Going to War with the Straight Bar Back Squat
Josh Hezza- Jan 30
- 8 min read
Updated: May 6
Go on Admit it You’ve got painful shoulders and no hamstrings.
Going to War with the Straight Bar Back Squat
The question of the straight bar isn't just about the barbell itself - it's about the philosophy behind how you structure your training. As I've written in The Full Conjugate System and discussed across my ebooks, the key to long-term progress is not loyalty to a specific tool but loyalty to your own progress. If a tool is beating you up, stalling your lifts, or masking technical deficiencies, it's time to reassess its role in your system.
In reality, specialty bars and box squats provide a superior training effect for most lifters, reducing unnecessary wear and tear while simultaneously improving strength and performance. If programmed correctly, these variations can also aid in upper body health-benefiting lifts such as the bench press-by reducing accumulated strain on the shoulders, elbows, and wrists.
That being said, I understand that for many lifters, particularly those training in commercial gyms, the straight bar might be the only option available. If this is the case, it is even more crucial to incorporate other squat variations, such as front squats, tempo squats, and paused squats, to avoid overuse injuries and stimulate different strength adaptations.
This article explores why strongman athletes and powerlifters should rethink their approach to squat training, the role of Westside Barbell's methodology in maximising strength with minimal joint stress, and how they can intelligently reintegrate the straight bar in the weeks leading up to competition.
🔍 The Problem I See Every Week
I hear this constantly from lifters I work with - “Everyone in my powerlifting gym has shoulder pain.”
It’s not surprising when you look at what most of them are doing:
Squatting with a straight bar 2 to 4 times per week
Benching with no variation 2 to 4 times per week
Never training their pecs through a full, extended range of motion
Living with a tight pec minor and poor scapular control
Skipping the exact movements that would build shoulder integrity and resilience
These aren’t advanced issues
They’re basic problems
And they’re almost always caused by over-reliance on the straight bar and a complete lack of variation
It’s not just bad programming It’s short-sighted coaching And it’s one of the reasons why powerlifters burn out faster than they should
The solution isn’t to stop training hard It’s to stop ignoring the obvious signs that your system is broken
The Straight Bar: Overused and Overrated?
Conjugate training builds the squat through constant rotation, not constant repetition. The straight bar is treated as a tool of peaking, not of development. Strength is developed through variation, force production, and targeted assistance work - not from repeating the same pattern until your joints give out.
Joint Stress and Wear & Tear
The straight bar demands a high degree of shoulder mobility, which many lifters-particularly strongman athletes-simply do not have due to the frequency of heavy pressing in their training. This excessive external rotation places strain on the shoulders, elbows, and wrists, often leading to chronic aches or even acute injuries.
Contrast this with the safety squat bar (SSB), cambered bar, or bow bar, which offer:
✔️ A more natural arm and wrist position, reducing stress on the upper body.
✔️ Better engagement of the upper back and core, forcing lifters to maintain a strong, upright posture.
✔️ Reduced risk of aggravating pre-existing shoulder or elbow issues, particularly for lifters who bench frequently.
Westside Barbell and the Role of Specialty Bars
Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell revolutionised strength training by using specialty bars and accommodating resistance to develop maximal strength without the excessive wear and tear of straight bar squatting. Their system prioritised variation, ensuring that lifters were constantly targeting weaknesses rather than reinforcing bad movement patterns.
The argument for year-round straight bar use is that it is specific to powerlifting competition. While this is true, strength is not built through specificity alone-it is built through stress adaptation, variation, and recovery management. Specialty bars provide that variation while still developing absolute strength and squat mechanics.
💥 SSB: Reinforces upper back strength, improves squat posture, and allows for heavy loading with reduced shoulder strain.
💥 Cambered Bar: Introduces instability that forces greater core and bracing engagement, eliminating energy leaks.
💥 Bow Bar: Closest to straight bar mechanics, but with a shoulder-friendly camber-making it an ideal transition tool before competition.
💥 Marrs Bar and Spider Bar: These are excellent tools for reducing upper body strain while still challenging the lower body through heavy loads and maintaining posture.
The Role of Box Squats in Squat Development
Box squats are another underrated but essential tool in both strongman and powerlifting training. They build raw power and eliminate weak points in the squat by breaking the stretch reflex and forcing the lifter to generate force from a dead stop.
Why Box Squats Work:
✅ Eliminate the stretch reflex, making the movement more reliant on posterior chain power.
✅ Increase rate of force development, a key component of maximal strength.
✅ Reduce knee stress while reinforcing hip and glute dominance, critical for strongman events like stone loading, yoke walks, and heavy deadlifts.
Westside Barbell extensively utilised box squats, believing that training at different box heights allowed lifters to overload specific weak points, improve their squat mechanics, and develop explosive power that carried over to competition squats, deadlifts, and even pressing movements.
Box squats pair perfectly with specialty bars, especially the SSB or cambered bar, to create an ultra-effective squat training stimulus that carries over to competition squats without beating up the lifter in the process.
Additionally, assistance exercises like the belt squat are invaluable for building leg strength without loading the spine excessively. This is particularly useful for lifters recovering from injuries or managing heavy workloads.
In The Full Conjugate System, I pair box squats and good mornings across multiple 12-week cycles for a reason. This pairing develops both the concentric explosiveness and the hinge dominance that raw lifters and strongmen desperately need. Where straight bar squats overcook the quads and fry the shoulders, this pairing builds positions, power, and longevity.
