You covered it, but I would have spent more time on where your thumb goes. I have experienced tremendous elbow pain when squatting heavy (for me that's 350-400 or so). Throbbing elbow pain that sometimes forced me to stop working out. I have tried a lot of different things (soft tissue work in the forearm/tricep/bicep, moving hand position, etc). Nothing worked until recently I started gripping the bar with my thumb around (underneath) instead of the classic Rippetoe grip with thumb on top. My elbow pain has disappeared!! This has been a huuuuuge breakthrough. I think it keeps my elbow back more, taking stress off the elbow when pushing up heavy weight. I am hopeful that it will continue to work for me and hope this helps someone else.
I have found it varies for different people, and since there's only really two options I didn't think it was worth spending more time on, but you make a good point, thanks for sharing.
I'm still battling, elbow/bicep/ forearm tendonitis with the low bar. I've tried a a lot including what's listed above. Thought it was my thumb, I'd change put it under worked a little bit then it would show up, I'd raise my elbows (rippatoe method), helped me get through my meet but set four out of 5 last Sunday it felt weird then arm forearm started feeling a little numb. Now I'm trying the wrists flared/ bar farther up in your hand bar a little lower approach.... second work set of me trying that I almost felt no pressure in my hands, but couldn't get the same results on my last set.... just gonna practice more and hope I get good results. If that doesn't work I'll try hiring another coach 🤷♂️
Awesome explanation, definitely agree that if your elbows and wrists begin to experience pain, you're probably not supporting the bar correctly on your back.
Meat packets, hand positions and grips, new positions, inches, wrap arounds, pounding, loads, perfect position, play around with it, get it on film, this video was phenomenal.
I have found that finding the rear felt was not letting it rest on your rear felt shelf but let it "sink" into the rear delt immediately under your shoulder blades when pinched together. The click method really helped.
click method?? hmm , I haven't heard of that?? speaking of sinking , lately ive been trying to figure out how far to "expand my ribcage" to bring the bar closer or farther from my spine any thoughts?? , ( I mean expand my ribcage as a cue, not literally )
Could you do a video running through some mobility exercises to loosen up the shoulder/wrist? Been having some elbow issues after making the transition.
Mad transition skills mate! And yes I'm getting used to the low bar thing and even though it feels more comfy it takes me more time to find the right position.
One way to also minimize shoulder issues is to only wrap your index, middle & ring finger over the bar. Let the pinky sit under the bar. This sounds minimal, but it will relieve a lot of shoulder tension. It's been a game changer for a few people. If worse comes to worse, like in my situation, buy a Duffalo bar to use for your training. It takes off a ton of shoulder tension, while allowing you to create a shelf for low bar squats. Solid video man.
I don't think it'll hurt for training, most of the time. Just switch up during competition. It fixes the issue of accumulating fatigue/stress over the training cycle.
I have really small hands and arms. The best way I can do it is when I position it on my delts/lower part and then reposition my hands. So, that my fingers are completely around the bar and my wrists are straight. I typically have wrist or thumb pain.
I've developed a bit of golfer's elbow from low-bar squatting, and yes it is specifically low bar squatting which aggravates the problem. Watching a lot of videos around(Candito, Alan Thrall, yours) helps me create cues for fixing it, but do you have any tips for the actual recovery of golfer's elbow? Ideally with the enhanced form it should stop further injury development, but I gotta get my elbow back to baseline in the first place.
my elbow pain was shoulder/trap stability/impingement issue which was aggravated by the low bar squat.. I foam rolled/lacrosse balled my whole upper back area which helped a lot
Been there my friend. If making changes doesn't fix the issue, unfortunately the only thing I've found to truly work is time off. Since usually the problem is inflammation, allowing time to heal is usually the only solution.
Like Brandon already said, only way to solve inflammation is taking time off allowing it to heal. In the meantime, developing shoulder mobility should help and properly warming them up before you squat because the tendonities is usually caused by lack of shoulder mobility and/or improper warmup. That's what just helps me and I'm fine when I taper off before a meet so I'm fine on meet day. Flossing is another temporary fix just to get the workout in
I use a wider grip, thumbs over bar to minimize wrist torque. My problem is the squat rack at my gym has the weight pins too high so I end up crashing into the pins re racking 350 lbs after 3 reps . I never thought unracking and re racking the weight can be a problem as well.
Brandon Campbell Diamond I've tried taking the bar at mid sternum level but almost have to do a good morning to unrack and re rack the weight which hurts my lower back. Next thing I might do is order my own rack and weights from Rogue and turn into a basement lifter.
