Low-bar form check - Who moved my shelf?!

[Chrisman]

I have trouble getting into the low-bar position. I've been squatting with the bar on my traps for some time, finally decided to start working on low-bar position.

http://youtu.be/h8bSwGl6tKQ

I know I need to keep knees out, bad habit to let them cave in. Also, I forget to look down on some of the sets.

The biggest problem is, that I can't hit the low-bar position. I get it down on my rear delts, and I feel the shelf, but it feels as if the bar is going to slip off my back, and putting a lot of pressure on the base of my palm, where I push up the bar so it won't fall down.

What can I do to fix this annoying low-bar problem?

[Chrisman]

Okay, I've watched the guide, I'll film the squat better next time.

[Tom Campitelli]

If the bar is rolling back down the delts, it is probably set too low. It is tough to tell for sure from your video, but it looks like it is in approximately the correct place. Have you seen this video yet?

http://startingstrength.com/index.ph...t_bar_position

If not, check it out.

Remember that a low bar squat is not a high bar squat with the bar down the back a bit. It is a different movement. You are often going too low and not getting your knees in place. You mentioned that you don't keep your knees out. You will need to get used to doing that. Getting your head in the right position and not going quite as deep may help with all of this as you adapt to the low bar placement. Also, eating more is only going to help you.

[JimM]

I found that bringing my hands in closer (hand just over half inside the rings) and then cranking my elbows up hard gave me a good shelf, I also made more effort to "pull" the bar into myself.

[Chrisman]

I watched the video before, and made sure I got all the cues memorized when setting up. I got the bar just below the spine of the scapula, held by the rear deltoids.

Today I feel sore around my left scapula and also feel some pain at the base of my thumb (Which is what I was stopping the bar from falling down with) on the left hand.

I've had my hand position everywhere from the maximum width to almost touching my shoulders. The grip on the filmed sets was what allowed me to most stably carry the bar.

[elVarouza]

I can't comment on the grip/shelf/etc without seeing a back view. TomC's advice about the knees is correct. Your knees come forward through the entire rep. Knees must go out and forward to their place over the toes in the first 1/3 of the movement and stay there.

[Chrisman]

I can't comment on the grip/shelf/etc without seeing a back view. TomC's advice about the knees is correct. Your knees come forward through the entire rep. Knees must go out and forward to their place over the toes in the first 1/3 of the movement and stay there.

Back view is near the end of the video.

It might be a problem with my left scapula, does anybody know what I can do to fix it, or what the problem is?

[elVarouza]

I can't really see anything wrong with bar position in the video. I eventually switched to a thumbs-around grip instead of thumbless and it helped a lot.