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After seeing countless people at the gym putting that bit of foam over the bar (the ****y pad as it’s often known) when squatting, it made me wonder
a) Is it safe?
b) Why do people do it when it’s more comfortable without it?
The thing I’m most interested in is the safety aspect. The way it seems to me from looking at people squat like this is that in order to get the bar onto your shoulders while the padding is there the trainee needs to have the padding pressed right up to the base of their neck, pushing it slightly forward which surely isn’t a good thing. Does anyone know if this increases the chances of neck or back injuries?
And to anyone that uses one, why do you do it? Did you start doing it just because it was there and everyone else did?
I must confess that I used to use one for the first few months of squatting and only used it because I thought there must be a good reason why all the trainers at the gym had their clients using one. Obviously I now see how silly that was and have the bar sat far further back behind my traps; as a result I’m more comfortable, the bar is more stable, my form is better and I lift more
I also used to the first couple times of squatting, but now i dont need to. A lot of people hold the bar high up on their traps and im not sure if thats really where your supposed to have the bar?
Iv been told (like you do) to have the bar as far down as possible, like below the traps. While where talking about squats im sick of the 1/8th squats ppl are doing at my gym. They look pathetic.
I've used the Manta Ray neck protector before, and had some good results. After a while, of course, I stopped using it because my neck had become stronger and more muscular, but I still see lots of guys at the gym using pads and other things.
The pad isn't safer. It brings the bar further from your body and decreases leverage, as you observed. People use it because they are ****ies . When people squat they rarely have good form anyway. So the pad is perfect for those who don't know what they're doing to continue to do what it is they don't know how to do.
I use a longated U-shape pad on the LB for front squats. WHY? Because I am most interested in the functional movement than I am with the stress at the point the weight is resting. To me it lessons the stress and tension on the muscle/skin where the weight is resting, and allows me to concentrate in performing the exercise correctly.
I have the same view with gloves. I am in the business of building muscle (and at one point in time, lowering BF), not building calluses in my hands.
I do not wear a belt though. Though with "some" individual goal seekers, there may be a reason, within my goal path, I want my entire body to feel the impact of the movement the way it was intended when performing it properly.
padding the bar with a front squat wouldn't hurt. With a back squat the pad will make it so the bar is held sort of away from the body and centre of gravity.
What you guys have said is exactly what I suspected to be true. I'm still the only person i've ever seen squat without one though, all the trainers at my gym get people to use them too.
they have the pad same reason cars have bumpers, some people rest the bar, on there spine. they move there head in such a way that it's ON the neck, over time or an accident this positioning can cause serious injury, if you continue to place the bar improperly. THAT is why or at least my conclusion. it is not for you guys...
edit: so take it off and go low.
What you guys have said is exactly what I suspected to be true. I'm still the only person i've ever seen squat without one though, all the trainers at my gym get people to use them too.
I thought Typhon suited my personality better.
When the gods first saw Typhon even Zeus hid in fear. Most people I meet for the first time are scared of me for a while so I thought the name suited me
I thought Typhon suited my personality better.
When the gods first saw Typhon even Zeus hid in fear. Most people I meet for the first time are scared of me for a while so I thought the name suited me
CCR was crap, it was just a couple of initials fom my old job and the first from my name, and like I said,Typhon is a mythical god/beast that sounds similar to me in personality. Look him up
. When people squat they rarely have good form anyway. So the pad is perfect for those who don't know what they're doing to continue to do what it is they don't know how to do. 
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