Tingly fingers w/ squats

Hey everyone. My last squat session went great, and I saw a gain in my weight moved (for my heavy set). However, when I racked the bar at the end of the set, I noticed that my hands were all tingly. Like I had spun my hand really fast (if you know what I mean - like when you spin a bucket of water upside down fast, so the water won’t fall out). Or maybe in the beginning stages of the hand “falling asleep”. Now, the set wasn’t that long (7 reps, 3021 tempo). I’m just worried that I might be doing something wrong … is the hands getting tingly an indicator of something? Thanks.

Make sure bar isn’t too high and pressing on your neck. Squeeze your shoulders back to avoid this, and put bar on lower traps or lower for PL squat.

I dunno - I hope its not an indicator of something bad, because it happens to me often (but only when squatting).
Probably just a combination of having your arms above your heart, and the angle that they are at that cuts off the circulation for a bit… can anyone else help explain if we should worry about this or not?

I ahd the same problem but instead of it being just right after i squat it stayed with me. U could be pinnching nerves while u r squatting.

It’s most likely an indication of some type of impingement in your shoulder or your wrist caused by the way you’re holding the bar. According to powerlifting guru Louie Simmons the squat can cause impingement problems. Try taking a wide grip on the bar with your fingers more spread out.

So, some people think it’s a problem for them too. This makes me a bit nervous, because we’re putting some serious weight up there … the likelyhood of doing damage with a lot of weight is more than with light weight (I think). I’m squeezing my shoulder blades together throughout the entire set (did anyone else experience massive gains when they tried this trick?). I really wish I knew if it was a problem.

This is not a big problem but 2 possibilties come immediately yo mind. 1) You have a spinal stenosis (a narrow column in which your spinal cord sits OR a narrow opening in which the nerves exit the spine). With long axis compression like that observed in a squat the spinal cord or spinal nerves are pinched as the vertabrae approximate. This is the same thing that happens with a “burner” only with a much lower impulse. Not much can be done abot this other than bar placement and possibly head positioning. The second possibility may be in the shoulder/neck region in which the external rotation of the shoulder pulls the muscles against the nerves that go into your upper extremities (pec minor, scalenes, etc…) look up thoracic outlet syndrome on the net and it will give you greater insight into this possibility. These are your most likely culprits so try to determine if the problem is a function of spinal compression or external rotation of the shoulders. if you can do this you will have diagnosed yourself. :slight_smile:

Are you hyperventilating? Breathing deep and fast will cause you to blow off too much CO2,causing lightheadedness and tingly fingers.