Improtant Hi Bar Back Squat Question

[OCG]

Are you holding the bar much with your hands? It seems like people do thumbs-around more and their elbows are more under the bar, so I assume some weight is supported there. No?

No. It's just with the bar sitting higher you can get your thumbs around the bar without it sitting on them or having to crank your wrists. TBH, the best way to do high bar is, set up low bar, then put the bar an inch or two higher. So everything is still nice and squeezed. I wouldn't bother pulling my elbows forwards or under or any of that silliness.

[cwd]

Are you holding the bar much with your hands? It seems like people do thumbs-around more and their elbows are more under the bar, so I assume some weight is supported there. No?

The bar is 100% held up by my traps. My hands are just balancing it there.

With low-bar, your rear delts present an angled surface under the bar, it wants to roll off when you are standing up. Your hands must press the bar tight to your back to keep it there. At the bottom, your delts are directly under the bar, but not at the top. Probably why newbies are afraid to stand up straight at the top.

With high-bar, your traps are directly under the bar at the top. At the bottom, your traps present an angle for the bar, and your hands need to stop it from rolling forwards. But it's not much force, because you don't bend over as much.

Actually, you can split the difference by putting the bar slightly further back on your traps, to minimize the tendency for it to roll at the bottom. Which is what I do.