If you're wondering…
"What is the best lifting form?
"How do I prevent injuries in barbell training?"
"Is my barbell lifting technique safe?"
You're not alone, and we've got you covered.
The long-short of it is, barbell technique matters when:
✓ You're injured
✓ Your progress has stalled
✓You want to get as strong as possible
✓When you want to win a competition
Before we can answer the previously posed questions, we first need to define barbell lifting technique for maximal strength and muscular development, injury risk reduction, goal attainment, and longevity. We also must define the goals of athletes working with barbells.
What is Barbell Lifting Technique?
Barbell lifting technique is how someone performs a barbell lift relative to a movement model. And a barbell technique model gives us guidelines on how to perform a lift. The recommended stance, grip width, focal point, bar placement, and how to execute the lift are all part of the movement model and how it's adapted to the individual is the technique.
Think of the barbell lifting model as a starting point to base your technique.
Though we have models to judge movement off of, your barbell lifting technique is YOUR stance, grip width, bar placement, and how YOU execute the lift.
Your lifting technique won't be precisely the same as the model. Still, it's crucial to have a model to learn and then judge your movement to have purposeful and reproducible techniques from rep to rep.
Let's break this down by using the Barbell Back Squat as an example. There are various ways to perform the back squat. Differences in the barbell back squat may include where the bar is placed on your back, where you place your feet, where you look, and what you're doing with your hands.
However, some aspects of the back squat won't change from person to person to be considered the "back squat." These elements include the bar being secured in place by the hands somewhere on the shoulders on the back side of the body, the feet placed flat on the floor, and the lifter moving from the standing position to a point where the hip crease comes just below the top of the knee cap. However that happens is your technique.
Continuing with the example of the back squat, let's look a little further.
PRS Clinical Coach, Dr. Rori Alter, utilizes the Low Bar Back Squat as her squat of choice for competition and general strength development. She bases her squat on some elements of the Starting Strength Model but has adapted the intricacies of her grip, stance, and eye gaze to accommodate her body.
Rori utilizes a very narrow stance with her toes turned out about 60 degrees because of femoral acetabular impingement and pain. The more traditional Starting Strength stance position causes discomfort in her hips, so she has refined her technique to relieve pain.
While Rori uses a thumbless grip for the Low Bar Back Squat, her grip width and elbow position differ from the Starting Strength Model typically coached. This is because of shoulder tightness and elbow discomfort that results from trying to achieve a narrow grip with the elbows pulling down.
Other key elements of Rori's squat include an eye gaze glued to a point close to her on the floor and a more horizontal back angle maintained on the way down and up.
Comparatively, elite-level, world-class lifter, long-time friend, and competitor of Rori Alter, Chelsea Savit, uses a similar low bar squat stance and bar placement. However, her grip, eye gaze, and back angle vary drastically from Rori's. Chelsea uses a thumbs around and narrow grip, her eye gaze is forward, and her back angle is more vertical throughout the execution of the lift.
Despite the differences in the intricacies of their techniques, Rori and Chelsea are both performing the Low Bar Back Squat in the most optimal way for them to perform the barbell lift.
What does it mean to have optimal technique?
Optimal barbell technique means lifting the most weight possible while maximizing your strength and muscular development and reducing injury risk.
Optimal barbell technique does not mean lifting the most weight irrespective of injury risk and muscular development.
Optimal barbell technique also means the movement is repeatable and consistent from rep to rep. High variability from rep to rep means you're at a higher risk for injury and missed reps.
Optimal barbell technique also means you are without pain or discomfort, so you can regularly train the lift to allow for strength development.
Conversely, it is not optimal if you constantly have to remove the barbell lift you're trying to develop from your program because of discomfort, pain, or injury.
Though you use a movement model as a reference to develop your own technique, your technique won't look the same as the movement model. This doesn't mean it's any less optimal.
We all have different bodies, limb lengths, and movement abilities, so we can't expect all techniques to look the same.
Even if everyone's technique looks different, we can still determine what optimal technique is for the individuals by having guiding principles to describe aspects of an efficient and safe lift.
The 9 Elements of Safe and Effective Barbell Strength Training
At Progressive Rehab & Strength, we work with barbell training and powerlifting athletes from all walks of life with various goals, abilities, injuries, and medical histories. Over the years, we've developed a very flexible mindset regarding barbell technique and how to make it optimal for the individual.
We understand people may choose their lifting techniques based on specific models and preferences. Thus, we have devised a systematic approach to optimizing an individual's technique based on their model of choice and personal preferences.
