How do I bail out of a squat?

[ltgrady]

I just started the program and it's my second week. Things are going well enough, but today when i went to do my squats I bumped up and on my last one I had a hard time getting the weight up. I did, everything was fine.

Then I realized, what would I have done if I couldn't? The only gym near me is a retrofitness, not exactly strength training nirvana. The rack isn't a power rack but the half rack that angles upward? If I get stuck down there, do I lean forward into the rack trying to get the bar onto some hooks? SHould I try to heave it off my back and catch the large rails at about thigh height? Is there a proper way to do this and anything I should be careful not to do (like the first day I tried squats, before your book, when I was standing in the rack backwards and would have cracked my skull had i fallen forward )

[Mark Rippetoe]

In my gym, you get spotters, you safely dump it backwards loaded with the bumper plates, or you learn how to accurately judge your ability. If you dump the bar on rails or pins or anything else in here, I will beat the cum out of you with the remnants of the bar.

[Heather]

Why is it bad to leave the bar on the safety rails? I ask because I've had to do it a couple of times--I set the rails just high enough so if lose it and can't get out of the hole I can relax my hamstrings and sink down a little and the rails take the weight. I don't make a habit of it, not least because it's embarrassing as all getout, but I didn't know that it was poor practice too...

[Stu Hughes]

Or you go aaaaaall the way down and touch your ass to your calves and put the bar down on the pins instead of dropping it. Then your cum will remain intact.

[Rob18]

All I can say is if you find yourself in the bottom of a failed squat, don't try to dump forward. You won't get the bar on the pins (if it is that style of rack) unless they are almost directly under you anyway. Get used to the idea of getting the bar off behind you and plan for it.

[Chris Puckett]

isnt that the point of the power cage? Are you saying that lifting alone in the power cage, and dumping the bar on the safety bars is not alright? So then dumping with bumpers is preferred if you are alone? Keep in mind this has happened only once to me in the last six months of regular lifting.

[Robert Callahan]

If you dump the bar on rails or pins or anything else in here, I will beat the cum out of you with the remnants of the bar.

Why?

[JPC]

You mentioned "rails at thigh height." These are your safety catches. The bar should be over them if you are squatting without human spotters. Simply lower the bar down to them under control if you fail, but try it with an empty bar first to make sure they are not too low. I have been squatting in a power rack, alone, for almost 20 years. I've never "dumped" a squat, but simply rode them down to the pins under control.

[sytennison]

In my gym, you get spotters, you safely dump it backwards loaded with the bumper plates, or you learn how to accurately judge your ability. If you dump the bar on rails or pins or anything else in here, I will beat the cum out of you with the remnants of the bar.

Jeepers, that sounds a bit harsh...

I fail onto the safety pins of power racks quite often and the bars I've used seem no worse for the wear. I set the safety pins so that they're just below the hole position of the bar. (Squat racks suck because you can't set the fail height and most are too high for me.) When I fail, it's usually pretty close to the bottom of the squat. The bar stops moving, I think evil/desperate thoughts for about two seconds, and I then slowly lower the bar in good form all the way down to the pins. No problem! Except that I now need to strip the bar to get it back to the rack.

Now, if I ever DUMPED the bar onto the pins, then I'd deserve whatever beating I had cumming (pun intended).

[Mark Rippetoe]

Why is it bad to leave the bar on the safety rails? I ask because I've had to do it a couple of times--I set the rails just high enough so if lose it and can't get out of the hole I can relax my hamstrings and sink down a little and the rails take the weight. I don't make a habit of it, not least because it's embarrassing as all getout, but I didn't know that it was poor practice too...

Heather darling, he said heave it off his back onto the rails, which destroys even the best bars. Heaving off the back requires bumper plates and an empty spot on the floor.