Low-bar squat flexibility issue.

[Tyler Socholotuik]

Hello,

I did high bar squats for over a year because I am pretty inflexible. I got PFS about 2 months ago and after taking a whole month off squats, I read SS and decided to switch to low-bar because it is easier on the knees and is an all-around better technique. The problem is, I get pains from my shoulders down to my elbows and it was so bad today that I couldn't even bench press afterwards. I always make sure to keep my elbows high, so I don't believe they are being loaded. My grip is pretty wide (just outside the legal bench press width) and I have not been able to bring it any closer without causing more pain. It has almost been a month, and I am not getting used to it. Is there anything I can do about this?

[Mac Ward]

This has been covered many times on this board. If your shoulders hurt, you're doing something wrong. Without a video, it is impossible to see what's going on. Search function will have lots of useful information on the subject as will this http://startingstrength.com/index.ph...t_bar_position

[dpinsen]

Are your wrists straight inline with your forearms? I do high bar because my shoulders aren't flexible enough to allow me to straighten my wrists on the bar, even if I widen my grip out to the plates.

If your elbows hurt, my bet is your wrists are bent back and you are bearing some of the weight on your arms.

[Tyler Socholotuik]

Are your wrists straight inline with your forearms? I do high bar because my shoulders aren't flexible enough to allow me to straighten my wrists on the bar, even if I widen my grip out to the plates.

If your elbows hurt, my bet is your wrists are bent back and you are bearing some of the weight on your arms.

My wrists are never bent back. I have actually caught myself flexing my wrists on a few occasions, but they are straight for the most part.

I should have mentioned this before, but I have experienced similar pain during dips. Dips are a fairly simple exercise, but are there any form issues that could cause this type of pain?

[Tom Campitelli]

Some people struggle with pain in the shoulders from low bar squats. In many cases this resolves itself as you adapt to the position. That you also can also bother your shoulders with dips may mean that you have an injury of some sort, or just have touchy shoulders. Do you find that the bar tends to roll down your back when you squat, or that you round your upper back during the squat? Have you tried going wider than you are now? Can you do shoulder dislocates with a dowel? Are you stretching/mashing on the painful areas via self massage or a lacrosse ball? You have options to explore here. As always, video would help.

[Tyler Socholotuik]

Some people struggle with pain in the shoulders from low bar squats. In many cases this resolves itself as you adapt to the position. That you also can also bother your shoulders with dips may mean that you have an injury of some sort, or just have touchy shoulders. Do you find that the bar tends to roll down your back when you squat, or that you round your upper back during the squat? Have you tried going wider than you are now? Can you do shoulder dislocates with a dowel? Are you stretching/mashing on the painful areas via self massage or a lacrosse ball? You have options to explore here. As always, video would help.

My shoulders have always been sensitive, I don't believe I have an injury. The bar does roll down my back when I squat, and I know Rip says that is a result of having the bar too low, but I have the "pocket" between the traps and posterior delts (to my knowledge). Going wider just makes the bar roll down easier. I can only do shoulder dislocations with a very wide grip (wider than a snatch grip). I have not tried a lacrosse ball because it does not feel like muscle pain. I will record a video as soon as possible to help you guys out. I apologize for the lack of information, and I will do my best to make things easier in future posts.

[Tom Campitelli]

Pain from shoulder down to the elbow certainly sounds like soft tissue is involved. Start stretching, mashing on yourself, and getting someone to massage you until you cry. Do dislocates every day. Stretch two or three times a day. See if this stuff combined with training the low bar squats gradually alleviates your pain. You haven't even scratched the surface of trying to resolve this. There are lots of things to try.