Fck yeah after 1 month off training then switch to lowbar i easily hit 400 pounds. Usually i squat high bar and struggle with 330 pounds dammit. One thing i notice from low bar is like your leg work capacity is less than doing high bar. Is that true?
Thx a lot!Very helpful indeed!Regarding the low bar squat,i have a question regarding "Hip drive"(been watching your vids,also Mark Rippetoe,thrall,Omar etc,as i see it there's also going to be a drive up through the upper back at the last part of the lift,a little confused here and maybe somewhat worried about "shooting" up the butt,hope this makes some sense,alrighty,thanks again!/M
I don't normally comment, but wanted to say that this was pretty awesome. First time watching your videos; thanks for the good advice. Also, pretty amazed that there are 0 dislikes. Never seen that before lol
When you move from high bar to low bar, did you experience any rubbing or soreness on your delts/scapulas from the bar and the skin not being accustomed to having the bar rest there? I haven't low bar squatted (correctly) before and am moving towards a low bar squat for PL and have felts some definite rubbing and soreness from the bar...curious your experience.
Low bar squat I don’t seem to much of a problem. Once I straighten my torso upright it seems to be a problem. Therefore I say away from high bar squat.
i dont have a problem getting into a low bar squat besides when im using a commercial gym bar, due to it being slightly thicker it feels really weird so i have to do a "high" low bar position relative to my original low-bar, do you experience the same thing when you use different bars?
I haven't ran into this issue as much. I think part of the reason might be I typically try to visit powerlifting friendly gyms who have a standard bar size (29mm or so). Usually the thicker bars are cheaper quality, they're made that way so that the manufacturer can use lower quality materials.
I usually only have access to a 28mm power bar, but at comps I use 35mm bars ,and I Like the texas squat bars best, they sit just right for me (32mm) , but the 35 mm seems to sit really high and roll forward, maybe it would sit better if I could use it more
Super late comment but I hope that someone can help me out. Basically everything feels fine when I try to low bar squat instead of high bar instead my wrists. The lift overall feels easier but my wrists get really painfull when the weight goes up. Should I just push through and get 'used to it' or should I accept the fact that low bar isn't for me. Thanks in advance
@@BasementBrandon Yea I made some adjustments on my grip but it wouldnt help alot, would you recommend some wrist mobility/stability/stretch exercises?
For a bar like this, which is also used for bench and deadlifts, you wouldn't want knurl all the way across. However if you buy a specialty squat only bar, they can sometimes have full knurling.
For deadlifts I guess I get it (unless you lift sumo and you still have your shins at the knurling part), but for bench I see no reason not to have knurling all over.
wazzup105 I guess I just don't agree that the middle part of the bar is where knurling is most needed. Like you said, it's in the way when deadlifting and I use the not knurled part to see that the bar is centered in all three lifts. The knurled small center part is enough for it to stick to my back if it's a proper PL-bar. Did not mean to sound rude btw :)
Meat Packet™
And here I thought after 1 long minute there would be no sexual innuendos, I was happily mistaken
I usually can't last the full minute either.
@@BasementBrandon 🤣🤣
Brandon is the king of the naughty double entendre
at least I'm good at something!
I love the dick jokes
You covered it, but I would have spent more time on where your thumb goes. I have experienced tremendous elbow pain when squatting heavy (for me that's 350-400 or so). Throbbing elbow pain that sometimes forced me to stop working out. I have tried a lot of different things (soft tissue work in the forearm/tricep/bicep, moving hand position, etc). Nothing worked until recently I started gripping the bar with my thumb around (underneath) instead of the classic Rippetoe grip with thumb on top. My elbow pain has disappeared!! This has been a huuuuuge breakthrough. I think it keeps my elbow back more, taking stress off the elbow when pushing up heavy weight. I am hopeful that it will continue to work for me and hope this helps someone else.
I have found it varies for different people, and since there's only really two options I didn't think it was worth spending more time on, but you make a good point, thanks for sharing.
I'm still battling, elbow/bicep/ forearm tendonitis with the low bar. I've tried a a lot including what's listed above. Thought it was my thumb, I'd change put it under worked a little bit then it would show up, I'd raise my elbows (rippatoe method), helped me get through my meet but set four out of 5 last Sunday it felt weird then arm forearm started feeling a little numb. Now I'm trying the wrists flared/ bar farther up in your hand bar a little lower approach.... second work set of me trying that I almost felt no pressure in my hands, but couldn't get the same results on my last set.... just gonna practice more and hope I get good results. If that doesn't work I'll try hiring another coach 🤷♂️
That's odd that you were putting your thumb above the bar. I naturally put my thumb under the bar.
