Press and Squat bar position...inflexibility or not?

[grand666]

Morning guys,

I'm reading Starting Strength and I have two questions. I squat at work in our gym but have some issues.

1. When I put the bar on my back for the squat, my arms can't bend back far enough like in Mark's video in the resources section. I try to squeeze my arms together so the bar rests on they "meat" of my back,which it feels like it does, but then they start to fall asleep before I'm even done. I can keep it like it is in the photo I attached, but then there isn't any space on the bar to put my hands. I put the bar on my back here at home to illustrate. Are my limbs just long or am I very inflexible?

2. Believe it or not I have the hardest time with the press. On page 155 the bar rests on the guys delts and it looks like it touches his clavicle under his chin. My problem is I can't get the bar on my shoulders. It rests on my clavicle and if I don't hold it up enough with my hands it hurts like hell. In the photo I attached I'm pushing my elbows out in front as far as I can and I lift my chest up like the book says. There is a big gap between my delts and the bar, what am I doing wrong? Is it again inflexibility or what? I'm supposed to rotate my elbows out in front but this is as far as they go, if I do too much the bar moves forward and out of line.

Any comments would be appreciated. I'm still a beginner so keep that in mind please.

Thanks guys

[MikeC1]

Your arms appear to be of normal dimensions.

On your press grip, you want to hold the bar down at the base of the palm. This will help to allow the bar to sit lower. Also, it's not absolutely necessary that the bar rests on the meat of your anterior deltoid. This is just not possible for many people. See if you can make the bar touch at the top of the sternum, just under the clavicles.

On your squat grip, you just don't seem to be making much of an effort. It looks like you got the bar on your back and then felt around for your grip. The hand placement is decided while the bar is still racked and in front of you with you looking at the bar. Get the correct hand placement. Next you duck under it and squeeze it into the correct place on the back, without changing the grip.

[Corrie]

It's hard to tell from the picture, but are you hands on the threading on that bar? If so, it doesn't look like an olympic size bar. If it's not, that seems like a big part of your problem since you're a guy with long arms.

You can squat just fine with wide arms like that, it just isn't ideal for upper back tightness. Your shoulders should loosen up as you keep doing it, but doing some shoulder dislocations would really help too. They've done wonders for me.

MIkeC1 is definitely a lot more experienced than me (so take my advice with a grain of salt), but I do the opposite of what he suggested with the squat grip. I take a wide grip, I get under the bar and set my back position, and then I bring my hands as close togehter as I can while I squeeze my shoulders together and push my elbows out.
I think I'm too inflexible because I can't get under the bar very well if I set my grip first.

[grand666]

On your squat grip, you just don't seem to be making much of an effort. It looks like you got the bar on your back and then felt around for your grip. The hand placement is decided while the bar is still racked and in front of you with you looking at the bar. Get the correct hand placement. Next you duck under it and squeeze it into the correct place on the back, without changing the grip.

Thanks for your quick reply MikeC.

I know it doesn't look like it but my arms actually can't go any further in. This bar is not an olympic bar it's one here at home. I tried to show the angle of my elbows and how "open" it is. The guy in Mark's video's elbows are not making that big of an angle like mine is. At the gym, I do follow the advice of putting my hands in position, when I do, I have to move them out because my arms fall asleep before I'm done with the set. Which I don't like it makes me nervous that I'll drop it behind me.

Is the bar supposed to make you uncomfortable when you squat to keep it in place? Or make them fall asleep like it does for me?

Thanks Corrie

It's hard to tell from the picture, but are you hands on the threading on that bar?

No I'm just showing the angle of my elbows which seems to big. The guy in the video's elbow's are way more closer together.

I take a wide grip, I get under the bar and set my back position, and then I bring my hands as close togehter as I can while I squeeze my shoulders together and push my elbows out.
I think I'm too inflexible because I can't get under the bar very well if I set my grip first.

So maybe my arms are long and I'm inflexible? I want to have the correct form but when my arms fall asleep I get nervous. At the gym, my hands are right against the hooks on the rack where the BB lies on. I can't get my arms closer.

I appreciate your replies guys. Thanks

[Corrie]

Sounds like lack of flexibility then really... get a broomstick and start doing some shoulder dislocations to see if that helps. They've really helped me out a lot in getting more comfortable when I squat.

http://stronglifts.com/shoulders-dislocations/

[grand666]

Appreciate the reply Corrie, thanks. I'll take a look them.

I'm going to make videos next week to upload. For a guy that's 6'3", 220lbs I feel very weak. I can't lift nearly as much as guys on here.

Cheers

[MikeC1]

I take a wide grip, I get under the bar and set my back position, and then I bring my hands as close togehter as I can while I squeeze my shoulders together and push my elbows out.
I think I'm too inflexible because I can't get under the bar very well if I set my grip first.

This is why step #1 is to get the correct hand placement. It sounds like the hand placement that you use with this method is too narrow. The advantage of doing it this way is that it always allows you to make a tighter back than you can with the way you currently do it.

grand666, if the only issue is that your arms fall asleep, then your problem is not flexibility, but rather blood circulation or neurological.

[Corrie]

This is why step #1 is to get the correct hand placement. It sounds like the hand placement that you use with this method is too narrow. The advantage of doing it this way is that it always allows you to make a tighter back than you can with the way you currently do it.

grand666, if the only issue is that your arms fall asleep, then your problem is not flexibility, but rather blood circulation or neurological.

Hey Mike, I always have a less tight back when I set my hands first because I can't get comfortably under the bar with them that close. I find I'm way tighter when I get my neck set under the bar and then bring my hands close together to tighten everything up.

Got any suggestions on how I can adjust to do it better your way?

[grand666]

grand666, if the only issue is that your arms fall asleep, then your problem is not flexibility, but rather blood circulation or neurological.

Oh crap that's scary. I'll do those stretches, if my arms still fall asleep I'll have to do something else. I get pins and needles too sometimes, depending how hard I force my arms closer together.

[MikeC1]

Hey Mike, I always have a less tight back when I set my hands first because I can't get comfortably under the bar with them that close. I find I'm way tighter when I get my neck set under the bar and then bring my hands close together to tighten everything up.

Got any suggestions on how I can adjust to do it better your way?

If you had a video of you trying to do it, I might be able to give suggestions. Again, the above suggestion is to widen your hand spacing.