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.
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.
Click
here to get your "Super Deadlift Bar"
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