The Benefits of Specialty Barbells
In just about every gym you will see a standard barbell. It can be used for a multitude of exercises. However, some individuals may have limitations preventing them from using a standard barbell efficiently. For other individuals, they may want to increase the frequency at which they perform a given exercise but change a variable about it.
What Is A Specialty Barbell?
There are so many types of barbells out there. Specialty barbells are bars used to provide a different stimulus to a similar exercise. Users will often find that there is a learning curve with these bars, and at the beginning they may find them more difficult to use. But that is one of the benefits to a specialty bar. They will uncover your weaknesses in a given lift and force you into positions that will help you overall.
What Are The Most Common Specialty Barbells?
The most common specialty bar in gyms is the trapbar. This is a hexagonal shaped bar that you stand in and pick up. This allows individuals to work on their hinge or deadlift in a more comfortable position, which doesn’t restrict the knees from traveling forward.
Another bar would be the safety squat bar (SSB). This typically has padding that rests on the back and shoulders with handles set in the front. This allows individuals to take some strain off their shoulders and progress in their squat.
The third bar could be the multi-grip bar. This is a rectangular barbell with handles that run either parallel with one another or slightly angled. Most often used to supplement the bench press. This bar allows lifters to press with a neutral hand position, which could help take some stress of the shoulders.
How To Use Specialty Barbells In Your Routine
A great way to start implementing any specialty bar is to set aside a block of time dedicated to using one new bar for a specific movement. This should be a sufficient amount of time in which you can adjust to the feel of the bar and have enough time to build a comparable base to your main lift that you are working towards.
Another approach is to increase your frequency of an exercise while integrating the use of a specialty bar. There’s nothing wrong with squatting twice a week using a standard barbell. But it’s not uncommon to start feeling more stress than usual on your shoulder, elbows, or wrists. Sometimes the overuse of putting your body in certain positions can be problematic. In this situation, the use of a specialty bar could take the strain off the arms, and still allow you to keep your frequency higher on squats.
Why We Use Specialty Bars At Thor Strength Gym
We began using specialty bars as a progression to and from the standard barbell. The most common issue that we’ve seen is that sometimes individuals lack the mobility to get their arms back and hold the barbell during a squat. Depending on the lack of mobility, we’ve used either the duffalo barbell or the SSB bar. Typically, these bars are heavier than a standard barbell, and not everyone has the strength to use these bars just yet. In these cases, we’ve implemented the use of an axle bar in a zercher squat style. This allows an individual to strengthen their squat, while focusing on ways to improve their shoulder mobility as well.
We have found that specialty bars can be used as a great resource to work around injuries. The SSB bar and axle zercher squat are great variations to allow lifters to train with elbow, wrist or finger injuries.
The Bottom Line On Specialty Barbells
Specialty bars are a great way to strength train; whether it be used to supplement a barbell movement or to utilize while overcoming an injury or limitation issue. You can find speciality barbells at a specialized or a small boutique gym. If you’re looking to learn how to properly use any bars mentioned here, or how to start training more efficiently in general, contact us or come check out the gym to learn more.