Our approach to optimizing barbell lifting techniques encompasses nine elements that fall into two categories: Balance and Force Transfer.
These nine elements of safe and effective barbell training apply to any barbell technique or barbell lifting model and can help you optimize your strength and muscular development and reduce your injury risk. Together, these nine elements lead to better goal attainment and longevity in barbell training.
Why is Balance Important in Barbell Training?
Our bodies and the barbell create the body-barbell-system, which is how we interact with the barbell against gravity. Together with the barbell, our center of mass remains balanced when it's maintained within our base of support.
The base of support in barbell training is the front-to-back length and side-to-side distance between the outer portions of each foot and the area in between. In the bench press, the base of support is the area of the upper back in contact with the bench, and the middle of the base of support is directly over the shoulder joint.
The body-barbell-system optimally works:
→ When the bar moves vertically with or against the force of gravity.
→ When the barbell is maintained over the center of the base of support.
The above-mentioned is optimal because it eliminates the creation of any unnecessary moments of force that do not participate in moving the bar directly with or against gravity.
Any time additional moments of non-vertical forces are presented, our body has to work harder to:
→ Overcome the additional non-vertical force
→ Move the bar against gravity
→ Maintain balance
The more and more times we have to overcome non-vertical forces, the lower our ability to:
Lift the most amount of weight possible
Get as strong as possible
Complete a lift successfully
Recover from training
So now that we understand why balance is an essential component of safe and effective barbell training, let's dive into the four components of balanced barbell training and how they apply universally to all barbell movements.
Barbell Balance Element 1: Bar Path
As we mentioned, the most efficient bar path is a straight vertical line with the bar over the base of support (mid-foot). This is the path that will require the least work to move the bar during the performance of the lift.
→ Doing less work to complete the lift will correlate to lifting more weight, maintaining consistent technique, and reduced injury risk.
Barbell Balance Element 2: Joint Synchrony
Joint synchrony means synchronizing the unlocking and locking of the joints that are directly involved in moving the barbell, especially at the start and end of the lift. It also encompasses the limb segments moving at the same pace throughout the execution of the lift.
Using the barbell back squat as an example, joint synchrony means that the hips and knees unlock simultaneously at the same rate at the beginning and lockout simultaneously at the end of the rep.
Joint synchrony can also refer to the joint movement during the lift as we want to see the joint angles change at the same rate.
What we don't want to see as someone drives out of the bottom of a squat is the knees extending fast, hips popping up, and then finishing with a good morning. Instead, we should see the knees, hips, and back extend at the same time and rate.
Barbell Balance Element 3: Joint Neutrality
The joints uninvolved in directly moving the bar up and down against gravity are stabilizing joints. They function to stabilize the barbell either against the body or in the horizontal direction so the most amount of energy can be expended on moving the bar against gravity.
Joint neutrality refers to keeping the joints uninvolved in moving the bar in an as neutral and stable position as possible.
This will:
Reduce the amount of static load on joints and muscles not strong enough to actually move the load.
Reduce the amount of horizontal bar motion or rolling.
Stabilizing joints should start in as neutral a position as possible based on the individual abilities of the athlete and keep them motionless and stable while the lift is being performed.
A typical example is the bar/hand interaction in the barbell back squat. In the barbell back squat, the hands should function to stabilize the barbell on the back without allowing it to roll in any direction while the lifter is performing the lift.
We see so many problems arise because of the interaction of the grip and bar in the barbell back squat. Some common issues we see as physical therapists and barbell coaches include:
Wrist pain
Elbow pain
Bar bite
Humeral stress fractures
Bar rolling up
Bar slipping down
These issues arise when the wrist or elbow presents with accessory joint motion in the squat though they do not contribute to the bar moving up and down.
The arms and hands function to stabilize the bar on the back in the back squat and are not strong enough to actually move the load. So when the wrist or elbow moves during the squat, it may cause the bar to move, unnecessarily loading the joints and skin of the shoulder and arm.
Barbell Balance Element 4: Eye Gaze
Our eyes and eye gaze have a powerful connection to our ability to stay balanced.
Don't believe me? Shut your eyes and stand with your feet together, and you'll start to feel yourself swaying. Feel the effects of eye gaze on balance just a little bit more by performing the last task standing on one leg.
Now try walking briskly and looking forward. Then abruptly change your eye gaze to the ceiling without stopping.
You catch the drift.
Because of the strong effect that our eye gaze has on balance, we want to achieve a couple of things with our eye gaze during our barbell lifting:
Pick a focal point within 3-10 feet of you and static. We don't want a moving target.
