Squat Grip....success at last!

[bridgetown]

After doing the 5x5 for 3 months my wrists started to hurt after every squat because of the increased weight and because I had a bad grip. I was wrapping all 5 fingers around the bar and letting my wrists roll back and take some of the weight. A friend in a different city pointed out that Mehdi suggests a thumbless grip. I tried the thumbless grip without success. It felt awkward and uncomfortable. I also posted on this forum about my inability to get the thumbless grip down. Some awesome members explained that I should be pressing the bar with my palms and supporting the weight entirely on my back. They also mentioned I should be doing shoulder dislocations.

I tried without success for a couple weeks to get the new grip down but ended up frustrated and with a sprained lower back. I was so concerned with my grip I must have bent my back and let the rest of my form go to hell. This kept me out of the gym for about a week. After watching several videos on YouTube and failed attempts at the gym I finally figured it out last night....Success at last!

What was different this time was that I got under the bar first and let my hands fall naturally. Before, I was concerned with my hands being equal distance apart on the bar and wouldn't move them when I got underneath the weight to lift off. Even when I would grab the bar with a thumbless grip, the second I put the bar on my back my wrists would automatically roll back. This may sound obvious and simple to a lot of people with more experience, but it caused me great grief and glad I finally have it down. Hopefully this may help someone with similar problems. Also shoulder dislocations make all the difference in the world and I do them before and in between reps.

Thanks to the guys who responded to my first post and thanks to Mehdi for provided such great content for free!

Sean in Portland, OR.

[Gommle]

I try to not use my hands very much.

I force myself to keep all the weight on my back by pressing downwards with my WRIST, not upwards with my palm.