Awesome explanation, definitely agree that if your elbows and wrists begin to experience pain, you're probably not supporting the bar correctly on your back.
Thanks James!
Thanks brother - Another gem of advice that'll be useful for LOADS of people. We played around with hand placement for so long, it's so underrated.
can't give away all my secrets just yet
Meat packets, hand positions and grips, new positions, inches, wrap arounds, pounding, loads, perfect position, play around with it, get it on film, this video was phenomenal.
Trying to cram it all in is tough
Nice basic yet practical advice. The photos were helpful as an aid, rather than leaving everything to the imagination as most explanations do.
Glad to hear
You had me at "loads" and "taking a beating" well played sir, well played!
I know my audience.
“Couple inches can make a world of difference” that’s what she said 😉
hey now
You're an all-star
One of the few youtubers who actually responds to a persons comments.
Least I can do.
I have found that finding the rear felt was not letting it rest on your rear felt shelf but let it "sink" into the rear delt immediately under your shoulder blades when pinched together.
The click method really helped.
Nice!
click method?? hmm , I haven't heard of that?? speaking of sinking , lately ive been trying to figure out how far to "expand my ribcage" to bring the bar closer or farther from my spine any thoughts?? , ( I mean expand my ribcage as a cue, not literally )
Could you do a video running through some mobility exercises to loosen up the shoulder/wrist? Been having some elbow issues after making the transition.
potentially, i'm sure there are already some great ones online however!
Mad transition skills mate! And yes I'm getting used to the low bar thing and even though it feels more comfy it takes me more time to find the right position.
Once you nail it I think you'll find you'll be able to increase your 1rm, I know it did for me!
I've been a lot more confident with weights that gave me so much grief before, I'm getting knee sleeves and a pioneer belt to see where that gets me
One way to also minimize shoulder issues is to only wrap your index, middle & ring finger over the bar. Let the pinky sit under the bar. This sounds minimal, but it will relieve a lot of shoulder tension. It's been a game changer for a few people.
If worse comes to worse, like in my situation, buy a Duffalo bar to use for your training. It takes off a ton of shoulder tension, while allowing you to create a shelf for low bar squats.
Solid video man.
Interesting point. I didn't think of that TBH. In the IPF/USAPL they require all fingers to be on the bar however.
I don't think it'll hurt for training, most of the time. Just switch up during competition. It fixes the issue of accumulating fatigue/stress over the training cycle.
I Imagine it has a small part to do with the innervation of the pinky , I'll try that today
Tried this and I can get my low bar squat comfortable life saver
0:59 the good ol' puns from mr Cambell always on point!
ayyy!
I have really small hands and arms. The best way I can do it is when I position it on my delts/lower part and then reposition my hands. So, that my fingers are completely around the bar and my wrists are straight. I typically have wrist or thumb pain.
I gotcha
lol, thought your camera fell over at first
lol whoops
Same aha
I've developed a bit of golfer's elbow from low-bar squatting, and yes it is specifically low bar squatting which aggravates the problem. Watching a lot of videos around(Candito, Alan Thrall, yours) helps me create cues for fixing it, but do you have any tips for the actual recovery of golfer's elbow? Ideally with the enhanced form it should stop further injury development, but I gotta get my elbow back to baseline in the first place.
my elbow pain was shoulder/trap stability/impingement issue which was aggravated by the low bar squat.. I foam rolled/lacrosse balled my whole upper back area which helped a lot
Been there my friend. If making changes doesn't fix the issue, unfortunately the only thing I've found to truly work is time off. Since usually the problem is inflammation, allowing time to heal is usually the only solution.
Like Brandon already said, only way to solve inflammation is taking time off allowing it to heal. In the meantime, developing shoulder mobility should help and properly warming them up before you squat because the tendonities is usually caused by lack of shoulder mobility and/or improper warmup. That's what just helps me and I'm fine when I taper off before a meet so I'm fine on meet day. Flossing is another temporary fix just to get the workout in
LOOONG time viewer. Cool to see you taking things to the next level with production value! Love it man!
Thanks boss!
whoa there with the transitions brandon. getting a bit fancy.
motion sickness.
thanks for this, never squatted low bar before, planning on making the switch in a couple weeks after my first meat.
Beat that meat!
plenty of beatings, plenty of loads. As we like it Brandon!
Just me and my big black barbell making videos.
It's the dirty one liners that crack me up! Solid advice brother
Thanks my dude!
Ur vids should have waaay more views Brandon !! Especially for the amount of subs dude.
don't show enough haircuts.
