Coach Thrall Identifies Common Low Bar Squat Mistake 

The fact that your mic is on your beard is truly amazing

I was team high bar for life but I recently switched to low bar squatting and it changed my life. It's less strain on my back and I feel way more powerful low bar squatting. You converted me salute Alan now I can TRAIN UNTAMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Properly

Fifth

Hip draahve!

Alan's opinion on high bar/low bar really evolved a lot through time. It went from high bar to saying there is not a big difference, to saying that low bar squat is superior, then again that it doesn't really matter. It's a good thing to change opinions over time

I had the same problems with a low bar squat. My problems were: -Not standing tall (starting the rep with a bend in the hip and locked knees) - Bending too far forwards -Relaxing at the bottom - Trying to lift my chest up (look up) and end up doing a good morning squat -Too narrow stance How I corrected these mistakes -Starting tall with both hips and knees locked and squeezing the glutes , quads and adductors at lockout - Stop trying to break at the hips or bend forwards actively..... I simply started by breaking at my knees pushing them outwards and looking down. As I looked down , that itself was sufficient to bend my hip to the right degree. not too much,not too little. - Using an adequately wide stance--- the stance should be enough to allow depth below parallel, yet should not reach the limit of knee flexion before reaching the limit of hip ROM..... In other words , the bounce should be off the hip , from the stretch reflex of the adductors and hamstrings and not off the knee (not off the stretch reflex of the quadriceps). I added 10 kilos to my squat in two workouts and I no longer have pain in my knees from squatting deep.

Your squat cue to maintain my torso angle out of the hole has been immensely helpful. I was following other cues like pushing my back against the bar like Ed Coan said to do, which also helped. But I was having the exact problem you've been speaking about: lifting my chest early and losing tightness and hip drive. Now that I maintain my torso angle and don't look up out of the hole, the squat has become a great deal more comfortable. When I maintain my torso angle and look where I would naturally look at that angle, the whole movement becomes more natural. I can maintain tightness out of the hole and the torso naturally reaches an upright position once the movement is complete. Great advice. One more cue I needed to improve my squat and make it a more comfortable movement, which keeps me doing the movement with less strange pain.

just hit 285 w/o belt as a PR, my low bar has improved a lot thanks to you and Omar.

This man has helped my squat so much. I'm 6'4 before watching his videos my squat and mobility sucked.....I can squat with the best of them now....and TRAIN UNTAMED! Thanks Alan!! Keep up the good work.

When talking about Starting Strength, you should always imitate Rip.

I love how he put the microphone in his beard

I hate when people come at Alan for switching his position, accusing him of flip flopping. He has always been looking into new training techniques and is open to change his perception when new info arises. He then tells us what he learned and how he thought differently. The science behind weight training evolves and improves constantly and I rather have someone that keeps up and evolves with it than someone who is stuck in their own ways just because they don't want to look like they didn't know. The tree that bends is the one that doesn't break.

I like how you're cominng up with new formats for videos and always trying to keep it interesting to watch.

This video was awesome man, great content and solid production quality! Thank you for continuing to put out content that actually has worth and isn't you showing your trips to the mall!

Thanks Alan, you always have the best squat videos. My squat went up to 335(to depth) in two months of watching these vids and correcting my form. Plus, no more hip pain.

I LITERALLY started this three months ago. No more cracking knees nor knee pain. Thank you, Alan!

Nice breakdown in this video, Alan. Your videos along with Rippetoe's have been a godsend for my form.

Allen you have an excellent method of breaking down the SS squat and explaining it in a way that is very understandable.You have excellent kinesthetic sense and are able to articulate it well. I have doing the the SS LB squat since april and have read Ripp's books and watched all his instructional vids. No disrespect to Ripp but your explanations of the SS method I find to be the best.Well done! Please keep them coming!

How do I get Alan saying "HIP DRAHVE" as a text tone?

Hey Coach, thank you very much for taking the time to make these vids, they are very helpful. Thanks also for sharing the seminars and interviews with Austin and Jordan. One favor I might ask is to show a shot of the squat directly from the side, I think that would help me is seeing how you break at the hips and the knees at the same time. Thanks again.

So fascinated by the placement of the microphone. You is creative!

Thanks so much for this video. This has cleared up a lot of problems I need to work on!

Thanks for the tips Alan. Useful content as always!!!!

