and the ability to recruit the glutes effectively, especially low bar.

[Greggot]

Well, for me it is ! My wrists are getting crushed because of my shoulder flexibility, I can't manage to get in good position. I used to squat 180kg with wrists straps and I was always in pain. I stopped squatting for quite some time and now, I can't sustain the pain in the wrist at 100kg.

[SwissDanny]

Well, for me it is ! My wrists are getting crushed because of my shoulder flexibility, I can't manage to get in good position. I used to squat 180kg with wrists straps and I was always in pain. I stopped squatting for quite some time and now, I can't sustain the pain in the wrist at 100kg.

If you can squat 180kg you probably have a decent idea of what you are doing, your OP made it sound a bit like you were starting off on Starting Strength, which is basically a beginner linear progression protocol and with basic lifting techniques described. Are you a competing powerlifter, or just using the squat to train strength? If the latter, why not shift to a safety bar (you can get a portable version of this to clip onto regular bars) or high bar (sorry Phi) squatting, while you get the shoulder mobility sorted.

[Kit_L]

Another suggestion (to add to the excellent ones already here) is to do a concentrated trap. specialisation period. At my strongest, I was able to do singles at near the weight you mention (170Kg), and I found that bulking the traps up made the weight feel significantly more comfortable. Easy muscle to develop, too, for most people.

But the bigger picture problem I see with your difficulty is that I do not understand why there is any significant weight on your wrists. There's nothing inherently wrong with resting your hands on the plates—(so a super wide grip), and positioning the bar on the most comfortable part of your back. I have seen many lifters do this, and it works for them. And high vs. low bar position: IMHO, this is purely a matter of finding the position that works best in your body. When I back squat, the bar rests fully on my traps.

More: depending on your proportions, consider front squatting or using the safety bar that SwissDanny recommends. With my proportions (short trunk/long legs, front squat is way less stress on my mower back (and I have a significant leg length difference).

[Greggot]

Thank you both for your asnwers. I'm training for strenght purpose only. I've tried high bar in the past and I have to say I agree with Rippetoe and would like to keep working on low bar (http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/69_08_low_high_bar_squats.pdf).

Since opening the topic, I had another session of squat. I spent 20 minutes stretching my shoulders using different stretches and it helped. I felt way less weight on my wrists, I'm not in neutral yet but I'll be getting there.

Kit, good idea about the traps. I'm working them and it's sure to have more "meat" there is provides a good padding.

I can't go too wide on my grip because I'm working inside a cage where the width is limited.

Anyway, thank you for the good advice and low bar or not, my shoulders are really tight and need to be stretched.