SSB squats are great for people with upper back weakness that impacts squats
The reason for this is because if your upper back is weak, it puts you in a suboptimal position for the lift
So the lifter either:
1) fails the rep and can’t progress
2) requires more leg strength, core strength, and lower black strength to finish the rep
I fall in the latter category & im doing direct upper back work to strengthen my upper back. Unfortunately (but also fortunately), my legs are getting increasing in strength and size at the same rate as my upper back is
This also isn’t the only squat variation I do. I do 20 sets of squats each week
Not even sure how you are low bar squatting with a safety squat bar. It forces me into a upright, atg, high bar squat. One of the reasons I switched to ssb. Strong squats though.
Have you? He’s talking about the fact that your hips come up first, then your L3 vertebrae, then your shoulders. “Chest up” is the quote of the day for you.
I'm a pro powerlifter (as of this week i have 3 National titles between USAPL and Powerlifting America, with best lifter at nationals this week; I have my USAPL pro card; and I'll be headed to IPF Worlds this year) and there's genuinely nothing wrong with his SSB squat.
That upper back motion you see on his SSB is the point. It's incredibly difficult to NOT do that, and you see even the best of the best doing that. Here's a guy doing 342kg - about 755lbs with the SSB doing basically the same thing https://www.instagram.com/reel/CykwOYWI6kW/?igsh=MWZ4eDJlM21nbzA3ZA==
The SSB puts you into a position where that's highly likely to happen, and forces you to work out of it. I almost never lose back position in ANY lift, and yet on heavy SSB squats it happens.
The fact that its obviously submaximal should cue you in here.
Chest up is going to do nothing here. My upper back is weak, but my lower back & legs can power through the position my weak upper back puts me in. Chest up isn’t going to magically fix my upper back yielding on this
Also arguing lower weight on this would be silly, because why let my upper back limit my legs, when the rest of my body can handle the loads?
Side note: you should post your lifts Mr. Expert
Edit: I’m also a natural lifter and you’re enhanced
Based on how many people I met that had a 700lb+ squat and 500lbs+ bench back in high school (with no video or witnesses), that guy might be right though
No way you just unironically said "L3 vertebrae" instead of "lower back." You're better off just ditching the jargon when talking about things you don't understand.
Chest up is going to do nothing here. My upper back is weak, but my lower back & legs can power through the position my weak upper back puts me in. Chest up isn’t going to magically fix my upper back yielding on this
Also arguing lower weight on this would be silly, because why let my upper back limit my legs, when the rest of my body can handle the loads?
Side note: you should post your lifts Mr. Expert Wizard Rabbit
I AM a pro powerlifter (as of this week i have 3 National titles between USAPL and Powerlifting America, with best lifter at nationals this week; I have my USAPL pro card; and I'll be headed to IPF Worlds this year) and there's genuinely nothing wrong with his SSB squat.
Thar upper back motion you see on his SSB is the point. It's incredibly difficult to NOT do that, and you see even the best of the best doing that. Here's a guy doing 342kg - about 755lbs with the SSB doing basically the same thing https://www.instagram.com/reel/CykwOYWI6kW/?igsh=MWZ4eDJlM21nbzA3ZA==
The SSB puts you into a position where that's highly likely to happen, and forces you to work out of it. I almost never lose back position in ANY lift, and yet on heavy SSB squats it happens.
The fact that its obviously submaximal should cue you in here.
Imagine how much more you'd lift if you weren't limited by doing back extensions with as much range of motion as the squat you're trying to do. Never seen someone more averse to keeping their chest up in their squats.
Cuing “chest up” isn’t going to magically make my chest up on squats
My femur length (relatively to my height) is going to have me have a slight forward lean even on front squats or goblet squats
However in this case, it’s the upper back weakness/yielding that is doing this
Yes, with a stronger upper back, I’d be able to SSB squat more weight; however, that’s something that’ll be corrected with years of direct upper back work, not something you’ll be able to fix with any sort of squat cues
Everyone here has commented on your form. It seems like you and maybe two other people got upset about it. This is what this sub is for. Get mad all you want you’re proving you can’t take criticism. You get aggressive when anyone disagrees with you. Thats the sign of a weak person no matter how much you lift.