Thanks for the awesome videos Alan. I started doing low bar squats thanks to you and I can see it's a much safer way to do squats, and I can see most people in my gym doing high bar squats and they look like they're going to hurt themselves. I really appreciate the knowledge you've given me.

This series has been great! I've already used a ton of these tips and a 315 squat is in my sights!

I'm currently switching over from high bar to low bar so this came at the perfect time. Thank youuu and the microphone in the beard is iconic.

Fuckin awesome coordinating this with Omar Isuf. You guys are beacons in the RU-vid informative lifting channels.

I noticed that you've been talking about Starting Strength quite a bit lately. I assume that's because of the work you have been doing with your coach. It's been very interesting for me to hear your perspective on that approach. I am very new to strength training (less than a year) and am still trying to find my way in the whole process. I've begun reading SS, I am about 6 weeks into the novice program, and I am quickly becoming a convert. I sincerely doubt I would have found a text like that on my own. I really enjoy your work. Please keep it up.

Very good vid Alan, much appreciated.

Thank you so much! I've had trouble with doing low bar squats due to feeling unbalanced, can't wait to give them another go using all this info. Thanks!

Alan thank you for the precious advices. Top Weightlifting channel!

Thanks for this gem of wisdom, Alan.

Thank you for this video! Massive help.

The videos are great, but the Train Untamed faces are the reason why I want to have beer with this dude. Informative AND entertaining.

Thank you for this video! I needed help correcting the squat morning. I’m gonna practice this.

Love the microphone placement you big thilly gooth!

Love your channel dude!! Rock on!! That's all.

thank you Alan. your videos help a lot

Awesome how to! It's awesome to know that even experienced lifters are still trying to perfect lifts. Good practice to always look for perfection

this may be the greatest channel on earth

Excellent. This solves a couple of things for me

Very helpful info 👍 I've only been low bar squatting for like 3-4 months...now that I switched from high bar low bar just feels better

Great video on correct squatting alan, thx mate, great advice

YES!! a much needed vid and it's my squat day today. going for a pr

great video Alan!!

These are invaluable. Please include more, with OHP, Power Clean, etc.

Hella informative man! Thank you for this broooo

Gotta love that impression of the Rip at 05:41 Also great video, Alan, you're a fine teacher.

Man, I love your vids!

Hips popping up out of the hole like that (leading to a more horizontal torso position during the concentric phase) is generally due to an imbalance between leg and back strength in the squat. Usually this can be mitigated through working on bracing, developing back strength, and not allowing the knees to shift backward out of the hole. Excellent video as always Alan!

Dude, you killed me at 5:41, love the reference Alan, and love MR too

this is by far the best video for low bar squat I've seen I see I make the mistake of leading with my chest going up

great explanation man, cheers

This is a superb tutorial on the Low Bar "Starting strength" squat in my opinion.

Only learned low bar 2 weeks ago, cant believe it took me this long!!! Been doing high bar sooo long, and my shoulders are really tight. game changer!

Dangit, almost spilled my morning coffee at the end!

That TRAIN UNTAAMMED was so nice, I've watched it twice :D:D

Good tips. Lately, I've been thinking about the constant torso angle. Such a big help. Staying too upright could eventually lead to injury from excessive back extension. One would think.

Super informative. Do you think you'll be posting a SS power clean tutorial? Got some coaching and still feel like I'm struggling with it. keep up the great work.

Thanks! I was not doing the "hipps drive" ! Will practice tomorrow

Great vid man, I'm just afraid of turning my "squat" into a "good morning"

Low bar for LYFE! I am happy to hear you advising against leading with the chest, as many people try to tell me to do while low bar squatting. FOOLS.

Thanks for this tutorial, I started the low bar because of you and your coach!

Nice video. Sometimes when terms like "hip drive" are used it is hard to visualize. This makes it clear.

Awesome video!

super thanks for this info. i only low bar squat cause high bar squat bothers my neck area. and i always thougt that my form was bad when i low bar squated because i had to lean forward to keep balanced. but my legs are a bit longer than my torso so i didn't realize that having that slight lean didn't mean i had poor form just because i wasn't as upright as others. and here i was working on "correcting" what naturally felt right. 1000 thanks for this info!

This is the best how to squat video I've ever seen.

I love this guy.

