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Thread: Really large breasts and rounding of the upper back in the squat

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    China
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    2

    Default Really large breasts and rounding of the upper back in the squat

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    I'm not trying to claim special snowflake status here, but well...

    A little background info: I'm female, first of all, these are female breasts we're talking about, just to make sure that's clear. I'm short, about 5'1". I've read Starting Strength and Sullivan's book. My brother is a long time SS'er and has been my feedback buddy/coach. I am a rank novice, and I'm about 20 lbs overweight. While I don't expect this to mean that much to anyone here, I wear a 30H bra. It means my rib cage is on the really small end of the female spectrum but I carry a LOT on the front of my body.

    In a relaxed position, no barbell no nothing, there is some rounding visible in my upper back. I can get into the lowball squat starting position. At the beginning of my workout my hands are near the end of the first knurl, but after warming up I can bring them in an inch or two. I can get into a good lockout position, chest up, looking down, locking the barbell onto my back in the right position. BUT, I tend to go forward at the bottom of the squat, sometimes my heels even come off the ground. I can see in my videos that my upper back is rounding out. Round upper back, the bar position shifts forward, impossible to have a vertical bar path, etc etc -- everything gets messed up. I had a lot of trouble getting depth for a while, but now I'm getting that sorted, and yet the rounding of the back continues, and it makes depth and balance a whole lot harder. I'm just generally very inconsistent. I'm working on knees out and general weakness in the posterior chain is definitely part of my problem, but this shoulders crap makes a difference, and it's really frustrating.

    The heaviest squat I've done to date is 95lbs, with 5 lb increases each workout, but with inconsistent depth. I don't want to add any more weight until I get the form problem sorted out. I've gone back down to the 60-70 lbs range recently because I had a short layoff on account of traveling and switching to a new gym, but it's also that I just desperately want to sort out the form issues.

    Is the answer simply: "keep squatting?" Or is this a case where assistance exercises are going to help me get over this. I do arm circles and all that stuff before my workout, and as I mentioned I am capable of getting into the lowbar squat lockout position. Along with the upper back rounding, my elbows are going down at the bottom of the squat.

    I mean, basically I'm a weak-ish girl (err, rather 36 year old woman) with a kilo or so of flesh on my chest, who's been walking around her whole life trying not to stick these things in everyone's face, and bras don't really do anything but reinforce weakness in the upper back, shoulders, etc. I'm so ready to embrace a new paradigm, so to speak, and get stronger.

    Appreciate insightful advice on this, thanks.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    South of France
    Posts
    3,005

    Default

    Hello,

    A couple of notes based on my little experience. When I started (back in 2009) I was a skinny male here with not much upfront, and I still stooped too much under the bar. It took me a while to really understand how to stand proud with the bar on the shoulders, keeping the chest out and up (which, in your case, would mean really sticking them up in people's face). From this point of view, I don't think you are an outlier; I think a lot of people need some practice and some familiarity with the bar to find the right posture.

    Second note; I personally think that the right posture begins from the very start, from when you grip the bar. When I squat, I grip the bar, then lower myself under. Then, while still gripping the bar very tightly (avoids having one hand slip into a different position compared to the other, which would result in asymmetrical elbows), I push myself up, trying to 'emerge' from the other side of the bar, trying to really push the bar low on my back. This forces me to open and elevate my chest.
    Note that my feet are almost directly under the bar.
    Once the chest and back are really wedged under the bar, I stand up, taking the bar off the hooks. This is crucial. I try not to lose tension when lifting the bar. I am also lifting it from almost directly underneath, with a fairly vertical torso, to keep the right posture).
    I find that if I manage to unhook the bar with the right, proud posture, keeping it during the lift is a bit easier. If I lift the bar in a 'relaxed' mode, getting it tight later is more difficult.

    Bottom line: be patient, keep squatting, and make sure you are already tight and proud as you unhook the bar.

    Hope this helps,

    IPB


    PS
    A video would have been useful.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    6,758

    Default

    Are you wearing weightlifting shoes? This sounds like pretty normal form flaws for a beginner. A form check video would be of use.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Midwest
    Posts
    4,936

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    I have this problem. It's annoying.

    Interesting that you say your elbows go down at the bottom of the squat and you still have this problem. It happens when my elbows are too high (Jordan F wrote an article about this for this site). A video would help so we can see what's actually happening. Are your hips shooting up faster than your chest?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Boston, MA
    Posts
    1,041

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    I had a problem with the bar coming forwards at the bottom of my reps but not an issue with back rounding.

    I wonder if you're not conflating cause and effect - is the bar sliding up because your back is rounding or are you coming forward and rounding your back because the bar is sliding up?

    Manveer makes a good point about elbow position. Maybe you are forcing your elbows up and pushing the bar forward?

    Something I've noticed makes a big difference with front squats (although less so with back squats) is how slippery my shirt is. Are you wearing a synthetic shirt or cotton? Does the bar have center knurling? Are you chalking the bar and your back?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    508

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    All good points so far. Maintaining trunk tightness is a common novice problem. Make sure you are taking a HUGE breath with valsava and squeezing your trunk the entire time.

    Breast mass would be almost perfectly centered on your center of mass at the bottom of the rep. I don't think this is the cause of your problem.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    China
    Posts
    2

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    starting strength coach development program
    Thanks everyone. Busy day today but gonna digest all this and get back in touch with follow up info/questions ASAP!!. Thanks again!

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