Hey
I was doing regular "athletic" style squats at a gym yesterday and in the middle of the set, while being on the bottom of the movement, my hands suddenly gave way and the bar glided off my back and slammed onto the floor. Luckily im still a beginner and the bar was light (80kg), but it still peeled some skin off my lower back on its way down. And it still hurts :cuss:

The problem is that the squatting rack doesnt have any safety pins or cage onto which the bar would hang on to if my muscles were to fail, just a set of hooks at chest level to rest the bar to. Is it a bad idea to do squats at all in a set up like that or are there any technical tricks to safely get the bar to the floor if i happen to run out of fuel mid thrust?

Change the way you hold the bar.


Like that. When you run out of fuel -> drop down into a full squat, and open your fingers slowly. Shouldn't tear skin off.

Haha, I thought you meant you got INJURED, not scraped. Want a bandaid?

I was bracing myself for something like this!

But yeah, do some searching on Youtube for proper squatting technique, and you should see how to hold your elbows, hands, and shoulders to support the bar. Tuck elbows, pinch shoulder blades, and have all fingers and thumbs on the same side of the bar. etc.