Terrible Shoulder Mobility = Lower Back Flexion?

[glencarlson]

G’day Team SS,

Happy NY from Sydney, Australia!

First time post, so quick intro... my name’s Glen, I’m 186cm, 94kg (207 pounds) and this is a SQUAT video of my third training session.

I’m brand new to lifting and I’ve spent about 30 hours so far consuming SS material (book, videos etc) and I want to make sure I'm looking at things the right way.
Hope it's not too early in my progression to post such a basic question / video.

It's of my working set of 40kg (88 pounds)

The weight feels fine, but my god, the discomfort in my shoulders is intense (I think it’s my Latissimus Dorsi?).
As you can see, I leave the bar looking like a cripple. I point to the exact spot at the end.

As you can see in the setup, I'm having trouble getting the bar under the spine of the scapula while maintaining narrow arms and straight wrists (they're not).
After the 5 warmup sets recommended by the SS App, my shoulders are toast.

As a result, at the bottom of the squat, the bar feels unstable / too high, and I think that’s causing the lower back flexion, and I think I need to get another 1/2 inch lower, but it feels a bit sketchy with the bar so high.

I’ve watched Paul Horn’s video on the stretch he recommends, and I’ve started doing that.

My question/s are:

1. Do you agree with my self analysis? I’d like to confirm I understand the theory.
2. Do you agree the solution is simply time, stretching and suffer through it? (I’m happy with all three)
3. If so, should I keep adding weight while mobility is so rotten, or should I keep it at the current weight until I can get the bar in the right position?

If this is asking too much for a forum question, I’m happy to engage one of you guys for a consult.

Vid is in Dropbox, but the link should stream like youtube.


Cheers,

Glen.

[Pete Troupos]

Hey Glen
Happy New Year.

Widen your grip to start. At least a hand-width wider than you have it here. Then get the bar in the right spot on your back. (see Nick D's video on youtube about bar position in the squat recently) After it's in the right spot, under the spines of the scaps, you can walk your hands in toward your shoulders and squeeze the scaps together to get everything tighter, while keeping the wrists more neutral. Then lift your chest and drop your elbows. You're starting with a narrower grip, cranked up elbows, and flexed wrists. This combination can have the unintended effect of shoving the bar up your back while you squat, and keeping you from leaning over so you can drive the hips out of the bottom.

2. Do you agree the solution is simply time, stretching and suffer through it? (I’m happy with all three)

Of course you'd be happy. I've never worked with an Aussie that wasn't happy suffering unnecessarily. Haha.
It may take a little extra stretching or it could work itself out through the normal course of warmups, where you're able to get the hands even closer by the time the work set comes around. My empty bar warm-up starts with the index finger on the rings and by the time I'm ready for work sets, I'm three finger-widths closer. The grip will be uncomfortable, but should not be painful and distracting to the point that it affects your ability to squat properly.

[glencarlson]

legend. thanks so much. you guys rock.