Focus on that point the entire time you're executing the lift.
Keep your eyes open.
This will enhance your balance and keep the body-barbell-system balance over the base of support to decrease any unnecessary forces. Thus you will be able to lift more weight, get stronger, and be at less risk for training fatigue and injury.
The other element of eye gaze is that it should be perpendicular to the line of the spine. This is to satisfy Barbell Balance Element 3, joint neutrality of the cervical spine.
If you draw a line from your eyes to your focal point, that line should be perpendicular to the line of your spine (creating a 90-degree angle with the line of your spine).
Now that we understand the four components of Barbell Balance Elements of safe and effective barbell technique, it's time to understand the five components of force transfer.
What is force transfer, and why is it important?
Force transfer is the ability of our body to create a system of levers with our different body segments and joints and move those levers optimally and maximally with our muscles.
Barbell Force Transfer Element 1: Rigidity
We've all heard it before: "get tight," "stay tight," and "squeeze." But what the heck does this really mean?
We want to create as much muscle tension as possible before and during the lift performance. If this is done effectively, we shouldn't see any other movement of our bodies between the physical act of initiating the lift and the bar starting to move.
Think of this visual: You're trying to move a small stone with a pipe cleaner. The pipe cleaner bends a little bit before the stone actually moves. Now you're attempting to move the same stone with a pen. The stone moves immediately. Why? Because the energy you put into moving the stone with the pen is transferred more quickly to the stone because the pen is more rigid than the pipe cleaner.
Creating more muscle tension and reducing extra movement in the body-barbell-system improves force transfer from your body to the bar and helps maintain all the balance elements discussed above.
Barbell Force Transfer Element 2: Breathing
Breathing is a critical aspect of barbell training, but it's often overlooked or overemphasized.
How you breathe matters, and your breathing should be intentional, but it's not as complicated as people make it. The intentional breathing pattern we create when we barbell train is the Valsalva Maneuver. We like to say it's "NASA."
Necessary
Automatic
Safe
Adaptable
The Valsalva Maneuver creates increased intra-abdominal pressure and core tension necessary to create rigidity in the core and across spinal segments to transfer force safely and effectively from our limbs to the barbell.
Contrary to popular schools of thought like PRI, 360 Breathing Techniques, or breathing into your belt, the Valsalva Maneuver isn't so complicated. In fact, we find it's actually taught incorrectly in those methods mentioned.
The Valsalva Maneuver is an automatic breathing mechanism that's an inherent part of our neuromuscular system.
We often hear that it's unsafe to hold your breath when you lift. You should inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up to stabilize your blood pressure and reduce your risk for a vascular event.
However, in the absence of systemic coronary artery disease, blood pressure regulation issues, or known aneurysms, holding your breath when you produce force against a heavy external load is a natural and automatic safety mechanism for your spine and cardiovascular system.
Lastly, like the rest of your body (bones, muscles, tendons, organs, neurological system, and even your skin-hello calluses), the Valsalva Maneuver is adaptable!
So if you're on an effective, optimal, and safe barbell training program, your cardiovascular system will adapt to the performance of the Valsalva Maneuver. Hence, we should train to get stronger so that when we are faced with helping our neighbor move a couch, we don't have an extreme cardiovascular event.
You won't stroke out when you hold your breath. The Valsalva Maneuver is a necessary, automatic, safe, and adaptable mechanism to lift heavy sh*t.
To learn how to do the NASA Valsalva Maneuver, check it out here.
Barbell Force Transfer Element 3: Muscle Utilization
Muscle utilization considers the biomechanical elements of the muscles and how we can utilize them to create the most considerable amount of force transfer on a physiological level.
From a physiological perspective, the muscle fibers will work best in the middle of the range of motion. When too lengthened, the muscle fibers cannot generate enough cross bridges.
Likewise, the same situation happens when the muscle is in a shortened position, and there is already a significant overlap of the force-generating elements of the muscles.
A great example is when the squat stance is excessively wide or narrow. The adductors are extremely stretched in the wide scenario, and the hip external rotators are significantly shortened. Therefore, they cannot contribute optimally to the movement. On the other hand, when the stance is very narrow, and the toes are pointed very forward, the adductors are significantly shortened. Therefore, they also cannot contribute optimally to the movement.
So when we are considering what stance or grip is best for someone, we want to consider what provides the best length-tension relationship for the muscles involved in moving the load and involving all contributing muscles as best as possible. Generally speaking, excessively wide and excessively narrow grips and stances are not optimal for muscle utilization and thus strength development and hypertrophy.
