Changing to Starting Strength

[Kat Porn]

I just finished reading your book and decided to give the low bar squat a try for the first time. I've been training since February with the high bar squat and was only up to 375x5. Today, with the low bar position, I managed 425x5. Is this normal? This is great! Plus, it just felt easier. I mean, the higher bar position had started irritating my lower cervical/upper thoracic vertebrae. With the lower bar position it just seems to sit perfectly on my shoulders.

Thanks for the awesome book! I'm going to give the whole program a try now and drop some of the other exercises I have been doing.

[I_iz_a_fatass]

Short answer: Yes. My recall is low bar uses shorter moment arms and different leverages, allowing more weight to be squatted than high bar in the same individual.

[Mark Rippetoe]

No, that's not it.

[anticausal]

Is this normal? This is great!

It's normal because you are using more muscle mass, which is the point.

I also had the same feeling about the comfort of the low bar position. I am extremely kyphotic (Scheuermann's), and the low bar squat feels like it's what nature intended. High bar was nothing but pain and awkwardness for me. I don't think I would have ever been able to train as consistently as I am now if I had never learned the low bar squat. It's a shame people are so ignorant about it. I've even heard people say they can't low bar squat because they are kyphotic. This makes absolutely no sense to me, especially when it becomes obvious I am way more kyphotic than the people saying this.

[Giri Kotte]

No, that's not it.

Apart from the leverages, I'm guessing the other factor would be posterior kinematic chain.

[Kat Porn]

Short answer: Yes. My recall is low bar uses shorter moment arms and different leverages, allowing more weight to be squatted than high bar in the same individual.

I don't think that's quite it. According to one of the other forum members "Rip argues that the LBBS uses more muscle mass more efficiently." Apparently, the low bar results in a longer moment arm between the load and the proximal femur (hips) and a shorter moment arm between the load and the distal femur (knees). Because of the longer moment arm and the fact that the muscles that act as an extensor moment to the hip (i.e glutes & hamstrings primarily) are capable of producing greater force than the knee extensors (quadriceps group), these stronger muscles are able to contribute more to the lift and thus greater loads can be lifted.

No, that's not it.

Is that what it is, Mark?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Exactimundo.

[Brian Jones]

Exactimundo.

For the unlearned . . . .