Can You Still Get Stronger with High Bar Squat?

Would it be better to switch to high-bar. I don’t think I can work with low bar anymore. It’s hard to keep technique and it’s screwing up my progress.
What works the best for you long femured guys

I don’t know for your exact situation if you should switch to high bar. What I can tell you, is that you absolutely can still get stronger with high bar. It’s very similar to low bar, and all the same muscles will be worked, so why wouldn’t you get stronger? Great squatters like Kevin Oak and Andy Huang squat high bar in competition. Kevin Oak even has a world record squat (242 sleeves) high bar

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So it kind of doesn’t matter either way, right? You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. I don’t think any version of anything is the only way.

Where did you get the notion that you couldn’t get strong with a high bar placement?

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Jgqmr

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Oh snap

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I heard a guy say that if you have long legs, it forces you to lean forward in the squat.

Another guy said long legs + low bar position makes you lean forward even further(farther?), and that a higher position might be more useful for taller guys.

Lots of lifters and coaches also talk about using front squats or other upright squat variations in addition to “Regular” squats to build up the legs.

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I love high bar squatting!

I do it exclusively (front squats too) and I haven’t run into any issues. I can squat 400+ for reps so I haven’t needed low bar at all.

@T3hPwnisher fix this ASAP plz

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low bar squatters have squatted over 1000 lbs. To my knowledge, no high bar squatter has ever squatted more than an empty bar.

Essentially what happens, physiologically, is that your legs detect that the bar on your shoulders is shifted an inch closer to your neck. When this happens, your legs cease to function. Muscular gains come to an immediate halt. If you squat down, you will not come back up. Your legs cannot grow with this placement. They cannot get stronger. They will literally atrophy to the size of toothpicks.

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Cool. My squat probably could’ve been stronger but I did Rippetoe squats instead.
Somebody hit me up with a good form video on high-bar squats.

I started laughing out loud here and kept going till the end of that post

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All of these problems can be fixed if you just stare at the floor the whole time.

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Just do whatever works for you. I’ve always ‘high-bar’ squatted.

How To Properly High Bar Squat (Olympic Style)

I’ll give a little more serious response just to add a little bit of more general advice.

Any programming or technique advice that comes across as particularly dogmatic is probably bad advice, pretty much on any lift. Yes, there are certain things that all good squats, or deadlifts, or bench presses have in common. But there is no one-size fits all way to lift weights. And it’s not just based on lever length (bone length), but it’s mobility, posture, potential injury history, and even the way your genetics dictate that you build muscle. Everyone has different genetic predispositions. You have to try a lot of things. Bar position adjustment, squat depth, heeled shoe vs flat foot, foot angle, squat width, hand width on the bar, descent speed, where you look… everything varies.

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I mean, some people squat like this.

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I suspect your questions isnt intended to be so broad but, of course you can.

If you practice a specific action against resistance you will get stronger at that action. Train high high bar squats, you will get a stronger high bar squat, train close grip bench, you will get a stronger close grip bench.

If you are asking whether you can increase your low bar squat by training high bar squat, well there is probably still some carry over. Take a guy who can high bar / low bar at 200 / 180lb respectively. If he trained high bar until he could high bar 400lb I guarantee he could low bar more than his previous 200.

Medium bar placement without excessive bar highness and forward knee travel or shoulder wrecking low bar position and extreme sitting back. That’s a good squat too!

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Damn @T3hPwnisher , he beat you to your favorite pic.

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I’m gonna train my squat separately instead of 5/3/1 sets. I’m gonna start light and just add weight slowly each week so I can get used to the form.

Anyone know a good rep scheme?