Hi,
I know for low bar squats you should initiate the movement with the hips, as if sitting on the toilet. But what about high bar squats? Do I still initiate the movement with the hips?
Thanks
My 2c.
That's one only school of thought re low bar squats. Keep on mind a lot of powerlifting articles are catered towards ultra-wide slow squatting style.
Hips first probably works best for squatters with this style of squat, and lifters who are able to keep their shins vertical. But low bar squats =/= wide stance slow squats.
For the narrower, fast descent style low bar squat, bending at the knee helps maintain balance.
My coach teaches to initiate low bar squats at the knee, then once the knee is in the right position relative to the toes, accelerate drop the hips back and down into the hole and punch fast reversal on the way up. The thinking is that if you bend furst at the knees, the hips have no choice but to follow anyway. The point is to get the knee in the right position high up in the squat, then don't let the knees move during the bottom part of the squat and let the hips do the work.
If all you do is break at the hips with a narrower stance, the weight of the bar has to go forward, ie good morning. The knees have to bend if the bar is to stay weighted over the middle of the foot. This isn't so much of a problem using a ultra wide squat stance, because shins close to vertical is more balanced, so hips first makes more sense as a cue.
The other problem with bending at the hips first with a medium-narrow stance is that the balanced knee position doesn't get established at the top of the squat, and the knees end up sliding forward at the bottom. If you do this, then you lose hamstring tightness and rebound.
Rippetoe also teaches knees first, then sit back and down. He also advocates the medium-narrow stance.
Different cues work for different people and different squat styles.
But I think generally the more knees forward your squat is, the more useful initiating with the kness will be.
High bar squats generally necessitate a more knees forward position to maintain balance, so I think you should try initiating with the knees and see how that feels.