I think this was the advice I was looking for. My bar path kept shifting forward at the bottom up

very detailed video/helps me a lot)

That was satisfying to watch , time for a meal and coffee then gym

would love to see a video with You and Marc Rippetoe!!

thank you for the well if I know details of your instructions from Vancouver BC Canada I think your videos rock thank you for your well detailed information it shows me much thank you again good day from Canada BC Vancouver.

I fucking love this channel so much. What's the intro song btw?

Awesome Alan, gave you a thumbs up. Can you please do the same video but for high bar? Like a common mistake you see? I know with myself I feel it's butt back versus naturally sitting into the squat. Butt back which may cause the chest to collapse forward. The opposite of what one wants with the high-bar esp.

5:41 "HIP DRAAAHVE" 😂

thanks alan.god bless u.watch u from azerbaijan

Im trying to switch to low bar squat and this is exactly what im struggling with So this is very helpfull. Thanks! It's like you're send by god

Much love alan!

great informative video alan! could you do another low bar squat video, but this time about bar position? I really want to low bar squat but i just don't understand where the bar rests

Scared the shit out of me at the end haha i never understood what shooting your knees forward meant. This video really helped me correct my form

my numbers skyrocketed after going to low bar once i understood and practiced form also great vid

Tanks Coach! Question from a beginner: I originally did low bar but got pretty severe lower quad/knee pain, almost tendinitis, I went high bar but lost size, then I watched and followed your latest lead and came back to low bar. Quad pain came back instantly, I think its my body trying to keep the load on the quads, and not enough "HIP DRIVE", and I want to master low bar. Probably a dumb question, but any advice off you Alan would be tops!!!!! TRAIN UNTAAAAAAAMEDAH

Awesome videos! Things to help move your core strength along aside from the main lifts?

Hey Alan Can you make another sample nutrition video ?

Hey Alan it's great to see that you're drinking that sweet starting strength koolaid. I've been in my novice progression for a few months now and I still find vast troves of useful information on the SS forums and the book. One thing I like about the SS model and the associated texts is that it goes into the WHY of the lifts. One thing you forgot to mention is why we use hip drive. One of the reasons is that it it keeps your hamstrings stretched more than a squat without hip drive. A stretched muscle will contract with greater force than one that is not as stretched. This is also why the low bar squat uses a bounce out of the bottom to use that hamstring tension to get yourself back up. You can go into great detail on physiology and anatomy when researching this stuff and it just keeps getting cooler. Keep up the great work!

"Huuuiiiiip Draaaiiivee!"

;__; tfw you freeze frame at 9:24 and your wife catches you brushing coach thralls beard on her laptop screen ;___;

I switched to low-bar a month ago. It's amazing, im so much more consistent now and am almost stronger lowbar than i was highbar. I should have read SS years ago. READ THE BOOK GUYS!

Thanks for the great video! I am new to lifting in my mid-40's and am really struggling with these low bar squats. I think the problem might be lack of flexibility in the chest/shoulders that makes it hard for me to get the bar in the correct low position. When I don't get it low enough, I fall forward at the bottom. When I get it low enough on my back, my squat is much better, and the bar stays over mid-foot, but I feel like I am going to tear something in my shoulder/outer pec area. I can somewhat mitigate this by moving my grip way out on the bar, but then I risk getting my fingers under the bar when I rack it (way too wide of a grip, I assume). Sorry for the long post, but my failure to lift in high school with knowledgeable people around has left me trying to teach myself in my garage from the Starting Strength book and RU-vid videos. Any advice would be much appreciated!

was this video release coordinated with Omar's high bar video? 😂

Dat Mark Rippetoe impression tho

jamming out to Faith No More! Thumbs up, Alan

I just tried this out, my squat feels way better!!!! definitely feel constant tension on the muscles, joints and back feel way better.

I noticed in this video that you were gripping the bar with a thumb under grip. However in your previous videos you recommend the the thumb over grip. Any reason for the change? Anyways these are great videos are helping me greatly as I work on getting away from my extra schmedium bar position into a low bar position

13 wannabe olympic weightlifters with a 90kg snatch disliked this video. Rippetoe squat for life for general strength! I lift as a hobby, for health, and to get bigger and stronger. I have zero aspirations to ever compete, so this squat style works for me.

great vid

At some point, when you raise up, it looks like the movement splits in two separated parts, the raise of the hips and an hyperextension of the torso. Probably doable only for mesomorph people, with a proportioned and strong core/torso and not for everyone? Thanks for your amazing videos Alan.

thanks coach thrall :D

as all ways great video