There two options, the high bar and low bar squat. The high bar squat is better foent. Mix both for best results.
Before we start with the details of where to place the barbell for the squat let me ask you a couple of questions.
You might think that these questions are trivial, but they are essential to your long term success. Injuries, life, your job and even your closest friends and family will get in the way of your goals and ambitions. You better have very good reasons to push on and make it through the mud.
Most people go through their lifes using this thought pattern
With this thought pattern you will mainly focus on your impulses. You will become a slave to your daily moods and surroundings. Most people know what they want. Fewer make a plan how to get it. Almost none think deeply about why they want to achieve their goals. If you reverse your thought patterns to
Your actions and thoughts will become a lot more positive and focused. The people around you will notice and be more likely to help you out. All in all you can progress quicker. To understand how this works on a psychological level read Daniel Kahneman's Thinking Fast and slow. If you are not convinced yet look up Simon Sineks TED talk on the golden circle. He makes a very compelling case telling the story of the Wright brothers.
The barbell squat is a variation of the squat. Any strength program worth its salt will utilize some form of the squat or burpee to make you lean and mean. The barbell squat is a variation when you want to mainly focus on strength and muscle while leaving agility to the side.
Beside the barbell squat there are many variations of squatting. Some of them are
Only to name a view. The permutations are endless depending on your build and training style. It is therefore good advice to learn form as many people as possible to improve your squat. Some sources can be:
And many other successful squatters in the IPF or from history. To perform a good squat follow these steps:
Rinse and repeat for bigger quads, a stronger core and a few more hairs on your chest.
The biggest advantages of the squat are that it has a lot of carry over to other exercises and is the single most effective exercise to build bigger quads.
The biggest disadvantages of the squat are that most people lack the mobility to perform it proper and that the load can crush you.
The low bar squat is a variation of the barbell back squat in which you place the bar at the lower of two points on your back.
Most people find that they have two shelves on their back to place the barbell securely. One high and one a little lower.
The low bar squat is a favorite amongst powerlifters. It shifts the emphasis of the movement away from the quads and redistributes it more to the lower back. It is often combined with a wide stance and wider grip on the bar.
This technique usually comes at the expense of speed in favor of power. Think about it like the gear box of a Ferrari and a truck. They have the same horsepower and the engine are based on the same principles. Yet the truck has been laid out to move a big load relatively slow while the Ferrari accelerates a smaller weight a lot faster.
The biggest advantage of the low bar squat is that your lower back gets more activated.
The biggest disadvantage of the low bar back squat is that it provides a lot less upward drive and slower descend. Especially for weightlifters who want to transition under the bar and move it up quick this is suboptimal.
The high bar squat is what most people intuitively perform when they get todo the barbell back squat.
In this version the bar is placed on the fury of the two shelves on your back. The higher position usually makes it easier to descend into the lowest position of the squat quicker. As there is less of the back involved the weights moved a re smaller. This goes especially for beginners.
The biggest advantage of the high bar squat is its greater potential to develop explosiveness out of the hole.
The biggest disadvantage of the high bar squat is that you usually have less control if the bar during the movement. This is especially tricky when you train the back squat for maximum loads.
Where to place the barbell for the squat is depending on your personal goals. It is important to note that this is not a either or question. You can mix your training up and make use of both variations if you wish. Many good squatters recommend this style of training.
If you are a weightlifter, footballer, rugby player or martial artists you probably want to stick a little more to the high bar squat. The higher potential to develop explosiveness will help in other endeavors.
If you are a powerlifter or strongman you can put more focus on the low bar squat. You will be moving big weights slowly.
This is an overview of the most popular Rogue barbells per views and click through rates for Marathon-Crossfit.com in 2020. If you want more details on how the data was collected you can dig deeper in what were the most popular Rogue products in 2020.
The classic barbell is what you you will find in most gyms. They vary widely in their quality with the York ones being the most cost efficient and therefore at the lower end of the quality range. You might find barbells with bushing or bearing, still most of them will have bushing in your local gym.
If your local gym is serious about lifting you might find specific olympic weightlifting and powerlifting barbells. These have a more aggressive knurl to ensure more grip for the professionals. You will experience these to be rougher on your skin which has the benefit of being able to lift more and the downside of higher likelihood to get your skin damaged.
In addition the knurl marks are slightly different between olympic and powerlifting bars to show you where to put your hands. Usually the powerlifting bars are built to withhold more psi (basically tells you how mch weight you can put on the bar until it breaks) than olympic bars due to the fact that there is more load moved in the powerlifts than in olympic lifts.
Lifting is not always for beginners. You need proper technique, balance and a bit of strength to do it. Otherwise you might hurt your shins on the deadlift or pulll some muscles when squatting. Improper squatting might also harm your spine. So get proper advise or start deadlifting with other bars.