Where should I carry the barbell on my back during 20 rep breathing squats? High like an Olympic lifter? Or low like a powerlifter?
When I go for max single attempts, I like to carry the bar low on my rear deltoids, but I don’t know if my shoulders and/or wrists could handle the stress of holding it there for 20 rest/pause reps.
I’ve read Super Squats but I don’t think Strossen specifies bar placement.
Super Squats indeed does not say high or low but the various writings in the old Iron Man and John McCallum note that high is better. And again, myself and many of my training partners over the years favor the high placement because of the stretch this induces and it causes breathing to be harder…which is of vital success in this program.
Hope this helps.
I think that the old timers and men like McCaullum and Strossen would say that you shouldn’t worry about where the bar is. They would probably just tell you to get under the bar and squat, and its placement will work itself out.
ha-ha, you are probably right.
However, the powerlift version of the Squat does not really allow for many deep breaths to be taken when approaching 15 reps although it does allow for a heavier weight.
I have experimented a lot with Breathing Squats. A lot of my training partners (most of them former powerlifters and weightlifter)started out with whatever position they were used to but all of us after several workouts gravitated towards the higher position because we could take deeper breaths and felt we could take in more air.
But hey…you are right…jsut squat and it will take of itself.
Good luck!
I figured the high position was better. It’s kind of like a natural shelf anyway.
When I did them I placed it high on my back. Honestly, I don’t think it matters all that much. Try it both ways and you be the judge!
As the weight increased, the only way that I could make it to 20 was with the bar riding high on the back.
Neither Strossen nor Mc Callum specified the proper barbell position.
They suggested to use for 20 reps the load usually utilized for 10 reps and increase the number of breaths for the last terrible reps. Personally I’ve always used a high bar position because in this way I found easier to hold the barbell and breathe properly.