Why "Chest Up" is NOT a Good Squat Cue

Follow me on Instagram - www.instagram....
Coaching and Free Programs - www.brazosvall...
Apparel - teespring.com/...
SBD Affiliate - us.sbdapparel....
RepOne Velocity Tracker - repone-strengt...
MacroFactor Affiliate (Code "Woolson") - www.strongerby...
PR-Breaker Affiliate - www.prbreaker.c...

[@itsr0bin639]

I love when you ask "right?" so happy and i have no idea :D

[@hakarl_]

When I saw the title, I thought I wouldn't learn anything new here, but seems that there's more nuance to this than I thought. One common cue seems to be "bending the bar" or "wrapping the bar around yourself", which I think is meant to cue scapular depression without much retraction. To me, when I'm able to brace my abdomen well, it feels like I'm able to transfer force better into the barbell that way. I'm not sure how much of that position I can legitimately maintain in the bottom of the squat, but maybe it's helping to fight for maintaining a more neutral position during the ascent. Some things to consider here!

[@raizan6564]

I used to just "squat" like anyone would who doesnt know , and used to just drop ajd bounce out of the hole. Hurt my knees, looked for info, found advice to que chest up sit back. Did that fir a while, and knees didnt hurt for a while, till i sprained my back doing that, after almost 3/4 months with my squat stagnant. Then found more nfo from this channel, and others, and started queing abs tight, sit straight down, and heavy feet. Thats helped me a lot, no knee pain, even on high bar squats. Well, the knee pain was a tight hamstring/calf issue anyways

[@creamofthecrop5868]

I switched to low bar squats and your ques with bracing feel so much better. Using these with high bar did not feel great anywhere

[@armandtonga4501]

Underated video, learning so much valuable information for free. My low bar is definitely fixed now, thankyou!! ❤

[@BrandonRodriguez-gw5bg]

Great video. I really dislike the tight back cue. I use to cue this and I had so many problems maintaining tension and balance at the bottom. Started cueing shoulder depression and still felt stable in the back and felt way better in the hole.

[@user-fl5lr1nm5v]

Excellent!

[@giovannisoave9634]

I had terrible bar path. The bar would always pass my toes, until I started to use 'chest up'. So worked for me.

[@ramasaputra6205]

i had my senior coach gave me the que to puff my chest out when im doing low bar squat, and i get immediate back pain and my squat felt soo much heavy.. Now i understand why. its hard when my senior coach just dont understand that to me Neutral posture is more suitable for my frame. She was a powerlifting athlete from the 90s so i reckon the que chest out was from around that time also. Now whenever she told me the que again i just simply ignore her and nod "oh yeahh i forgot about it, sorry coach" and continue with my Neutral posture Squat.

[@erude13]

How do you cue to prevent losing a neutral back towards anterior in a high bar squat? I agree with you as far as low bar. If a chest up cue causes you to hyperextend your back like you show in the videos then there are more problems.

[@chaseruhmann3542]

Check my history…I’m not a KZbin commenter. I’ve shared this video 3 times and watched it twice, myself. Fantastic content. Thank you.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

I don’t know how to check your history, but I believe you. And I appreciate it!

[@wick3dwick]

Great video as always. I think that "chest up" is a misunderstood cue. You go over intentionality a bit. I find that cuing "chest up" at the start of the ascent can help people who have chest fall due to lack of intentionality, and not any particular muscular weakness. Alternatives to "chest up" are "initiate by pushing your back against the bar", and my personal favourite "throw the bar off your back", since it comes with a funny mental image. You mention the eye position cue, which is also valid, but in my experience usually just makes people (usually beginners/newer trainees) crank their neck up.

[@BurlyBaboon]

Does this apply to high bar as as well?

[@Emresinho]

I only knew this cue when going up again. So i assume that’s still ok when collapsing in the upper back to cue with chest up. Correct? (With having the correct form when going down the squat)

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

I’m going to assume you watched the whole video here, but many of the reasons your chest is collapsing just aren’t what people think. I would look at how well you are maintaining your center of mass first and then yes, we absolutely want to fight against the bar. But we don’t want to move away from our original braced position.