Lastly, we want to consider what range of motion is appropriate for the optimal development of muscle strength and injury risk reduction. At the turnaround point of any lift utilizing the stretch reflex, we want to go just to the point where we can maintain our position and tension on the muscle as best as possible.
We understand this is not the same as shortening the range of motion for competitive purposes, but we encourage you to consider the risk/reward and long-term sustainability of joint health.
Barbell Force Transfer Element 4: Range of Motion
In barbell training and powerlifting, we often see three things:
People try to use the shortest range of motion for a competitive advantage.
People use the longest range of motion like ass to grass squats (ATG) or flat back bench pressing because they think that's best.
People perform an incomplete range of motion movements to increase time under tension or because they just don't know or realize they aren't optimizing their ROM.
While these things have their place and time in a barbell training program, they should not be utilized with the main strength movements because they do not:
Strengthen the most muscle mass through the greatest, most effective, and most efficient range of motion.
Effectively utilize the stretch reflex when appropriate, which allows the lifter to lift more weight, thus get stronger and reach their goals faster.
Provide momentary rest to the muscles and tendons, which reduces exposure to accumulated fatigue and subsequent injuries to the muscles and tendons.
Barbell Force Transfer Element 5: Speed of Movement
With optimal barbell movement execution, we should aim to achieve a consistent movement speed from the initiation to completion of a single rep.
Since we love the squat as an example in this article, let's roll with it for a moment. The rep has been initiated when you break at the knees and hips. You should maintain the same tempo or speed of movement through the bottom and lockout. We don't recommend speeding up into the hole or the lockout, as this can often lead to loss of tension or movement beyond the intended range of motion.
Moving too fast can lead to a loss of tension, bar path deviations, sub-optimal muscle utilization, and deterioration of the first 8 elements listed here. And moving too slowly can increase time under tension beyond the program's intention, leading to increased fatigue accumulation and stress on the muscles, tendons, and joints that we don't need to achieve the desired results.
Even if increased time under tension (TUT) is written into the program, we recommend you maintain the same tempo throughout each leg of the lift and don't increase the TUT beyond six seconds.
This means that if the tempo is a 3-0-3 tempo, you should not speed up in the last ¼ of the descent into the hole and not speed up the last ¼ of the ascent into the lockout. These are common mistakes we see people make and often uncover when dealing with low back or hip pain in the squat.
Understanding the Importance of the 9 Elements of Safe & Effective Barbell Strength Training
These 9 elements all affect one another, and a breakdown in one can lead to a breakdown in the others. While these are all separate aspects of barbell training technique, they exist together when the barbell training technique is optimized. Also, correcting one of these elements can improve others.
Whatever the movement model for a lift, if you aim to achieve these nine principles of safe and effective barbell training, you will develop your optimal technique.
To answer the question of whether technique matters, we also need to understand the goals of training. Optimal technique will help you move more efficiently, but why does that matter? What's the end goal?
The 4 Core Goals at Progressive Rehab & Strength are to:
Maximize strength and muscular development
Optimize goal attainment
Reduce the risk of injury
Promote longevity
If we consider the 4 Core Goals and understand the laws of physics, we can say that technique does matter. Regardless of your goals, your optimal technique will be the same, and you should consider these nine elements.
Efficient movement will help you lift more weight, but it will also help you rehab an injury and reduce your risk of injury in the future.
Even if you aren't a powerlifter and never want to be one, developing optimal techniques will help you stay healthy and continue to train long-term.
Ultimately it doesn't matter what your technique is (super-wide stance, round back, looking up) as long as you're consistent. The most important aspect of technique is reproducibility from rep to rep, set to set, and load to load, as everything is adaptable, but not everything is optimal.
Barbell Training Technique Matters Most When:
Your strength development stalls no matter what you've adjusted in your program
You're in a strength lifting or powerlifting competition and trying to win or set personal records
You're recovering from an injury or surgery
You care about reducing your risk for injury or "injury prevention."
If you'd like to learn more about our opinions and theories on barbell training techniques and if it matters, check out Episode 4 of the PRS Podcast.
If you're struggling with technique, getting stronger, or injuries, join our Secret Society of Barbell Mastery on Facebook for free form checks and support with your training and injury questions.
If you're interested in furthering your knowledge and expertise in Barbell Strength and Powerlifting Coaching using a sustainable training and injury risk reduction approach, join the waitlist for our online programming and technique courses here.