Hahaha.. i think you need to rent a ferrari for a week pretend u own it and then buy a new pair of Nike's to show us every video !!! Sound good ?? :)
Sick transitions you got there brah.
Literally. Gave me motion sickness.
great topic to cover I know many people who could benefit from this video
Thanks for taking a look
I use a wider grip, thumbs over bar to minimize wrist torque. My problem is the squat rack at my gym has the weight pins too high so I end up crashing into the pins re racking 350 lbs after 3 reps . I never thought unracking and re racking the weight can be a problem as well.
Right on
Brandon Campbell Diamond I've tried taking the bar at mid sternum level but almost have to do a good morning to unrack and re rack the weight which hurts my lower back.
Next thing I might do is order my own rack and weights from Rogue and turn into a basement lifter.
Dude you freaked me out with that spin, I thought my phone was falling. Lol
Hah yeah after putting it together i didn't really like it but was too lazy to change
Brandon Campbell Diamond lol. keep it dude. it's neat
Fck yeah after 1 month off training then switch to lowbar i easily hit 400 pounds.
Usually i squat high bar and struggle with 330 pounds dammit.
One thing i notice from low bar is like your leg work capacity is less than doing high bar. Is that true?
I don't find that to be the case for myself.
Thx a lot!Very helpful indeed!Regarding the low bar squat,i have a question regarding "Hip drive"(been watching your vids,also Mark Rippetoe,thrall,Omar etc,as i see it there's also going to be a drive up through the upper back at the last part of the lift,a little confused here and maybe somewhat worried about "shooting" up the butt,hope this makes some sense,alrighty,thanks again!/M
I think this is usually b/c of losing tightness. Ben Rice recently made a great video on it.
Helpful video. I really wanna transition to lowbar but i get the feeling that the bar might slip. I cant find the solid shelf
Been thinking about doing some more videos on this.
I don't normally comment, but wanted to say that this was pretty awesome. First time watching your videos; thanks for the good advice. Also, pretty amazed that there are 0 dislikes. Never seen that before lol
Thanks, glad it was helpful!
Thanks man! I was waiting for this
Sure thing boss, hope it helps.
That barbell is looking really crisp
Feels good
When you move from high bar to low bar, did you experience any rubbing or soreness on your delts/scapulas from the bar and the skin not being accustomed to having the bar rest there? I haven't low bar squatted (correctly) before and am moving towards a low bar squat for PL and have felts some definite rubbing and soreness from the bar...curious your experience.
Yes. Still have some nice rough spots on my scapula all these years later.
enjoy this informative video with only shot half of your body. this is what I know about Brandon Campbell style.
Hah no need to see these chicken legs.
Great episode !!
Thanks for taking the time!
Solid advice big man!
Thanks, I take any opportunity I can to get on camera and caress my big black barbell.
Hey Brandon I love your meat packet! Also you said loads
I aim to please.
I filmed my LB squat and put it on my channel.
My left shoulder is getting more painful with each workout.
Am I placing it too low?
You really should get that checked out. Such a large discrepancy in mobility.
Thanks !
Sure thing!
i tripped the fuck out when the transitions happened, i'm dizzy now
Same, will not be using them again lol
hahaha agreed
Can you rest the bar below the rear delt or dose it have to be on it?
I think that would still pass.
what is actually better? low bar or high bar?
Depends on the individual
You think you'll ever get the Rogue Westside Bench and or a Reverse Hyper?
Probably not, when space is a premium they don't really make much sense.
Another solid video with some solid advice. Though I'm still spinning from those transitions lol
Trying to keep up with you.
haha you're funny. One day I will be on your level
High bar master race checking in. muh shoulder mobility :(
We don't need shoulders, we're freaks.
Low bar squat I don’t seem to much of a problem. Once I straighten my torso upright it seems to be a problem. Therefore I say away from high bar squat.
What kind of problem?
i dont have a problem getting into a low bar squat besides when im using a commercial gym bar, due to it being slightly thicker it feels really weird so i have to do a "high" low bar position relative to my original low-bar, do you experience the same thing when you use different bars?
I haven't ran into this issue as much. I think part of the reason might be I typically try to visit powerlifting friendly gyms who have a standard bar size (29mm or so). Usually the thicker bars are cheaper quality, they're made that way so that the manufacturer can use lower quality materials.