The Myth of Specificity: Louie Simmons’ Rebuttal
One of the most pervasive myths in strength training is that specificity is the key to success. While specificity has its place in competition preparation, Louie Simmons famously argued that constantly repeating the same movement creates plateaus and overuse injuries.
Simmons’ approach at Westside Barbell demonstrated that variation builds strength far better than rigid specificity. By rotating through bars, box squats, and accommodating resistance, lifters could target weak points, build joint integrity, and improve overall performance. Specificity is only important in the final weeks of prep, not as the foundation of a training program.
Further, the outdated method of squatting and benching 4+ times per week often leads to burnout and reduced longevity in the sport. Instead, strategic variation combined with recovery-focused programming extends an athlete’s career and maximises long-term progress.
How to Reintroduce the Straight Bar for Competition
For powerlifters, the straight bar is unavoidable in competition, but it doesn’t need to be introduced too early. In a Conjugate-style framework, the return to the straight bar should be gradual and strategic.
A Progressive Approach to Straight Bar Reintegration
🔹 8+ Weeks Out: Primary squat training focuses on SSB and cambered bar work, paired with box squats.
🔹 6 Weeks Out: Begin incorporating bow bar squats, a shoulder-friendly alternative that still mimics straight bar mechanics.
🔹 4 Weeks Out: Introduce dynamic effort straight bar squatting, using accommodating resistance (bands/chains) to improve force output.
🔹 2 Weeks Out: Shift max effort squat work to the straight bar, now priming for competition-specific mechanics while maintaining accumulated strength from specialty bar variations.
If you're think oh aye sound I'd love to read more about how you'd peak for a meet actually that sounds canny then you're in luck our kid cos I've only written a whole book on it.
🧠 Coach’s Note: How I Decide When to Use the Straight Bar
In coaching powerlifters and strongmen, I look at:
Pain or joint restriction during bar placement
Inability to maintain posture during descent
Shoulder fatigue affecting bench training
If two of those are present, the straight bar becomes a peaking-only tool. If not, I might use it more frequently, but always rotated with safer alternatives.
This gradual transition reduces unnecessary joint strain while still allowing the lifter to peak effectively for competition day. Programming as shown in the attached “Squat Progression” chart is an excellent example of how to structure this build-up, incorporating progressive loading, bar variation, and volume control to maximise performance.
"Squat Progression Plan: Weeks 1-9 focus on building strength endurance with 5x5 sets at 50-60% weight. Transition to safety and bow bars in weeks 10-15. Circa Max method in weeks 16-18, leading to a peak performance on meet day with a goal of achieving a small personal record."
The Importance of Good Mornings and Assistance Work
A strong squat is not just about the squat itself. Movements like good mornings are vital for developing posterior chain strength, improving bracing, and reinforcing proper hinge mechanics. These are staples in Westside Barbell programming and should be included in your weekly rotation.
Additionally, assistance work such as belt squats, reverse hypers, glute ham raises, and split squats provide critical support for building a well-rounded squat. These exercises prevent weak links and reduce the likelihood of overuse injuries.
The Smart Lifter’s Approach to Squatting
The straight bar squat is necessary for competition but not necessary for year-round training. By incorporating specialty bars, box squats, and assistance work, lifters can reduce injury risk, improve strength development, and carry over gains to other lifts like the deadlift and bench press.
✔️ Powerlifters: Use specialty bars and box squats for most of your training cycle, then reintroduce the straight bar gradually in the final 4-6 weeks.
✔️ Strongman Athletes: Avoid excessive straight bar use in training-it does not have direct carryover to your sport. Prioritise yoke, stones, log press, and box squats.
✔️ All Lifters: Understand that optimal strength development does not come from specificity alone-it comes from strategic variation and intelligent programming.
💥 If your squat training keeps grinding you down - not building you up - it might be time to stop worshipping the straight bar. There are smarter ways to build world-class leg strength, protect your joints, and keep progress moving. You’ll find them in The Full Conjugate System, or you can work with me directly at www.teamjoshhezza.com/coaching. You do not have to break to get better.
This is how strong lifters train for long-term success. The question is-are you still wasting time with the straight bar year-round?
🚀 Going to War with the Straight Bar Back Squat
❗️"But It Doesn’t Hurt Me" — And Other False Comforts
After I first shared this article, I had a Masters lifter message me:
"Ok but if low bar squatting isn't uncomfortable for my shoulders, elbows or wrists, is it fine to do it year-round then?" "Isn't this just an argument for variation in general? Why not just do low bar and then throw in some other squat variations too?"
And here’s the hard truth:
Most powerlifters are not good lifters.
They’re sore, stalled, and burnt out. They copy programs from genetic outliers or PED monsters and wonder why it doesn’t work for them
Low bar squatting not hurting right now is not the same as it being optimal. The same way eating nothing but shit today doesn’t kill you - but keep it up, and the problems come
This is not about one exercise being evil. It’s about lifters failing to think systemically. And coaches failing to build frameworks that protect progress across time
If you’re asking, "But what if it doesn’t hurt me?" You’re still thinking short-term
The question is - does it build you for the long term?
The goal isn’t just to lift more
It’s to keep lifting more, for longer, without pain or breakdown
And that requires more than just adding variation
It requires using variation in place of movements that provide more cost than benefit in a given phase
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