What happened to me and how to prevent it in the future?

[yeshevt]

I was attempting to PR my squat today and in the second set on the way up I somehow lost balance as the bar started to fall backwards off my back, pulling my upper back backwards until I dropped the bar behind me (good thing I squat in a power rack). Other than a small strain in my lowerback from arching it backwards so much, I appear to be fine, but the experience scared me and for safety's sake I would like for this to never happen again.

So, what weakness caused this to happen and how can I prevent it?

Background: I am a healthy 125 lb 23 y old female with about a year of lifting experience. I have read Starting Strength and have put a lot of effort into my form, with my bf (who I train with# and a coach at the gym performing regular form checks, so I believe my form is generally good.

Several possible factors I've identified:

- I probably shouldn't have attempted to PR due to less than optimal sleep and eating recently. My ego may have led me to believe I could do more than I really could, so there is an element of error in judgment. Even so, it wasn't that crazy for me to attempt the weight I did, since I have been increasing ~5 lbs per week on a 5 sets of 3 reps scheme #which helped me break plateaus on all lifts after switching from a 3 sets of 5 reps scheme# and was continuing that pattern today #successfully squatted 165 at the beginning of the week and was attempting 170 after a light day#.

- I haven't deadlifted for a couple months. I switched gyms and it's difficult to deadlift at my gym so I've been avoiding it. Could this be hurting my lower back strength in my squat? I am considering just buying my own bumper plates to help improve the situation but can't decide if the money is worth it.

- My upper body lifts are much lower than they should be #given my squat# due to lack of focus/commitment to them - not sure if this could influence my squat.

- I haven't tried wearing a belt - should I be, given my weight #125# and my squat #165#?

Right now I am thinking that I really need to start deadlifting again, start wearing a belt on my squats, reset my squat to practice with the belt and focus on form, and maybe even starting increasing with microweights #which I have) instead of 5 lbs each time.

Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!

[Jacobnorton]

Without a video, my guess would just be that you lost focus. It happens to all of at some point. I attempt PR's no matter what has been going on. Poor sleep, poor diet, etc.. and I surprise myself all the time. I'll wake up after 6 hours of sleep, go work a physical labor job for 10 hours and on the drive home tell myself there is no way I'm going to squat today. Time and time again I am able to push through it. I love finding out what I'm made of, as it's always so much more than I think I am.

I doubt your upper body lifts have any effect on your squat numbers. The opposite is much more likely to be true. I don't feel comfortable squatting much over bodyweight without a belt. If you haven't already, I'd give it a try. It does allow you to get a much harder abdominal contraction and this translates to a much more powerful feeling squat for me. As for not deadlifting, I don't think it would be hurting your squat, but it definitely is not helping. Deadlift is a GREAT movement for back strength.

My advice: if your back is feeling alright, try the weight again. If you need an extra day or two between this workout and the next, that is fine. If you're scared and just want to play it safe, take off 5-10% and work back up from there. Make sure you are focused on your lifting and not thinking about anything else mid lift. A heavy lift requires 100% focus and anything less is not safe.

[LizF]

This has happened to me more than once. I didn't change anything at all, and the next session went just fine.

I completely sympathize with being freaked out about it, but I found that squats overall were a little less intimidating after the first time. I know what it's like to dump the bar now, and it won't kill me.

If it does happen again, in order to avoid back strain, I think you need to bail on it sooner -- don't try to hold onto it and let it drag you back, just let it go. Try to dodge forward.

Not saying that a belt wouldn't be a good idea, but I don't think you need to worry about resetting or microloading yet. See how it goes next session. There's a good chance you'll nail it this time and be able to move forward like nothing ever happened.

[Meshuggah]

Shit Happens.

[Jacobnorton]

I completely sympathize with being freaked out about it, but I found that squats overall were a little less intimidating after the first time. I know what it's like to dump the bar now, and it won't kill me.

If it does happen again, in order to avoid back strain, I think you need to bail on it sooner -- don't try to hold onto it and let it drag you back, just let it go. Try to dodge forward.

This is important. Everybody should experience failing and bailing once. I was squatting outside my rack once and felt a serious pain in my lower back coming up out of the hole. Bailed and let it crash to the ground behind me, went inside and laid on the floor, and could not get up for almost a week. I felt paralyzed the pain was so intense. I wasn't focused, forgot to clamp my abs down hard, and over extended my back. Probably tore something. Coming back was scary, but I'm glad it happened. I learned the hard way what not to do, and that if I fuck up, I'll still be alright. My squats are at 3 plates now, 100lbs more than I injured myself with and feeling better than ever.

[Músculo-Tonto]

I was attempting to PR my squat today and in the second set on the way up I somehow lost balance as the bar started to fall backwards off my back, pulling my upper back backwards until I dropped the bar behind me (good thing I squat in a power rack). Other than a small strain in my lowerback from arching it backwards so much, I appear to be fine, but the experience scared me and for safety's sake I would like for this to never happen again.

