Low Bar Squat Elbow Pain

I have recently switched my squatting technique from high bar to low bar due to it being easier on my lower back. Since doing this I have experienced pain in both elbows. When doing low bar squats I have a wider grip on the bar and my elbows are out behind me (not under the bar or too high).

Has anyone had this and fixed the problem? If so how did you do it? I just wondered if anyone had similar experiences before I paid for a specialist to look at it. For now I am going to go back to high bar squatting but ideally I want to do low bar!

Yes, I’ve had two differnent kinds of elbow pain from low bar Squatting as well as some shoulder pain. A lot of it is due to a lack of flexibility in the shoulders.

The most common pain I’ve had is at the medial epicondyle, where the flexor tendons insert. I get this pain if my shoulders are tight, and I pull my elbows under the bar. I always try to pull my elbows forward because it keeps me in a more upright position, but if they are killing me, then I don’t pull them as far forward, but make sure I squeeze my scaps together even more than normal. I’ve found that massaging the affected area helps, and I ice my elbows after every session regardless of pain. Advil will be your friend as well.

The other pain that I got was a sharp pinching pain, and then some pretty decent inflammation in just on elbow. I think I got the bar a little low, and should have reset before starting to Squat, but I did the set regardless. For the next few weeks I had to switch back to high bar on the lighter sets, and then just bear the pain on the heavier sets. I iced 3-4 times per day until this was resolved, and mega dosed the anti-inflammatories as well.

In a nutshell, I think a lot of it stems from flexibility issues, and much of it from the shoulders. However, I’m sure working on stretching the wrist flexors would be beneficial as well.