Setting up your bar for back squats

You walk into the gym & make a bee-line to the treadmills.

You start walking & scoping out the free weight section, taking a mental inventory of the machines & equipment that are free now or might be soon.

And then your eyes fall on that line of racks & barbells set up pristine with a huge mirror in front of them. You’ve been eyeing them for weeks now.

You know you’re body is strong enough to step under a bar but… you just don’t know what the heck to do once you walk over there.

The questions start rolling through your mind- one of the biggest questions:

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How high do you set up the bar??

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& before you know it you’re heading back to grab the dumbbells for another week of goblet squats…

Except you’ve found this blog post so this week you can redirect your steps to head straight for those squat racks instead.

And you’ll know exactly how to get set for your back squats because you’re reading this post right now.

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Picking out the right height for your barbell back squat:

The simplest & most general tip I can give to help you find the height for your racked bar: Stand up straight next to the rack & position the j-cups so the racked bar hits you mid-shoulder/clavicle height

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Things we like/want:

✔️Slight knee bend under racked bar

✔️Bar comfortably & firmly on shoulders/upper back

✔️ Ability to lift off & clear J-cups by bringing hips forward

Things we don’t like/want:

❌ Needing to be on tip-toes to lift off/replace bar on rack

❌ A half squat position that takes more energy away from our set

❌ To unrack the bar & step away from safety’s or outside of cage

Checkout this reel to see 3 different bar heights you might consider for your back squat… then checkout this reel to see what my proper bar height is!

Happy squatting 🤘🏼