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Weapons of Mass Construction

At EliteFTS, we carry an amazing diversity of barbells designed f or every conceivable purpose.

Whether youre working on a specif ic weak point o r youre recovering f rom an injury and cant use o ne

of our line of conventional barbells, our selection of bars will meet your particular needs. In this

roundtable discussion, we asked various Q&A members some of the best lif ters and t rainers in the

world about t heir f avorite bars and how they like to use them.

Dave Tate:

My Top 10 Bars

1. Texas Power Bar

2. Texas Deadlif t Bar

3. Texas Squat Bar

4. Safety Squat Yoke Bar

5. Multi-Grip Swiss Bar

6. Rackable Cambered Squat Bar

7. Fat Bar EZ Curl Bar

8. Fat Bar El Gordo

9. Rackable Spider Bar

10. Shoulder Saver Bar
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Kenny Patterson:

Fat Bar El Gordo. Believe it or no t, when we bench with this bar it helps take the pressure of f of my torn

rotato rs. I dont know why, but it does. I wouldnt be able to bench otherwise due to the pain.


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Jim Smitty Smith:

Bar:SS Yoke Bar

Exercises:

Squats

Good Mornings

Step-ups

Zercher Squats

Zercher Good Mornings

Zercher Rack Extensions (various heights)

Zercher Walks

Zercher Step-ups

Why I like it:

Its a form check, and it reveals weaknesses. The positioning of the bar forces you to have good form. If you

dip forward on squats , it will pull you down! You have to stay upright with good f orm. Also , the pad is really


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comfortable when you wrap your arms around it f or Zercher

movements.

Bar:Multi Grip Swiss Bar

Exercises:

Bench Press (various grips)

Floor Press

Incline Press

Tricep Extensions

Curls

Curl to Press

Military Press

Clean and Press

Straight Leg Sit-ups with Bar Overhead

Bent Over Rows

Grappler Press

http://www.viddler.com/explore/smittydiesel/videos/1/

45-Degree Retractions

Why I like it:

The neutral hand position helps keep the elbows strong and allows a f ull lockout f or overhead movements .

The dif f erent hand positions f it various lifters.
http://www.viddler.com/explore/smittydiesel/videos/1/


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Jim Wendler:

SS Yoke Bar

I love using this bar f or lunges and goo d mornings. Not having to put my hands on the bar and keeping the

st ress do wn allows me to do t hese exercises without compromising my bench press. When using a straightbar, I tend to place the bar lower on my back, which leads to using more weight (but more shoulder stress ). Th

SS Yoke Bar allows me to use a higher bar position, which taxes my legs more during lunges and hamstrings

during the good mornings.

Trap Bar

I love using this bar with people who are just learning how to lif t. Its easy to get them in posit ion and get them

to maintain that good lower back arch. A couple of sets o f 10 reps with t his bar will murder your traps, too . Th

is a great main lif t f or anyone looking to increase their lower body strength.


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Texas Power Bars (Deadlift, Squat and Power Bar)

These are a staple of any serious weight room. There are a couple of things you should never skimp on when

building your weight room, and the bar that you hold in your hands, over your f ace/head and on your back is

one of them.

These bars are built to last and built f or lif ting weights.

If you dont have these bars, get them now.

Josh McMillan:

Texas Deadlift Bar

I use this bar for all my deadlift workouts anything from st iff -leg deadlift s to traditional stance, platf orm

deads, and rack pulls. I like this bar for deadlift s, because if you get a goo d enough pull of f the bott om it will


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whip nicely, which helps out. I work this bar with my deadlif t movements into my program generally every other

week.

Rackable Cambered Squat Bar

Use this bar f or suspended cambered bar good mornings (suspended by chain at around 90 degrees). This ba

works great f or my suspended good mornings, and it really works your lower back, glutes and hamst rings. Thi

bar makes it tough because o f how the weight is distributed. I work this bar into my program every 3-4 weeks

f or heavy sets o f 3 reps.

Matt Kroczaleski:

I have used the safet y squat barto maintain lower body st rength while t raining around upper body injuries.

