The squat is an exercise that bodybuilders and fitness buffs alike treasure. Squats are a basic lower body exercise that builds lower body strength and size while enhancing core strength. A strong core and lower body lower the risk of injury and enhance how your body functions too. If you play almost any sport, your performance will improve if you squat regularly to develop your lower body, but it’ll also be easier to carry out activities like squatting down to pick up objects.
As you know, you can change up squats by doing variations such as sumo or goblet squats, and you can switch up the type of resistance you use by holding a barbell, dumbbells, or even a kettlebell when you squat. If you use a barbell, you also have a choice of where to place the bar. Some people place it in a high-bar position, but you also have the option of placing the barbell in a low-bar position. You may have a personal preference, but is one more effective or safer than the other? Let’s look at the pros and cons of each type of barbell placement, so you’ll know which to choose to meet your own objectives.
Difference Between High-Bar and Low-Bar Squats
High-bar and low bar refers to where you place the barbell when you perform back squats with a bar. The most common approach is to use a high-bar position where the bar rests on your trapezius muscles and your feet are spaced roughly shoulder-width apart. This position feels more natural for most people and that’s one reason it’s so popular.
Low bar is where you drop the bar to the level that the bar rests on your posterior deltoids just over the spine of the scapula. You would also widen your feet slightly, so they’re a bit wider than shoulder width. Also, keep your toes pointing outward, if you’re using a low bar positioning. The difference between the bar placement with low and high-bar squats is only around three inches, but even this difference alters the angle of your hips and knees when you squat.
Pros and Cons of High-Bar Squats
Most people feel the high-bar placement is a more natural position, which is why more people do it. This bar placement forces you to stay more erect when you squat. Squatting with a high bar also places more emphasis on the anterior chain, the muscles in the front of your lower body as opposed to the posterior chain, the muscles in the back. It might be a better choice if you want to emphasize your quads as opposed to your hamstrings and glutes.
A downside to a high-bar position is leaning forward can cause the bar to fall onto your neck. So, use caution when balancing a heavy bar behind your neck. The last thing you want is a neck injury! Another advantage of high-bar squats is they’re safer for your back and spine.
Pros and Cons of Low-Bar Squats
Although a less common approach, the low-bar squat has some advantages over high-bar placement. Placing the bar lower emphasizes the posterior chain more than high-bar placement, making it slightly more effective for targeting your hamstrings and glutes. The low-bar squat also places your body in a more stable position since the bar is closer to the ground. Therefore, you may be able to handle more weight when you use this positioning. In fact, most people can use around 10% more weight with the bar in a low-bar position because they’re recruiting more muscle groups with low-bar positioning.
Also, with a low-bar squat, the hamstrings pull back more on your tibia and that’s safer if you have a history of knee pain. However, you may find your torso leans slightly forward when you squat with a low bar to stay balanced. You also need greater shoulder mobility to do this version of a barbell squat safely and effectively. However, low-bar squats are safer if you have limited ankle mobility.
Which Should You Choose?
There’s no right or wrong approach to bar placement when you squat. High-bar placement works best if you have a history of lower back pain or poor shoulder mobility, but low-bar placement is best if your ankle mobility needs work. The most important factor should be your goals. If your goal is to build stronger quads, high-bar squats will help you best meet your goals. If you’re trying to target your hamstrings and glutes more, low-bar placement gives you an edge.
You might even do both high and low-bar squats during different workouts. Choose the one that’s right for you on a given day based on your goals, but whichever you choose, focus on doing it with impeccable form to maximize the benefits and do it safely. When you first start squatting with a barbell, the high-bar squat is more intuitive and easier to do, but once you’ve mastered it, give the low-bar squat a try.
The Bottom Line
Regardless of where you place the bar, squats are, arguably, the best exercise for strengthening the muscles in your lower body and doing it efficiently. Keep your lower body training balanced though by including other exercises that work the muscles in your legs, including lunges and deadlifts. These three are probably the best compound exercises for leg development. Be sure to include focused exercises, like hip thrusts and glute bridges to target your glutes too. Romanian deadlifts and single-leg deadlifts are excellent compound exercises for firming your glutes and building functional strength.
References:
- Effect of Knee Position on Hip and Knee Torques During the Barbell Squat. December 2003The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 17(4):629-33. DOI: 10.1519/1533-4287(2003)017<0629:EOKPOH>2.0.CO;2.
- Lorenzetti S, Ostermann M, Zeidler F, et al. How to squat? Effects of various stance widths, foot placement angles and level of experience on knee, hip and trunk motion and loading [published correction appears in BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 2020 Jan 29;12:7]. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 2018;10:14. Published 2018 Jul 17. doi:10.1186/s13102-018-0103-7.
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