The
"Super Deadlift Bar" Equipment Review
- Is it Effective?
Is the "Super Deadlift Bar" weight bar
a worthwhile training equipment investment or
are you better off with a regular straight bar
your deadlifts? Find out here.
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The
Barbell Deadlift is by far one of the most productive,
total-body exercises a person can do. But many people,
due to biomechanical, structural or sometimes even motivational
reasons, simply find the exercise too awkward or just
too hard or painful to perform properly. This takes
an extremely valuable exercise out of a person's training
repertoire.
The
"Super Deadlift Bar" aims to change that.
The question we're asking here today is: "does
it perform when put to the test?"
The Problem It Claims to Solve:
Let's
examine the mechanics of the deadlift and how the "Super
Deadlift Bar" works. When you do a regular barbell
deadlift, in order to minimize torque on the lower back,
you need to keep the bar as close in line to your center
of gravity as possible (this is the point in your body
where the combined weights of all your parts are balanced).
For example, when you're standing, your center of gravity
is (depending on how your bodyweight is distributed
and what your posture is like) normally just slightly
forward of the ankle joint.
When
the weight you're deadlifting is outside your center
of gravity, it exerts torque on the lower back during
the movement. Reducing this torque involves keeping
the bar as close to your shins as possible during the
first half of the movement until the bar clears your
knees.
Unfortunately,
keeping the bar close to your shins can also mean having
to drag the bar up your shins when using very heavy
weight. Speaking from personal experience, I've walked
away from numerous deadlift sessions with my shins scraped
and bleeding (even under sweat pants).
No
matter how close you keep the bar to your shins, however,
you'll never get it close enough to fully reduce the
torque on the lower back.
How the "Super Deadlift Bar" Works:
The
"Super Deadlift Bar" addresses this problem
by moving the bar out away from your shins but at the
same time moving the center of mass of the bar back
in line with your center of gravity. This is accomplished
with a bent-bar design that opens up the area right
in the center of the bar to allow your knees free movement.
The
bend in the bar allows you to basically stand directly
inside the bar, placing the center of mass of the bar
directly in line with your center of gravity.
This
configuration allows you to pull the bar directly up
rather than having to work around your knees and shins
as you pull the bar up. This purportedly eliminates
a significant amount of torque on the lower back during
the movement as the bar is able to stay in line with
your center of gravity all the way up.
Also,
pulling the bar straight up rather than having to go
around your knees may eliminate a significant loss of
upwards force compared to the conventional deadlift.
Practically speaking, it means you should be able to
lift more weight.
Does It Actually Work?
In
a nutshell, yes. In practical testing, I've found that
trainers using the "Super Deadlift Bar" were
better able to perform the deadlift exercise and maintain
far better lower back position as they performed the
movement.
The
result: using this bar allowed the tester to use heavier
weights with far less lower-back discomfort. The lifter
was better able to maintain the lordotic (lower back)
curvature of the spine during the lift, increasing the
safety of the exercise. It's important to maintain this
curve during lifting in order to allow the muscles of
the lower back to properly stabilize the spinal column.
A
very nice added benefit of the bar is that the neutral
positioning of the handles (palms facing in) completely
eliminated the tendency of the bar to roll as it's lifted.
This problem in the regular barbell deadlift is normally
addressed by using a mixed grip (one hand over, one
hand under). The technique, however, can lead to uneven
torque on the shoulders and the lower back during the
movement as well as rotation of the bar as you lift
it.
Gripping
with a neutral grip (palms facing into your body) eliminates
rolling and unbalanced loads on the skeleton and muscles.
One
thing of note about the grip on this bar, however, is
that you must be careful of where you place your hands
on the handles. If you grip the handles dead center,
the bar will have a tendency to tip backward (this is
due to the anatomy of the human hand). In order to work
around this, all you need to do is set your hands back
a little on the handles.
Summary:
Thumbs
up! The "Super Deadlift Bar" is very effective
for the purpose for which it was designed and I highly
recommend it if you are interested in increasing your
lower back and total body strength through deadlifting.
The bar is also very effective for performing shrugs,
lunges and bent-over rows as well.
If
you have any questions or feedback about the bar, feel
free to contact me at betteru@fitstep.com.
If
you are interested in purchasing a "Super Deadlift
Bar," you can do so directly from the company that
manufactures the bar using the link below.
http://www.power-systems.com/nav/closeup.aspx?c=17&sc=79&g=1535&src=Fitstep.com
