Hi, it’s Jennifer. Today I want to talk about how to manage a barbell when you’re using a rig to do something like back squats. And just how to set that up so it all goes smoothly.

So the first step is getting the barbell at the right height. You don’t want the height that is resting it in the room to be exactly where it rests on your shoulders. Otherwise, when you stand up and try to back out of the rig, it’s gonna get caught on the J-clip. If it looks like it might be one level too high you’re gonna take your J-clip and put it a little bit lower. You want it to come up to  the end of your armpit crack. Okay, so now the barbell is sitting lower than where it’ll sit on your shoulders when you do a squat.

Then find a good place to start in terms of grip width. There’s usually like a little texture change on the barbell. I like to put my thumb on that texture change, and then just wrap your hands around it from there. Everyone will be a little bit different in terms of how tight toward your body, feels comfortable. Versus out away a little bit more depending on your shoulder mobility.

So then when you get under, you’re gonna get yourself lined up under the bar, and then just stand up and take one step back with each foot to begin your squat. So you get your hands set. go under, stand, and step back. One right step back,  one left, and then you’re ready to squat.

To put the bar back, a lot of people walk forward and try to set it down side by side. It’ll go a lot smoother if you just walk until you hit the uprights of the rig. And then let it slip down into the J-clips.

So all together one more time. J-clips are below your shoulders. Get your hands set. Get under the bar. Stand up. Step one, step two, squat. Walk back until you hit the uprights. Slide the bar back down.

That just smooths out a lot of the transitions and stuff when you’re using the rig. Hope you found this video helpful.