Transitioning from high bar to low bar

[Tamara Reynolds]

When I switched from high bar to low bar I didn't have to drop any weight at all. Low bar has a lower ROM and uses more muscle mass so I don't see why you'd need to drastically drop the weight.

This is fine if you put the bar on your back and figure out how to squat low bar correctly the first time. In my experience, that is rarely the case, though.

[markccj]

Personally, I would find the appropriate weight much the same way you would when starting the program from scratch.

First do dynamic stretches, or however you warm up.

Bar x 2 x 5
135 x 1 x 5
225 x 1 x 5
265 x 1 x 5
285 x 1 x 5
305 x 1 x 5

Keep adding 20lb till you feel you've found your working weight, leave it at one set. Keep the same weight for your next session but do the three sets, and progress accordingly.

Not sure if the poundages are right as I work with kilograms so your plates might be different, but you get the idea.

I'm pretty sure, provided you've been deadlifting as part of the program and your pull reflects your apparent strength from your high bar squat weight, you'll be low bar squatting close to 300 straight up.

[osv2]

When I switched from HB to LB during my first run through the program, I did it on-the-fly without dropping any weight. Instead I started to use LB for my warm-up set(s) and continued to use HB for the rest of warm-ups and for work sets. I did more warm-up sets with LB every 1--3 sessions as I adapted. Then I did all warm-ups and 1 work set with LB, etc.

[johnnysanz3]

I've been doing SS and Advanced novice program for close to a year now.
I'm 19 yo, 5ft'6. and weigh around 170 lb. I've followed everything in the book except low bar. Prior to doing starting strength I've been working out (mainly fooling around with isolation stuff) for 6 months. I've squatted before SS and got used to high bar squats. So i skipped learning low bar because it was uncomfortable and I wanted to start ss. So my high bar squats is at 330x5 at the moment. I want to start doing low bar because I'm going to start incorporating front squats in my routine which focuses on the quads just as efficiently if not more so than high bar. My question is if I start doing low bar now, how much should I reduce the weight by compared to my high bar. And would I have to start all the way from say 45lb or 135lb and work my way up again? Once i get the technique down (which may take a while) would i be able to squat just as much if not more than my old high bar squat weight?

Thanks and sorry for the long post.

I figured I would chime in since I have personal experience. I only did high bar before (didn't even know it was 'high bar') and squatted as deep as I could. I was doing stronglifts linear progression because I hadn't heard of SS yet. Once I found SS, and read the book, around the same time I stalled at 305 squats(while also having knee pain that was pretty bad), I did a deload, went back to 275, and started doing lowbar. I'll admit at first I sucked at it, and as I was making 5 lb jumps each session from that 275 was worried I wouldn't even be able to get back to 305. Well without even realizing it, it started to get easier, my knee pain went away, and I busted through 305. I still get some elbow soreness from lack of flexibility but it's always a work in progress.

TLDR: I dropped about 10%, started lowbar, 5lb jumps, got stronger because of it.

[ctaingster]

Yes of course I deadlift, although its not that high compared to my squat. Its at 345lb for a set of 5 and my form isnt perfect (rounded back kinda,however I have no pain in my lower back or anywhere else at the moment). Im running the standard texas method article by rip i found online for my other lifts. And I recently got 335x5 hb squat on an intensity day. It felt much easier than 330 maybe because I just bought a lifting belt. My low bar is progressing okay right now I'm at 255 for 3 sets of 5 (quite easy and still a bit awkward). Im doing low bar squats on my recovery day on TM. Should I just drop high bar and just run SS on low bar squats until i reach a weight that calls for TM? And for those of you that started out with high bar and moved to lowbar, did you ever go back to high bar and see how much you could do (if so what were the results)? Thanks again for all the replies

[Tamara Reynolds]

Yes of course I deadlift, although its not that high compared to my squat. Its at 345lb for a set of 5 and my form isnt perfect (rounded back kinda,however I have no pain in my lower back or anywhere else at the moment). Im running the standard texas method article by rip i found online for my other lifts. And I recently got 335x5 hb squat on an intensity day. It felt much easier than 330 maybe because I just bought a lifting belt. My low bar is progressing okay right now I'm at 255 for 3 sets of 5 (quite easy and still a bit awkward). Im doing low bar squats on my recovery day on TM. Should I just drop high bar and just run SS on low bar squats until i reach a weight that calls for TM? And for those of you that started out with high bar and moved to lowbar, did you ever go back to high bar and see how much you could do (if so what were the results)? Thanks again for all the replies

You should post videos of your high bar and low bar squats at your current work set weights.

[markccj]

And for those of you that started out with high bar and moved to lowbar, did you ever go back to high bar and see how much you could do (if so what were the results)? Thanks again for all the replies

I don't know if this information will help, but I just transferred from low bar to high bar squats today. I had to do this due to progressive elbow tendinopathy that resulted because of my poor shoulder mobility and inability to low bar squat with proper arm placement. I had not high bar squatted since returning to training - 8 weeks ago - before this I used to high bar squat ~2 years ago.

My last low bar squat, which was 2 days ago, was 145kg x 3 x 5. I had worked back up to this over the prior 3 sessions after deloading from 150kg.
My first high bar squat today was 130kg x 1 x 5. I lowered this to 125kg for the following two sets because it felt very heavy at 130kg.

This leads me to believe that gains in a low bar squat will ultimately lead to gains in a high bar squat, the degree is obviously dependant on the individual. I also believe that a high bar squat, with the SS programmed deadlifts, will lead to gains in a low bar squat.