I was doing some 20 rep squats today and noticed the bar tends to slide down my back, especially as I get fatigued. When the bar slides down my back, I tend to need to lean farther forward than the average person and my form goes to shit. I tend to keep my form very well with a wide squat stance and a high bar configuration (strange combination, I know, but it works). In short, I need to keep the bar on my upper traps but it slowly slides as I get deeper into the reps. Are there any exercises I can do to help fix this issue?
I kind of have a similar problem and I just shrug/jerk bar back up to where I want it. You could try making more of a shelf with your shoulders I suppose.
I am aware that is probably a candidate for the least helpful advice possible. I’m sorry, but it’s all I can come up with.
I feel like low bar would cause the issue of bar sliding down, not high bar.
How tight is your upper back? Is it kind of a hybrid high/low bar position? Are you actively pulling the bar into your back? Are you actively pushing your upper body into the bar?
These are just some ideas. A video might allow a better visualization of the issue and what might need to change to improve the bar sliding.
This happens to me when I lose my upper back tightness. Make sure you are constantly squeezing your lats together to create a nice shelf. Make sure your wrists are in a locked in position and not bending back or letting the bar slide around (can use wrist wraps). If your elbows, lats, wrists are all locked in with the bar sitting on your shelve it shouldn’t move. Also try chalking your hands or using liquid grip, that stops a lot of bar movement.
Synthetic fiber shirts are terrible at holding the bar, so if you’re using those, switch to cotton instead. It will work much better.
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Hey Aero, are you still looking for a zercher/frontsquat harness? Apparently liftinglarge is having a sale on them.
Since Im shipping off to graduate school in August I need to conserve my finances. With that said I am debating whether or not to buy myself the harness or the ironmind axle. They are both about the same price last time I checked.
Ill see if I can get a video up this weekend.
I really love the Ironmind axle, but between the two, I think you’d get more value out of the harness. You can make due with a galvanized pipe axle and not really miss out on a whole lot compared to the Ironmind one, whereas the harness really opens up some training opportunities.
It is hard for me not to buy it right now, haha.
Ill keep that in mind when I go for it again. I did feel my upper back fatiguing by the 15th rep.
Tell me about it. I was shopping around for axles a few months ago. The best are made out of titanium and go for $900 (about one months rent for some perspective).
The might be cool, it would certainly make training more interesting. I really want to make my own ghetto equipment, like doing overhead presses using chains and weight on the end. I made my own ghetto stones over the last month. I managed to carry a 50lb one about a mile without putting it down. This weekend I was doing hill sprints while carrying 150lbs of the rocks I made.
I just wanna add that chalk can help a lot too.
This would rarely happen to me when I didn’t have as good of body awareness and I’d lose thoracic extension. But usually, I just ended up using my arms to pull the bar into me even harder leading to elbow and shoulder issues. I have no idea if that’s the case for you, it’s just something to consider.
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I can understand paying lots on a bar. Uneven sleeve rotation can be a dog and crap bars start whipping at stupidly low weight - i had 150kg on a cheap bar and i nearly fell backwards at the top of the squat it was whipping so much… but an axle? 1 long pipe, two sets of collars and it’s as good as anything you’ll buy.