Squatting Arm Pain

[buffalob]

Buffalob, I had the exact problem as you. I tried many things, from widening my grip to narrowing it, to shoulder dislocations, and even bicep and other arm work. None of them helped.
I beat it, though, and solved the problem in one day. My issue was the bar position. I had the bar too low, and needed to lift my arms to support it. When supporting it incorrectly, all the weight was on my shoulders and hands.
To support the bar correctly, I had ignore the elbows up cue, and concentrate on really squeezing my shoulders back and together. This created a better shelf that is a bit further up on the back. With the bar held in this position, the majority of the weight is on the center of my back, and my hands are pulling the bar down (though not forcibly), as opposed to holding it up.
I've added a picture of me fucking up next to a grab from the DVD of a guy holding the bar perfectly. The picture angles make it a bit confusing, but if you look at my elbows and compare them to his, you can get a good idea of what is going on.
Attachment 1409
I hope this helps.

Thank you - is the guy on the right still doing a low bar squat?

[Bacon,MFer!DoYouSpeakIt?]

Yes, in fact, the bar is set up lower on the right then it is for the gentleman on the left. The picture is confusing because the picture on the left looks like its been taken from 15 feet back and 12 feet high, while the picture on the right is taken from about 6 feet back and 4 feet off the ground.

[Bacon,MFer!DoYouSpeakIt?]

...This arm pain or "Headache like soreness" in the elbows, as the book says, seems to be one of the most common ailments around here. I'd really like to know about the background of people who suffer from it vs. those who don't; specifically, the degree to which you were involved with athletics before you did SS. I for one was a complete non-athelete, and I'm wondering if this doesn't have to do with certain parts of my body just not adapting as fast as the strength gains.

I actually think that the problem being discussed in this thread is different than that mentioned in the book. The book says that the pain occurs when one keeps their elbows under the bar, as opposed to lifting them up. With the method that I was first using to support the bar, keeping the elbows under the bar was completely impossible, as it would roll off. My elbows would even end up on the same horizontal plane as the bar. I noticed this was opposed to the sight of lifters keeping their arms very near the same plane as their spine. When I support the bar as I do now, lifting my elbows as high is not possible.

[Bacon,MFer!DoYouSpeakIt?]

Here is another picture for comparison:
lowbarpositionB.jpg
The difference in elbow position is obvious. Zach, the gentleman on the left, is keeping his back much tighter than I am in the right picture. Zach's shoulders are back and kept together, while mine are not. I am doing more of a shrug, with my shoulders up but not together, with the bar supported almost entirely on top of my shoulders. As a result, I have to raise my elbows very high to keep the bar in position.

[Rezart Erindi]

@OP: This has been a recurring problem with the LB squat (if you used the search function: elbow tendinitis you would have found many threads about this). I've got it too. For me it a wider grip, elbow sleeves, and shoulder dislocation+ foam rolling seem to work. But it's a recurring problem, and I'm not sure about the real causes. IMO it's individual flexibility the main factor, plus not squatting in a perfect form.
@Bacon,MFer!DoYouSpeakIt? (damn you have a long nick), your observations are very interesting. I've seen Rip use a similar grip as that of Zach. I think that I should experiment with this, if the tendinitis returns again (really hoping that this doesn't happen).

[Dutch]

I've had elbow pain right at the medial epicondyle ( pointy part on the elbow between your elbow and your body), despite squatting high bar.

What I did was start with the empty bar and a wide grip so it didn't hurt the elbow. as the weigth got heavyer during warming up and back tightness more important, I would slowly move the grip in each set, without it hurting the elbow.

maybe it'll work for you.

[Valhall]

.....
Attachment 1409
I hope this helps.

Very interesting, I am going to experiment with this on saturday.

I've had this problem for a couple of weeks, and I need to find a fix before it turns into a serious problem.

I've also wondered why I was never able to actually GRIP the bar. Im always just able to support it, and my grip seems to go wider from before I start and till after. Jim Wendler says also to GRIP the bar as tight as you can, but that would be impossible for me. But maybe I need to actually have the bar higher up , that Im actually too low. Maybe it will be possible then.

Those pictures were great mr Bacon.

[Rezart Erindi]

Very interesting, I am going to experiment with this on saturday.

I've had this problem for a couple of weeks, and I need to find a fix before it turns into a serious problem.

I've also wondered why I was never able to actually GRIP the bar. Im always just able to support it, and my grip seems to go wider from before I start and till after. Jim Wendler says also to GRIP the bar as tight as you can, but that would be impossible for me. But maybe I need to actually have the bar higher up , that Im actually too low. Maybe it will be possible then.

Those pictures were great mr Bacon.

I think that Wendler is referring to the High Bar Squat, which is possible to grip tighter than the Low Bar Squat.

[Yaums]

This thread has been a great help to me for this problem, even if it's not completely solved...

[Valhall]

I think that Wendler is referring to the High Bar Squat, which is possible to grip tighter than the Low Bar Squat.

No I think Wendler is referring to lowbar squats, he is a powerlifter after all. But its possible he wraps also his thumb across. Doesnt matter though, I do Rip squats and not Wendler squat :P

Anyway I think I myself have solved the issues I had thanks to this thread. Squatted without pain today. My problem was that the bar was not stable. I was not keeping the back tight enough and the bar was lying too low on my back and my arms were being used to balance it to keep it from slipping. I wasnt really aware of it until the weight got heavy enough.

But with the amount of threads about this on the forum, including one being answered right now in RIP Q/A shows that its an issue for many.