Whenever Ive had some type of surgery or injury that has prevented me f rom being able to hang onto or grip

squat bar f or squatt ing, goo d mornings o r any ot her exercise where you have the bar acros s the back of

your shoulders the saf ety squat bar has allowed me to cont inue squatting (or perf orming whatever other

exercise I wanted) so I could continue to build my lower body strength while my injury was healing.

Matt Rhodes:

SS Yoke Bar

Good Mornings

Shrugs

When I use the SSB for go od mornings, I usually do t he shrugs because the bar is already loaded. Its an easy

way to get some shrug work done without wasting extra time loading and unloading another bar.


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Julia Ladewski:

Texas Deadlift Bar: I love having an actual deadlif t bar f or pulling. The extra length and the bar s ability tobend make fo r a perfect deadlif t setup.

Rackable Cambered Squat Bar: This is great f or Zercher squats o r Zercher deads f rom the floo r.

From Julia Ladewskis Training Log

We opted to use a bar that we dont normally have access to The spider bar. Ive never used it before. This

thing is a beast. Its like the giant cambered bar on steroids. A couple things I noticed -

1. You cannot push up on the handles like you can with the saf ety squat bar If you do, youre all over the

place.

2. Its harder to keep your upper back tight, so it really forces you to focus on that.

3. Great f or people who have shoulder issues. I dont, but this would be very helpful to give the shoulders a

rest.

4. Its T OUGH. This bar will humble you, but dont let that deter you f rom using it or get ting it. It will f orce you t

stay tight and do t hings right. Getting st ronger with this bar will get you stronger everywhere else.
http://www.elitefts.com/view/?sp=2928


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Jo Jordan:

SS Bar

Suspended Good Mornings vs. bands/chains

ME Squat vs. bands/chains

I like to use this bar because it saves my shoulders some wear and tear, it st rengthens my ability to stay

upright while squatt ing and helps improve my technique. Using it f or good mornings places t he bar high on myback, which makes it more dif f icult f or me. I use this bar the f irst 3- 4 weeks o f my training so my shoulders

arent so beaten up come meet t ime.

Multi-Grip Bar

Floor Presses

Hammer Curls

Takes pressure of f my shoulders on the f loor press, which in turn allows me to handle more weight without

having to ice so much when I get ho me. Using it f or hammer curls trains my grip as well, so Im killing two birds

with one sto ne. This adds a litt le variety to your accesso ry day.


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Brian Schwab:

Im a f irm believer in training the way you compete, so I like pulling with the Texas Deadlift Barof f t he f loor.

Its thinner, which allows f or easier grip, and longer, which allows f or the bar to bow more bef ore breaking the

f loor. Because of this it reacts dif f erently than other bars, which is why I f eel its necessary to t rain specif ical

with it f or max eff ort deadlifts .

I use the SS Barspecif ically for dynamic ef f ort squats to reduce the strain on my elbows and shoulders, whiccan be aggravated f rom the use of a straight bar. It also f orces you to s tay more upright, which strengthens

the lower back and quads more than a st raight bar. Its a must f or anyone looking to increase their squat.

Matt Wenning:

The Multi-Grip Swiss Baris great to give the shoulders a dif f erent angle for heavy pressing. It helps me to l

heavy all year round, and to add some extra tricep emphasis.

The Safety Squat Baris a must f or development o f the upper back fo r ultra heavy squatting, and also f or

a break from the shoulder stress accumulated with s traight bar squat ting and heavier athletes. Another must

f or year round t raining, especially fo r benchers.


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The Fat Baris very goo d f or giving the wrists a break while heavy pressing, and also f or giving the bench a

dif f erent f eel. This is great f or accommodation purposes.

Joe DeFranco:

We use the Multi Grip Swiss Bar fo r 666 Presses as our main lif t o n Rep Upper Body Day, or as t he second

exercise (af ter our main lif t) on Max Ef f ort Upper Body Day. Basically, the athlete performs 6 reps with eachgrip, rest ing 10 seconds between each grip. We go f rom the hardest grip (clos e) to the easiest grip (wide)

as the triceps f atigue. We perform 2 sets in this f ashion. This is a great triceps builderand its easy on our

athletes shoulders!

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