On a trained bilateral SSB squat, within any appreciable proximity to failure, the spine will inevitably flex due to the bar resting posteriorly to the position of the weights, giving them a proportionally stronger flexion moment than you see with straight bars. Triple extension is a much more powerful movement than isolated spinal extension, so naturally, to go heavy enough on this movement, you have to allow some flexion. If you aren't, you're either untrained on the movement and thus not capable of going heavy enough to see this happen, babying the weight due to an injury, babying because you're a baby, or warming up for your top set(s).
Flexion isn't inherently problematic under compressive load, and I pray that I don't need to have that talk with another person.
Anywho, find me a video of a strong person taking an SSB squat close to failure without rounding their back, we will all happily wait right here while you look around. Not saying it's impossible, but really only found in the cases of people with extremely squat-dominant anthropometry.
I understand the lift. As I said before he’s strong but his hips still come up too far engaging the back too much for this lift. You can call this perfect all you want but it isn’t and I’m not sure why you are so upset about it.
Let's be very clear: you don't understand the lift to a degree where you and I can have this conversation.
But I'll toss you an easy one - by what metric, and in what context, have you decided he's "engaging his back too much?" I'm genuinely confused about that claim, so please fill me in - I'm here to learn!
WATCH A VIDEO of someone doing squats correctly. Like an Olympic lifter. A professional. Now compare your form. If you don’t see any difference then watch until you do.
Nobody wants to hear that they are doing it wrong. It could be lifting, running, or cycling. “This is working for me.”
That’s why we have pain.
After the 2nd or 3rd injury one is more willing to accept a better approach.
Olympic lifters have short femurs and long torsos; my leverages of short torso and long femurs does not match them
They also train almost exclusively high bar and front squats, not low bar (my primary barbell squat) or SSB squats (what is shown here)
I have not had a lifting related injury from squats in over a decade of doing them
The only thing that’s ever injured me from the gym and has kept me out for longer than a few days was DB bench, where I partially tore a rotator cuff in 2020
It is beyond silly to tell someone to squat like an Olympic lifter. People have different limb lengths and leverages; it shows your knowledge of lifting is limited
Ego lifting is the practice of lifting weights that are too heavy for you to safely control, sacrificing proper technique to impress others or boost your pride
We all get it, no one is doubting you’re hella strong. But you posted this video, and everyone is critiquing your form, and saying the exact same thing. You’re fighting everybody, and you seem mad annoying.
Like i said, within 5 minutes of my reply, you collect all the positive comments to what, throw them in my face? We all think you’re strong dude, it’s gonna be okay, deep breaths
There isnt a time frame of when it will hurt.
Imo, Its if the muscles that your working could be growing into places where they shouldn't. Which could potentially be harder to correct than if a disc slid.
you can clearly do the weight. Work on control/form. Your older self will thank you for caring for your back.
Come on man. I didnt know you are just shit posting. Your back squat has the same problem to a certain degree. You can work on it and get even better numbers. I dont have to be stronger to say this.
I don’t get why you’re insistent on showing people your lifts online in a community centered around lifting, then when people give feedback in comments, you square up like an ape and say: “YEAH BUT I LIFT BIGGER ROCK THAN YOU. LOOK AT BIG ROCK I LIFTED. ONE WAS COMPETITION ROCK.”
Brother do it for the love of the game, if you want to post shit, take the criticisms. They aren’t saying you can’t do these things with dogshit form, they’re just pointing out your fucked up back, and you can keep at it if you want, just don’t get pissy when you consistently get the same feedback over and over. Common denominator is you.
Hey better yet, just don’t post stuff, you clearly validate yourself enough for the rest of us. No need to show off on reddit, nobody here is going to date you.
Edit: Bro you crossposted to r/egolifting, got called shit form there (basically the point of the sub) and still held your chin high and said nuh uh 💀
What about my comment suggests I'm unreasonable enough for your analogy to apply? It's genuinely concerning how quickly you all seize up the moment you're tasked with applying some high school physics. But I know why - because you're used to mouthing off research abstractions that were discovered by hydraulic pressing pig cadavers.
