What's easier on the knees in the long term, low bar or high bar squat.

Wtf do u think?

-lightman, 2O1O, 2O11, 2O12, 2O13, 2O14



Low bar squatters tend to break parallel
High bar tend to go atg (if they're trying)

Low bar tend to be wider stance
High bar tend to be closer

Low bar tends to allow for heavier weights

All the factors can affect your knees
If form is good and you train within your means then knees should be ok.

The light squad will not approve but I'd recommend not going atg, forcing atg can cause breakdown of other parts of ur form.

If ur squatting for the sake of getting a big squat and keeping knees secure, break parallel with low bar

If you want leg development just do leg press ded fkn srs

- ayyylmao

i love you darkman but squat and leg press are two completely different movements.. can't just replace squats with it

5sure they are different but if you have vaginas on your knees and only want bigger legs for the sake of bigger legs, leg press >

try both
see how knees feel
profit

no bar

Experience has taught me this -> The bigger the rom the higher the stress.

HB atg put more pressure on quads/knees compared to hips/back for lowbar.

Simplistic answer: I really don't think it's significant enough to matter.

Longer; Mechanistically speaking, low bar squats will promote attenuated patellofemoral compression via requiring less knee extensor torque. This is mainly due to the biomechanics of the position, shifting the lever and allowing your muscles to produce less force for the required torque.
Overall, it may not matter in the end, as both hip and knee joints can tolerate extensive load.



To address this further I'll use this ignorant post to illustrate a point.

His observations are typically correct on the highbar/close stance & lowbar/wide stance. A closer stance will also promote the aforementioned mitigated compression & a wider stance will reduce shear.
So again, in theory low bar is safer for your knees, but I'm not sure if the difference is significant enough. In the long run it may definitely accrete though, seems plausible.

However, no one worry solely about the knees, pls pay attention to your spines too okay. Aka don't compromise form.

Recently switching from high bar to low bar, I would say low bar is a whole lot less stressful anywhere and I find it a lot easier to get low with it.

low bar