Got a question via e mail and wanted to share this topic with you....

Question: I own a small gym in St Louis and have recently added a few thick bars to my collection.  I had a new member ask me an interesting question the other day, he wanted to know what muscles were benefiting from using a thick bar that would not benefit by using a regular size bar.  

He also asked if you only used the thick bar, would that hurt him in the long run because he is a pitcher and a quarterback on his high school team.  I told him that I would ask someone with more knowledge than I had on the subject.

Please help

DeAndtre D.

Answer:

DeAndtre, great question my friend, and I respect your humility and willing to look elsewhere for answers! That is the sign of a true teacher, one who is always willing and looking to learn.

Using a thick bar will stress the hands, wrists and forearms to a greater degree compared to the regular barbell. Also, there are various sized thick bars. We have a 2" thick bar which is plenty big enough when using various pressing, rowing, curling and deadlifting movements.

We collaborated with INTEK Strength to create The FARM BAR - Details HERE

Should this athlete ONLY use thick bars? Absolutely NOT.

It can be done, but, I suggest utilizing a variety of barbells to stress the body differently.

Also, using only a thick bar will limit the amount of weight he can use in critical movements such as deadlifts and barbell rows.

I like to rotate our specialty bars for myself and our athletes on a regular basis. Some will say, YES! ONLY use a thick bar!

Again, that is not what is best for the athlete. Athletes also get bored quickly, so after 2 or 3 weeks of FARM Bar work, rotate to a new barbell. This works the body from all angles and reduces chances of overuse injuries and boredom.

The wrists, hands and forearms can be stressed through many tools and variations, thick bars being just one of them. I personally love using a thick bar when performing Deadlifts, Presses of all types and curls - sometimes adding chains to the deadlift or pressing variation as well.

We also perform floor presses, cheat curls and military press variations with a thick bar. See the FARM Bar Videos Below:

Your athlete will definitely notice a greater degree of grip strength and all around strength - improved grip strength boosts upper body strength so this is a WIN WIN.

With greater overall strength, power and confidence, his sports performance will improve as long as he is practicing his sports skills - they must all be combined.

I'm glad to see you're using thick bars and discovering the importance of hand, wrist and grip strength.

With FARM Bar training, we do work in the 1 - 5 rep range for the compound lifts.

For assistance exercises we go 5 - 10 reps.

Arms, 10+ reps.

Assistance work with The FARM Bar can be some of the below exercises:

Bent Over Row

Shrugs

Push Press or Military Press

Zercher Lunges

Zercher Carry x 100 ft

Curls / Reverse Curls / 21s

Wrist Curls of all types

Weak Hands = Weak Man.

Keep me posted on the progress of your athletes!

In Strength,

--Z--

OLD SCHOOL BODYBUILDING PROGRAM

DETAILS HERE