[@Emresinho]

@@BrazosValleyStrength jep basically talking about the cue to get there where it was when going doing. Thats why i was a bit shocked when i read the title (as said i didnt know the cue exists for the whole movement). Love the stuff 🫡💪 thx

[@threebythree855]

Is it still good to retract the shoulder blades to create that shelf and that stable position for the bar during the setup?

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

You should probably watch my how to low bar video. But no.

[@threebythree855]

@@BrazosValleyStrength yea i'll go watch it, thanks!

[@creamofthecrop5868]

Ok i need some advice about this. I tried using this neutral back - ribs down style squatting for 2 weeks and my squats started getting a little bit weaker each workout, also did notice my lower back being a little bit more pumped then usual. Now im back to using my old style of squatting with a very slight anterior pelvic tilt maintained throughout the lift and my squat strength is going up again. i am also a highbar squatter somewhere around my newbie stage. Did i do the neutral back style wrong? Or is it possible that the slightly extended squat position works better for my body?

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

I really can’t say without seeing these things

[@fdhfghfgrhrrth]

I think it depends on the degree of extension. You’ll see almost every elite squatter have some amount of extension in the back. But a lot of the time chest up will cause people to try and be too upright so they overextend and deleverage the legs.

[@SDPlissken03]

CoTC, Just an idea, but if you're a high bar squatter and feeling less power and a lot of lower back pump with this cue, try filming yourself from the side. It could be that when you're bracing ribs down and focusing on that out of the hole, the bar may be pitching forward a little past the middle of your foot. Not as noticeable low bar, but if you're high bar, that's a longer lever arm and more torque on your erectors. May just take some time finding your balance and keeping your lats tight the whole time. Just my two cents.

[@creamofthecrop5868]

@@SDPlissken03 I switched to low bar and my low back is even more pumped now

[@SDPlissken03]

Gotcha. Maybe try filming yourself and looking it over? Do you think you're in a fair amount of extension when you descend or ascend? My back used to take a bit of a beating until I really focused on pulling my ribs down and engaging my lats because my abs were able to assist more in bracing. At first, it felt very very awkward, but my bar path, balance and power/speed out of the hole have improved. I'm not a coach, so maybe submitting something to Dave or requesting some coaching would help, but when I had similar back issues, it was because my erectors were doing most of the stabilizing.

[@stevenn8888]

nice vid

[@run3ycb0w]

Can viewers send their squat videos in for you to critique?

[@ElijahG98]

Good stuff. I'm not a powerlifter, just a basement dweller who would like to get less shitty lift numbers. These videos are really good. I suck at squatting. I just cant get everything to feel right. My knee will be clicking, my back will feel wrong at the bottom, etc. I've even thought of if I need more heel incline to be more upright. So next time I squat I'll try this out, I may be having some of the issues you mentioned. Feel free to make a SSB squat video. I SSB squat because my elbow sucks so I cant currently barbell squat. But I just cant figure out how to use it well. I see all kinds of different SSB squats. some look like front squats with super upright torso, far knee travel. Them some people do liek a lowbar wit ha lot of hip movement and leaning forward. IDK which to do.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

I have a SSB video.

[@ElijahG98]

@@BrazosValleyStrength Oh sick, I'll check it out thanks

[@dawsonboyd7229]

I’m more of a ribs down type of squatter. I know that’s not a good way of saying it but you know what I mean.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

That’s exactly what I’m saying.

[@popaclutch7378]

Why is your grip so uneven?

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

I don’t know

[@iampandatye]

@@BrazosValleyStrength LMAO SO REAL

[@michaelroskellpl]

Think all these cues are very old school and have just never gone away from the equipped days. Makes sense to ‘sit back’ and keep the chest up when you’re squeezed into a squat suit. Not so much when you’re trying to just move your body as efficiently through space as possible without that help.

