Deep callous on back from squats.

Hello,

I am 50 yrs old, and have been squatting on and off, for circa 25 years,
with a standard olympic bar. I use 315 - 345 lbs for 1 or 2 sets of 10
reps. I have noticed a raised callous on my back, that my Wife, and
chiropractor notice quite prominently. My questions are:

1. Is this normal?
2. Will a bar pad help?
3. Can musclature in the affected area reduce/eliminate this callous?

I was doing hack squats, in place of squats. After about a month,
though, I found myself missing the "joys of squatting" and have started
squatting again. Any information, and/or comments would be appreciated.

Fatman Squatting, medics!! Fatman Squatting,

John

John wrote:
[...]

> <snip> squatting <snip> 25 years,
> with a standard olympic bar. <snip>
> noticed a raised callous on my back,
[...]
> 1. Is this normal?

Dunno.

> 2. Will a bar pad help?

Dunno.

> 3. Can musclature in the affected area
> reduce/eliminate this callous?

Dunno.

> I was doing hack squats, in place of squats.
> After about a month, though, I found myself
> missing the "joys of squatting" and have
> started squatting again. Any information, and/or
> comments would be appreciated.
[...]

So, there's no pain involved. It's just the callus you're curious
about?

What'd the chiropractor say about the situation? I've got calluses on
my palms from the knurling on various Olympic bars and even a callus
on my right hand near the wrist from the freaking mousepad (can you
say TOO MUCH "NEWSGROUPING"?), but never developed a callus from
squats.

So long as there's no pain involved then I'd say you're good to go,
however if it's a cosmetic thing, perhaps a dermatologist could give
you some good advice. Seems like you'll have to forego back squats if
that's what's creating/maintaining the callus. A pad might help, but
I'll bet you won't use the contraption faithfully - seems like it
would be a nuisance, right? And how exactly would your musculature
alter a callus? Build up your traps so you have a callus on each trap
rather than in the center of your back?

Seriously, best of luck with this concern.

My recommendations:

- Switch to leg presses, hack squats, etc. for a period of time to see
if the callus goes away or reduces.
- See a dermatologist for their feedback.
- Give the bar pad a shot.
- Get a tattoo on the callus that reads "Place Bar Here". (You'll
kindasorta be forced to lay off the squats while the tattoo heals,
too.)

--
Curt