The Tibialis Anterior muscles are the unsung heroes of calf and ankle training.

Which is not surprising given that calf and ankle training is something that most people RARELY ever even do!

When people DO train calves, they generally focus on either standing calf raises, seated calf raises or donkey calf raises. These exercises all involve extension of the ankle joint (i.e. pointing the toes/straightening out the ankes as you come up on your toes).

However (and this is especially critical for athletes), for optimal strength and joint stability as well as injury prevention (I'm looking at you shin splints), you NEED to train ankle dorsiflexion as well, which is a fancy way of saying pulling your toes up.

This works the tibialis anterior muscle on the front of your shins, which helps achieve more strength balance in the joint.

And the best way to work that movement is with a Tib Bar... such as the Tib Bar from Trainnox.

 

The tibialis anterior bar is not a new concept in general but you're going to find out how the Trainnox Tib Bar stacks up and what OTHER incredible exercises it can be used for!

 

Get your Trainnox Tib Bar Here (5% off with this link!)

 

 

What does the Tib Raise look like?

The primary purpose of the Tib Bar is to do Tib Raises. I like to do these seated on a bench with my legs basically at the top of a leg extension. I find this gives me a good stretch and a strong contraction.

Your toes hook under the padded arms and the soles of your feet sit on the bottom arms. With the long weight post out front, this creates the leverage to give you resistance.

Then just pull your toes up and back.

It's a very simple exercise and highly effective for working the tibialis anterior muscles.

 

What other exercises can you do with it?

Because of it's unique shape and adjustability, you can do a LOT with this bar. I go into these in more detail in the video above.

 

1. Leg Extensions

 

2. Leg Curls

 

3. Leverage Top Focused Curls

These give you a shot of leveraged rotational resistance once the bottom posts contact your forearms. Killer top-range tension on the biceps.

 

4. Leverage Top Focused Preacher Curls

 

5. "PowerPohl" Zercher Squats

This is one of the weirdest-looking exercises you'll ever do, but it's FANTASTIC for developing the glutes specifically for the locking out of the squat and deadlift.

The original equipment is called the PowerPohl.

I haven't had a chance to try out the original version (it works like an over-shoulder harness, not a Zercher like this), but I found that this version seems to be a pretty good analog to it.

I'll be doing a more in-depth look at this one in the near future.

And now you know why you'll get kicked out of most gyms for doing it...

But it is an AWESOME exercise for strengthening the glutes and core.

 

Anything else to be aware of?

This piece is solidly built...the frame is all steel and it comes with a sleeve that fits on the weight post to convert it from a standard size holder to an Olympic size holder very easily.

This means you can use whatever plates you've got.

When doing exercises that tilt the bar, I would recommend using TWO collars. It comes with one, but doubling up on the collars is going to help those plates stay on, especially if you starting using 100 lbs or more on any exercises.

 

Bottom line, this is an EXCELLENT piece of equipment.

I'm going to be using this thing a lot...all 5 of those exercises (beyond the Tib Raises) are extremely effective. To me, it's worth every penny for what you can do with it.

And yes...there will be more coming...

Get your Tib Bar here...(get 5% off with this link!)

 

 

 

 

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