@australianstrengthcoach: This is an extremely common issue when weightlifters learn the low bar squat for the first time. He has great mobility and can sit arse to grass easily. And this is necessary for high bar, Olympic lifting style squats. In weightlifting movements, (cleans and snatches) the goal is to be more upright which allows maximum knee bend where the hamstrings press into the calves. You sit as deep as mobility allows and rebound off that contact. This keeps the hips under the bar which reduces tension from the hips and places the load onto the knees, which is why weightlifters all have great quads. In a low bar squat, you want more involvement from the hips, and we do that by pushing the hips back which slightly takes the load away from the knees and more towards the hips which are a stronger structure. One of my go to cues when teaching low bar is combining “push the hips back” with a physical reference. I place my hand on the lower back and cue the lifter to drive my hand up. That instantly shifts the focus from quads to hips. The next layer is where the rebound comes from. Instead of bouncing when the hamstrings hit the calves, I cue them to feel the stretch around the hips, mainly the adductors, and rebound off that stretch instead of hamstring on calf contact. As soon as he drove my hand up and bounced off the end range tension of the hips, his squat got stronger immediately. The goal isn’t to cut squat depth. It will be less vertical, which makes it look like we aren’t going as deep, but instead of maximally bending knees, we aim to maximise depth at the hip joint.

Sebastian Oreb

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Region: AU

Thursday 18 June 2026 04:44:47 GMT