I usually only have access to a 28mm power bar, but at comps I use 35mm bars ,and I Like the texas squat bars best, they sit just right for me (32mm) , but the 35 mm seems to sit really high and roll forward, maybe it would sit better if I could use it more
Super late comment but I hope that someone can help me out. Basically everything feels fine when I try to low bar squat instead of high bar instead my wrists. The lift overall feels easier but my wrists get really painfull when the weight goes up. Should I just push through and get 'used to it' or should I accept the fact that low bar isn't for me. Thanks in advance
Have you tried widening your grip?
@@BasementBrandon Yea I made some adjustments on my grip but it wouldnt help alot, would you recommend some wrist mobility/stability/stretch exercises?
@@rcbooster1 Maybe, But I think you can skirt it by just adjusting where the bar is and where your hands are.
@@BasementBrandon Alright I will give it some more time on my next leg day, ill keep you updated, thanks alot for the responses mate!
wow champ. editing PR !
Those spin transmissions will likely not be coming back lol.
Very helpful
Glad to hear!
useful video...continue with more tutorial video's
Will try to do these once every other week or so.
Thanks Brandon
Thanks for watching Alex.
Great tips
Thanks Shawn!
Funny, Cause my phone actually fell during that transition...How'd you do that bruh?
New force feedback feature on TH-cam.
Very nice content!!!! Thanks!
Thanks for taking a look!
2:07 - 2:11 old man brain farts, Brandon! I guess the sheer quality of dirty jokes made up for the Charles Manson babbling there.
Hah it's not easy to not mess up these unplanned talks. Plus it was really cold down in the basement. I blame that... or my old age :)
Brandon Campbell Diamond just busting your (very old, senile) balls man. Keepin' the content informative and real brotha!
very informative video. thanks.
Thanks for taking a look.
Damn bringing some anatomy to the channel now? What's next? Chemistry?
If I can't spell it I don't talk about it.
this is a good video
Thanks dude
Thank you for the video, Thumbs up.
Thanks Troy!
Why do my arms go numb like i've been lying on them when i do low bar?
Could be forcing into a position you don't have the best mobility for.
DAMN SON U ON DAT 4K BANDWAGON NOW!
I uploaded my first 4k video about 2 years ago :)
Damn, I need to pay more attention!
spin transition gave me motion sickness. I only squat snickers bars
You and me both!
Brandon Campbell Diamond lol I'm Landon Wolf by the way, changed my handle just so I could feel less weird about posting edgy videos
The lower i try to put the bar the more it feels like it's gonna roll off my back...Need to work on my Meat Packets...lol
Yeah I def think there's a point of being too low. I try to rub it around my back till I find that spot.
I just occurs to me that knurling is missing where it is most needed... how did that happen.
wazzup105 dude what?
For a bar like this, which is also used for bench and deadlifts, you wouldn't want knurl all the way across. However if you buy a specialty squat only bar, they can sometimes have full knurling.
For deadlifts I guess I get it (unless you lift sumo and you still have your shins at the knurling part), but for bench I see no reason not to have knurling all over.
@bjorn: Which part didn't you understand?
wazzup105 I guess I just don't agree that the middle part of the bar is where knurling is most needed. Like you said, it's in the way when deadlifting and I use the not knurled part to see that the bar is centered in all three lifts. The knurled small center part is enough for it to stick to my back if it's a proper PL-bar.
Did not mean to sound rude btw :)
nice hat brandon
Thanks, got to support my dude Matt Vincent!
Keep the spinnnnns
Hah don't think I can do that to myself again
In my Brandon voice, "thanks so much for watching and in the mean time, stay big." My video pleasures have been met now. LOL
Hah I almost said it at the end, but have been trying not to.
informative
Glad to hear!
I'll never get over Braces Brandon
Hey now
Trademark that
book it!
Couple of inches can make all the difference in the world ;)
100%
High bar atg and conventional deadlifts are a match made in heaven. But perhaps not optimal for milking every kilo
I'm on that conventional/low bar life!
That barbell is beautiful.
Thanks! Try to clean stuff every 2-3 weeks
Have you ever tried chalk on squat and bench?
When necessary, but for the most part I don't need it.
wot in hand plantation
it sick
jamming it down there, thats wot she said m8
Take what you can get!
00:57 that's what she said!!
Hey now
these new transitions are seriously motion sickness inducing. otherwise, great content!
Yeah was too lazy to change them, but wasn't a fan of the spins.
but this one youtuber said low bar was cheating
Probably just not a good low bar squatter.
They think low bar is the mid to LOWER back? haha. So it would look like a behind the back deadlift lockout position.
Deeper isn't necessarily better!
I agree!
meat packets and big L O A D S
You know it.
forgot the most important part of the video...
I can only imagine what you're going to tell me...
couple of inches eh?
at this point I'll take what I can get.