“Squats With the Bar Hurt my Neck”

When someone says this they have told me instantly that they have no idea what’s going on.

First question is:

What the hell is the bar doing on your neck?

Of course it hurts your neck.  Reach around (no not that type of “reach around“…perverts) and feel the back of your neck. Go ahead, do it. You were probably all like,

A. “You’re stupid and this is stupid and I’m not doing it and I’m done reading this ridiculousness.”

or

B. “It feels like skin and bony, knobby things which I probably shouldn’t have a metal bar weighing a couple hundred pounds on.”

For the A’s in the audience: That’s not nice.

For the B’s: You’re right! Skin and Bones, that’s all you’ve got back there.

So unless you’ve got a bag of  hot dog rolls back there it’s gonna hurt like hell to have 1, 2,3 hundred pounds on a metal bar resting on your neck. ……….

This guy can put a bar on his neck…

So these folks opt for the “Tampon”…more commonly known as the bar pad.

Which is fine…..if you suck at life or can do this:

4 plus plates…and you too can use the bar pad.

If not, no bar pad for you…and no I don’t care that his heels are elevated. It’s over 4 bills….

The Bar Pad Has Several Disadvantages:

• It puts the bar away from the body (shoulders) making the bar less stable (less surface area).
• It’s more difficult to grasp the bar correctly (straight wrists, chest up), more external rotation is needed at the shoulder and most folks ain’t got it so they keep the bar in place by hunching over, collapsing the chest.
• It’s another layer of fabric and usually slick fabric. Ohh, you know the kind that likes to slide on you or in this case down your back.
• It necessitates that the bar be held too high on the shoulders/ neck for most and they never learn where/ how to hold it correctly.
• It makes you look like a tool bag…..

The only advantage the “Tampon” has in this instance is that it does cushion the neck in extreme high bar squats, but that’s not really an advantage because the bar shouldn’t be that high in the first place.

It’s severely limiting your leverage by forcing either a very upright posture which will limit the weights used, hip involvement (no ass/ hamstring work), depth of the squat (99/100 times it’s gonna be high).

With heavier weights the Tampon forces the chest to collapse forward which will again limit squat depth and pull the lifter forward making them “want” to go onto their toes exposing the knees and low back as the torso and low back round.

How to NOT Need the Bar Pad:

• Build some shoulders/ traps
• Squeeze the shoulder blades together and let the bar sit on the shelf that’s created.
• Don’t relax the shoulder blades while squatting, keep them together and tight.
• Grip the bar hard and engage the lats, this helps keep the back tight and locked together.
• Bar placement should be anywhere from the top of the shoulders to the mid scapula area.
• Never should the bar placement be on the neck.
• If all else fails buy a Manta Ray

Correct bar position(s):

High Bar Position

Low Bar Position

Notice the bar is about .5-1 inch lower in the second photo. It seems like nothing but in reality makes a HUGE difference.

Personally, I prefer the low bar position but it does take good shoulder mobility (external rotation) and scapular retraction and even then will still put stress on the wrists and elbows of most people. That said, I feel like I can really get “tight” to the bar in a way that I can’t with the higher bar position.

If this “low bar” position is tough on your wrists and elbows going with a thumbs over grip as long as you actually continue to crush the life out of the bar grip the bar is fine.

The “Tampon” actually useful for some things, however none of those things include it’s original purpose, squatting with a barbell. For that we should opt for some old school technique and a little intestinal fortitude.