[@tpap6827]

I agree because i want all the brace kiw un the torso. Chest uo encourages a skim waust and vreathung unti the cgest so fbe transfer if dorce into the bar from the fkoir ro the bar siaiopatwa, through the lower body ro the reynkt. PP I for me the squad is not simply a lower body lift but an example of being able to minimize any Force dissipation from driving through your ceet NCAA quads hamstrung abductors and then through the trunk which should provide 360 degrees thanks for abdominal pressure that surrounds the spine so that you have the widest possible Base stabilizing the trunk so they're all the force goes directly into the bar that balance to blow on your upper back in your rear delts. Chest up causes your body to pitch forward because you end up with your chest having more pressure in it abdominals obliques aoinal erectirs that are going to treat the top of your trunk including the point of the upper back that is making contact with the bar show me the force vector is in a straight line.. in every heavy barbell force of gravity is acting pulling a straight down to the floor to all of Nerf wars and all the muscle and leverage that you have should be direct underneath the bar working in concert to keep the bar moving upwards explosively like a piston. That's why I never subscribed to that S curve bench press.

[@drinkinouttacups2665]

Nerf wars?

[@NotSoLiberal]

I feel like I reached that conclusion on my own

[@hueyyang10]

Imo the tight back cue is a good one granted the person already knows how to brace and properly depress their shoulder blades. The general person learning to squat will probably will not understand most of the technicalities talked about in this video. But the chest up cue is so shitty.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

What does "tight back" add for you? What are you trying to get "tight?" Lots of cues can work. Shouting random words can work if it reminds someone to do something positive. But if you are saying retracting is good in the squat, I don't agree there.

[@hueyyang10]

@@BrazosValleyStrength by tight back i mean, creating a strong stable position for the bar to rest on. This will differ depending on the person's build, leverage and mobility. Some people may want to stay wide with a wider grip, some more tight with narrower grip. But the end goal from what I've earned and trying to teach the average gym goer is to create a tight and strong shelf to minimize shifting of the angle in the back while squatting.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

Well sure. All of that is true. But it’s super vague. We need to be a lot more specific in what we are trying to feel and create. And really this my main issue with “tight back.” There is way too much it could mean. You could equally just yell “get tight.” It doesn’t mean much. But it sounds right.

[@hueyyang10]

@@BrazosValleyStrength I understand where you are coming from, however there are levels to this right. To someone who hasn't powerlifted for a good amount of time would have no clue what "get tight" means. While the more experienced and intermediate and even advanced will and they know what getting tight entails for them. Appreciate all your knowledge and advice btw.

[@anthonydeblonde2777]

Yo Chest Up doesn't mean head up, you should look at normal curves of the spine during a mvt. Chest Up is for thoracic extension and not cervical extension.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

I would so much rather the head be up than the chest be up. Sounds like you didn’t watch the video

[@bbszabi]

This is one of the reasons I like the Starting Strength style squat technique: chest out and pointed to the floor.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

I think you may have really misunderstood what I was saying if you think starting strength and I agree here.

[@PRsPerformance]

@@BrazosValleyStrength I'm with Szabolcs here, definitely got really strong starting strength vibes from this video, so much so that I ended up watching it 5 times over while drinking a gallon of milk.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

:(

[@l8zycool]

Not a good cue if your chest is almost parallel to the floor.

[@HannibalBarcaRTW]

TLDW: you're low bar squatting

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

I have no idea what this is meant to mean.

[@HannibalBarcaRTW]

@@BrazosValleyStrength Your thumb nail has a dude wide hip stance low bar squatting saying "CHEST UP?" well it would be wrong to tell that type of squatter chest up because of his position in the squat.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

Seems like you should watch the video there fella. Or not. You got this locked down already.

[@HannibalBarcaRTW]

@@BrazosValleyStrength ok I will

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

What I’m saying is not just for my squat style (that’s me on the cover) but for all people. Including high bar squats.