Squat Form Check - Arm Pain

[sjohnb]

Coaches,

I have been getting pain in my upper right arm on and off after squats (between bicep and tricep on the outside of my arm, nearer the elbow than the shoulder).

This 80kg set is a deload/light day from recent 100kg sets, I'm using a belt for the first time and trying to keep my back angle constant. I am trying to keep my chest up on these but it doesn't look like it's working.

Any advice on form would be really appreciated but particularly relating to the arm pain, it's stopping me from benching/pressing on bad days. Age 46, 5'9, 177lb/80kg bw.

20170913 80kg 1x5 - YouTube

Thanks

[Tom Campitelli]

You don't need to change a thing about your back angle on your ascent. Except for your position at the very top, those are wonderful, hip-driven low bar squats. Keep doing that. With that said, you do have a couple of problems with your start position. Your knees are bent at the top and you are leaning over at the hips a little too much at the top. You want to stand up as normally as possible. Knees should be fully extended and hips nearly so. You are overdoing the look down cue, too. Remember, we want as normal of a standing position as possible. You are jacking your elbows up too high, which is probably what is hurting your arms. The head down, round upper back, overextended shoulder (elbows up too high) all go together. They often also cause pain in the arms. Some resources for you:

Preventing Elbow Pain in the Squat | Nick Delgadillo

Low Bar Position Stretch | Paul Horn

A Clarification on the Squat Grip | Mark Rippetoe

Check this stuff out. See if it helps. If you are standing up correctly and have made the various grip adjustment and still have pain, try wrapping your thumbs around the bar. This may alleviate the pain in your arms, but it can shift the stress to your wrists. You may need some wrist wraps. If none of that helps, the high bar position is the next stop.

[sjohnb]

Thanks Tom, really appreciate it. The 3 links show clearly what I need to do to sort this out, but putting it into practice is proving tricky so far.

Went to the gym last night after a week off, had a very frustrating session trying to get my hands closer (previously had my index fingers on the rings) and elbows down. Did half a dozen sets with the bar then worked up to 80kg (then back down to 40kg) but just couldn't get it right.

Having my hands close (like pictures 3 and 4 in Nick's article) gave me shooting pains next to my funny bone - there was a lot of force going through my hands in this position. My hands are in front of my shoulders when I try this position without a bar so I'm having to wedge myself in place, obviously this is not how it's supposed to work. The stretches helped a little but flexibility is lacking. Still got some elbow discomfort this morning.

I went wider (little finger on the rings) which was an improvement but the elbows came up again (although not as high as they used to be). I'll work through the links again and keep trying.

[Tom Campitelli]

Once you have done all that, but have not found relief, move on to the next thing. Wrap your thumbs around the bar. See if that helps.

[Giri Kotte]

The head down, round upper back, overextended shoulder (elbows up too high) all go together.

Identifying and Correcting Thoracic Spinal Flexion in the Squat

Here's an excellent article that helped me figure out squat technique