Working on some low bar squat technique
Steve has been dealing with some gnarly patella tendonitis. To help offload this a little, we are transitioning to a low bar squat position – this will let the hips take more of the load while squatting. The knees will still be doing work, of course, just slightly less.
This video is from his first session trying the low bar position:
Prior to this, we worked on some holds in the bottom position with no weight – just holding on to the rack and manipulating the position until Steve could feel what I wanted him to feel (tension in the hips through the hamstring and adductors). It is very important to develop an understanding of what you are meant to be feeling before adding too much load, otherwise you will likely just default to what you know.
During this set, and most that night, I was queuing Steve to avoid dipping into his knees at the bottom. This would a) load the knees, which is expressly what we were trying to avoid, and b) take tension off the hips by shortening the hamstrings, which again we want to avoid. Usually knee dip occurs because someone is searching for extra depth. In a low bar squat you will not get as deep as a high bar or front squat, just isn’t going to happen.
So we queued hips back, knees out, no knee dip. I filmed this set to show Steve what I was looking at while he was squatting, and to provide perspective versus what he felt – he knew the first and last few reps were good/better than the middle reps. He could feel it! The video simply adds another layer of understanding/perspective which is often very useful to trainees. Side note: this is why you should be filming your training when possible.