squats question

[mlopres]

Hey guys, this is my first post, but I've been lurking the forums for about 6 months.

I'm also a newbie weightlifter, just kind of started around january.

My question is, im doing Squats, and I noticed that after I finish a set, my arms and shoulders are a bit sore from holding the bar. I fairly sure my form is correct, as I've worked with a trainer.

is the soreness from unflexable shoulders? or something else?

thanks.

[iko172202]

Originally Posted by mlopres

Hey guys, this is my first post, but I've been lurking the forums for about 6 months.

I'm also a newbie weightlifter, just kind of started around january.

My question is, im doing Squats, and I noticed that after I finish a set, my arms and shoulders are a bit sore from holding the bar. I fairly sure my form is correct, as I've worked with a trainer.

is the soreness from unflexable shoulders? or something else?

thanks.

I have very tight shoulders that are not very flexible and after a couple of sets of heavy squats I feel tight in the shoulders also. I wouldnt worry about it. But, look up a video on the net and make sure your form is in check to be safe.

[NFusion]

Adding mass to your traps can make it less painful on the shoulders

[Merk0135]

You'll get used to it.

[BiggerGuns=LongerDrives]

You may need to check your form as well, make sure the bar is more down on the back of the traps, in "the slot"

[Vplayer]

It could be a combination of things, mainly mechanics. We all have the same skeletal structure, but we all have different mechanics in the way we move, reach, and other things. A good example is walking: we all walk with the same two legs moving the exact same muscles. Yet everyone's walk looks different. Same with the rest of the body structure. Your issue could be flexibility, or even the type of muscle fibers. Or both. One of my friend's biceps muscles are such that he gets an extreme pump just holding the bar for squats. As a result, he hardly ever trains biceps, yet they are absolutely huge. He just won the overall novice at the Ronnie Coleman Classic if you want to look him up.

There's several things you can do, starting with something called resistance stretching. It's not static stretching, it's much much safer. Get a a little more flexibilty in there and if that doesnt do the trick, there's things you can buy like Dave Draper's Top Squat that will take your arms out of the equation. Just a couple ideas, bro.

[Rookeek]

You should check out if your form is correct here:

How to Squat | 36 Pounds.com

I think your shoulders and traps are a little weak so they it's natural they are sore a bit, as you strengthen them the soreness will go away...

[kovalaybolt17]

ya i used that faggy pad when i first started then i dropped that and after 3-4 squat days it felt comfortable.

[Meta]

Originally Posted by kovalaybolt17

ya i used that faggy pad when i first started then i dropped that and after 3-4 squat days it felt comfortable.

yeah, I used to use that thing as well. Once I got used to squatting without the pad it felt fine, just gotta position the bar in the right spot. now I just feel like the pad would feel weird, I couldn't even imagine uses that bullsh!t now

[JayFive]

Originally Posted by kovalaybolt17

ya i used that faggy pad when i first started then i dropped that and after 3-4 squat days it felt comfortable.

That pad annoys the hell out of me, it never felt right. I tried it once and took it off after that.

To the OP: I'd listen to the other guys here, it could be a number of things from not being flexible enough in your shoulders to your form being wrong or your traps being weak, tho that shouldn't be the case. You may unconsciously push with your shoulders or shrug when you do a rep too, it might not be noticable to an outside party but pay attention to it next time to make sure.

[mlopres]

thanks for the suggestions guys, I really appreciate it.

@Jayfive

Your comment about me doing an unconsious shoulder shrug, has got me thinking this might be the issue. Now that I think about it, as I do my squats I do tend to keep me shoulders very tight. I recall it being so bad that after I finished a set one time, my shoulders were so stiff that after I racked the bar, I felt like my arms and shoulders were stuck in the overhead position.

any ideas on how I should deal with this?

[JayFive]

Sorry I didn't reply to this earlier, just saw it. If you're still having issues with this, I would recommend that instead of holding the bar tight, you take a more relaxed position with it. You'll still want to make sure you have complete control of the bar but try not to visualize the bar as being held by your hand and more that your hands are resting on the bar. It's tough to figure out how to stop, especially when you don't know you're doing it. Just pay close attention to yourself while doing squats and maybe try a few lower weight reps to see if you notice it.