So, what weakness caused this to happen and how can I prevent it?

Background: I am a healthy 125 lb 23 y old female with about a year of lifting experience. I have read Starting Strength and have put a lot of effort into my form, with my bf (who I train with# and a coach at the gym performing regular form checks, so I believe my form is generally good.

Several possible factors I've identified:

- I probably shouldn't have attempted to PR due to less than optimal sleep and eating recently. My ego may have led me to believe I could do more than I really could, so there is an element of error in judgment. Even so, it wasn't that crazy for me to attempt the weight I did, since I have been increasing ~5 lbs per week on a 5 sets of 3 reps scheme #which helped me break plateaus on all lifts after switching from a 3 sets of 5 reps scheme# and was continuing that pattern today #successfully squatted 165 at the beginning of the week and was attempting 170 after a light day#.

- I haven't deadlifted for a couple months. I switched gyms and it's difficult to deadlift at my gym so I've been avoiding it. Could this be hurting my lower back strength in my squat? I am considering just buying my own bumper plates to help improve the situation but can't decide if the money is worth it.

- My upper body lifts are much lower than they should be #given my squat# due to lack of focus/commitment to them - not sure if this could influence my squat.

- I haven't tried wearing a belt - should I be, given my weight #125# and my squat #165#?

Right now I am thinking that I really need to start deadlifting again, start wearing a belt on my squats, reset my squat to practice with the belt and focus on form, and maybe even starting increasing with microweights #which I have) instead of 5 lbs each time.

Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Perhaps it had nothing to do with weakness, perhaps it did. You indicate that you lost balance as the bar started to fall backwards. It's quite possible you simply lost focus in your generally-good form and went clumsy, even for just a second (which is all it takes), as Jacob has pointed out. Was the loss of balance because your legs gave out under too much weight, or you felt lightheaded from low blood-sugar, or. . .

1) It is possible that the bar was set too low on your back to begin with, which means it wasn't resting securely on your back, but being held up by the upper part of your triceps?
2) Did you go vertical too quickly coming out of the hole, thereby putting the weight on (or even behind) your heels?

You have to attempt reasonable PRs (which is what you did here); don't guilt yourself for trying. If I waited for optimal conditions (*sleep*) to push myself, I'd never lift at all! X-}

I've never lost a squat behind me, but I need two hands to count the times the safeties rescued me after not going back up. The only thing I can suggest to alleviate your fears about future injuries is to realize that shit happens, as Meshuggah has said, and perhaps learn how to bail before things get painful. Although maybe you did, it can happen so fast, so I don't want to pass critique on the (lack of) quickness in your reaction, as I don't know the facts.

Respect

-Jeremy

[ludwig23]

Don't bail out and dump the weight on the power rack. It's not good for the bar. Squat outside the rack and dump the weights on the floor.
I don't get why the squat need spotters too, it's just quick and easy to bail out to the front.
( my 2cent, someone correct me if im wrong)

[Cody]

Don't bail out and dump the weight on the power rack. It's not good for the bar. Squat outside the rack and dump the weights on the floor.
I don't get why the squat need spotters too, it's just quick and easy to bail out to the front.
( my 2cent, someone correct me if im wrong)

That's terrible advice.

Squatting in the power rack is the safest way to squat, otherwise we'd all just buy squat stands. Start searching on YouTube for squat fails. People can get fucked up when they think they're always able to bail from a lift.

Edit: and fuck the bar, too. The vast majority of fails will be able to be lowered to the safeties under control. If the fail is catastrophic in nature, though (like something snapping) and you drop to the ground, a bent bar is a small price to pay for not having a quarter ton of steel drop on you.

[ludwig23]

That's terrible advice.

Squatting in the power rack is the safest way to squat, otherwise we'd all just buy squat stands. Start searching on YouTube for squat fails. People can get fucked up when they think they're always able to bail from a lift.


Edit: and fuck the bar, too. The vast majority of fails will be able to be lowered to the safeties under control. If the fail is catastrophic in nature, though (like something snapping) and you drop to the ground, a bent bar is a small price to pay for not having a quarter ton of steel drop on you.

Okay, after googling "squat fails" I have concluded that I was silly to speak on my minimally empirical experience. I stand corrected.

And no sir, what i meant is by the action of dropping loaded bar on the safeties, the bar is bound to bend.

[Satch12879]

And no sir, what i meant is by the action of dropping loaded bar on the safeties, the bar is bound to bend.

No, it's not. Not from a drop of maybe a few inches, and definitely not from the majority of work set weights of the vast majority of trainees. Also, given the width of most power racks, the bar is hitting the safety at the most stiff point along its length, i.e., right near, but right before, the bushing.

Leaving bars loaded on the rack overnight, especially those cheap bro-bars at globo gyms, is far, far worse.

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