O BJETIVOS Y COMPETENCIAS

Many people pay no attention to how they un-rack the bar and do so in a sloppy manner. What they fail to realise is that they are throwing away pounds off their squat by doing this and risking injury.

To un-rack the bar properly, take an even grip on the bar. Use a full grip (thumbs around the bar) and start out with your pinkie fingers on the power rings. You may need to go wider if you are a big guy or have tight shoulders, lacking in mobility.

Squeeze the bar hard.

Once your hands are set, it is time to place your feet. Your mid-foot should be directly under the bar and your chest will now be touching it.

Get your upper back as tight as possible by forcing your shoulders back and down and squeez-ing your shoulder blades together. Holdsqueez-ing this position, bend your legs slightly, push your glutes to the rear, duck your head under the bar and set the bar on your back.

If you are new to squatting, finding a ‘sweet-spot’ for the bar to sit on your back will require some experimentation. For most lifters, somewhere around their rear delts works well. A high bar position does not really favour the powerlifting style squat. With that said, do not try to set the bar too low down your back, because this can lead to the bar moving as you squat and in the worst case scenario it could fall off.

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Not what you want.

Bar position is like most things in life—a happy medium will work best. So experiment with the bar position until you find one you are happy with. From then on, use the same bar position on every set and every rep.

It pays to take your time when setting up under the bar. If you watch videos of the great power-lifter Ed Coan, you notice that he always took his time making sure the bar was sitting correctly before he un-racked it. Take note of Ed and follow in his footsteps.

Before you un-rack the bar, there are two more things to do. First, drive your head back into the bar. This helps keep your upper back tight and will result in you looking straight ahead or slightly up. Do not look down (unless you want the bar to roll over your head as you squat!).

Finally, take a big breath into your belly and get tight. You must brace your abs as if some big, tough, nasty dude was about to punch you in the stomach. If you are wearing a belt—brace your abs and push them out against the belt.

As well as bracing your abs, you must also flex your lats. Flexing your lats adds stiffness to your core, increasing tightness and helping to keep your shoulders back and down. More tightness equals more strength. By tensing your lats you are also protecting your spine. Very few strength athletes realize that this simple act of flexing their lats can have such a profound effect on their strength (and safety while lifting).

Doc Hartle stresses: “Remember to pull down on the bar when racked on the shoul-ders and to not push up on it. Doing that will create many elbow issues usually seen in the bench press.”

You are now set to un-rack the bar. It may sound like a lot of steps to get to this point, but once you have practised them for a few weeks; most of it will be done automatically, sub-consciously, without you having to think about it. And you can rest assured that your attention to detail will pay off for the months and years to come in your strength training career.

To un-rack the bar, ‘arch’ it out of the rack, keeping the same tightness that you created while setting up. Once you have stood up with the bar, take a short step back with your left foot and then do the same with your right foot.

Do not walk the bar any further out of the rack than you have to. A 4 to 6 inch walkout is per-fect. Lifters who walk the bar out 4 feet are wasting their time and energy, not to mention increas-ing the risk involved with their squattincreas-ing sessions. (If you need to rack the bar quickly, would you rather be 4 inches from the rack or 4 feet?)

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Your feet should be placed shoulder width apart or slightly wider. Narrow stances do not suit the powerlifting style squat so avoid them. Your stance width will depend on your biomechanics and mobility. Do not go so wide that your knees fall inwards as you squat (more on this shortly).

You will want to point your toes out 15 to 45 degrees. Finding your best squatting stance will take some experimentation and trial and error. One thing to be aware of is that the more support-ive equipment you are wearing (briefs and squat suit), the wider you can take your stance. If you are squatting raw, do not try and squat as wide as I do when I squat 1200lbs +, because when I do that I am wearing full multi-ply powerlifting equipment and that provides the hips with a lot of protection. If you try to squat too wide you will jack up your hips and you do not want that. So find the widest stance that you can comfortably handle.