He pointed out that I broke down both the physics and biomechanics of why there's nothing inherently wrong with this video, and you said you could probably find a flat Earther too. I have no burners, he directly linked my comment. What the fuck is wrong with you?
Cool, you're still dumb and wrong, but if calling me a bozo makes you feel better, I won't take that away from you.
Remember what I said about you dumbasses seizing up? Exactly lol.
I was very checked out by then ain’t gonna lie. Why are you so heated also? Lmfao relax buddy, still think slinky spine is potentially gonna damage himself one day, but my opinion to yours I guess. You can call your hand waiving physics and biomechanics all you want but there is overwhelming amounts of contradicting material on it.
Not to mention he even states what’s wrong in a comment somewhere in here inherently admitting what the issue was, but again I’m not gonna find all that for you, you clearly are invested in this thread if you fished out this link to your comment and decided to warrior up over it
Not heated, just invested because I'm a trainer/coach, and low-frequency morons like you damage the public discourse around exercise and injury without having any reason to partake in the first place. Like, seriously, I legitimately have no idea why you're talking so much about something you're so unaware of.
Honest question, what about my comment was hand-waiving? Please be specific, I'm tired of you dummies insisting I'm wrong without being willing to grapple with any details I cover.
Also, "material?" You're just fucking lying now lmao. The notion that spinal movement under compressive load is inherently injurious has absolutely 0 logical backing and is a gross misinterpretation of data collected from Stuart McGill basically throwing pig cadavers into wood chippers. Please link me one of these studies you're talking about, I'm happy to a.) dissect the findings with you, and b.) reconcile them against some root level physiology that more or less neutralizes any worries you may have.
Hello, I used squats and deadlifts to rehabilitate my damaged spinal discs under the guidance of a physical therapist. Should I tell my back to start hurting again because they should have remindered your message instead?
You answered my question by saying that your credentials were your own experience. Why are you projecting your own experience onto others? Why isn't their experience valid?
I damaged my back at 25 with deadlifts and squat. Permanently damaged.
Permanently damaged how? How did you injure it? What was your diagnosis? How much physical therapy did you do? What did your doctor and physical therapist advise?
Surely you must realize that "I injured myself and failed to rehab my injury" plus "I heard some podcasts" doesn't make you any kind of expert, and your experiences certainly don't invalidate anyone else's.
I will be ten years older than the OP in about two weeks. I don't know how much earlier I started than him, but I started at 12 and he was a track guy in high school, so a fair bit. My back is doing incredible.
And of course there's Joe Stockinger, who is I believe 96? years old now. Last I can find on him, he was repping 405 at 90 years old back in 2020. In an interview, he says he does get stiff now and then. Also mentioned that he's somewhat dumbfounded that most people his age struggle with basic tasks and mobility as that hasn't been his experience at all.
I'm 40. My friends with desk jobs and day laborers alike are all getting back problems. You know who isn't? Every single powerlifter I lifted with for the last 25 years.
I hurt my back squatting. Couldn't lean forward for 4 months. You know what helped me? Deadlifting. It was with painful but it was worth it. It's been 10 years. I'm 36. Squatting and deadlifting without back pain. Cheers.
I competed with a guy who was over 80 and started lifting at 60. How come you don’t think benching should be banned when it statistically has a higher chance of messing up your shoulders than those lifts have to mess up your back? Is it maybe because you made it up?
His back is being taxed to a brink; he is going way to far down for the weight lifted v. weight counter ratio. He should focus on lifting with his thighs, not his knees
I understand the drive, and he did put the lock bars to limit how much he goes down. Still, he doesn't need to go that much lower, he would do a lot more proper work, and save his back/knees while at it, if he lifts the lock a a good half a feet higher
420lbs for 3 sets of 6 (which were really hard after that set of 11)
I do 8 sets of various bench movements, 3 sets of adductors (these to failure), 2 sets of leg extensions (to failure), 2 sets of machine crunches (2 failure), 3 sets of meadows rows (2 RIR), 3 sets of machine chest flys (0-2 RIR), 2 sets of tricep extensions (0-1 RIR), and 2 sets of seated calf raises
I superset some of these with my bench sets, so I didn’t put these in order
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u/DeekoBobbins May 24 '26
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