safety squat bar question

Koing -- I can't speak for the guy, but I believe Will was specifically asking about the availability of Safety Squat Bars in the UK--not strength training equipment/gyms generally.

You guys who work out in commerical gyms and are interested in this should consider asking the management at your gym if they would be willing to buy such equipment so you could use it there. I don't know the prospects of success for such a request but no harm in asking.

"SRBEN that ab bench looks great & a good price too! Thanks once again! You've made some awesome posts here." - Glad to help."You guys who work out in commerical gyms and are interested in this should consider asking the management at your gym if they would be willing to buy such equipment so you could use it there. I don't know the prospects of success for such a request but no harm in asking." - You're right. They'd probably be a lot more responsive to a SS bar than a Manta Ray. I've known several gyms that "lost" those and belts, cable attachments, etc. in record numbers. On another subject, I wish I had the space to weld! Oh the things you can make....................

Buddhadev yeah I know. I heard he was in the UK and was just asking him as most of the guys here are not in the UK.

HK, I'm OK for gyms, thanks. One of my friends is building himself a basement gym and I'm going to suggest he gets one of these safety squat bars. Much cooler than a Manta Ray.

Cheers,

Will

ttt for martin's question

ttt

Sorry it was ignored when you brought it up. That seems to happen more often than I'd like. The best thing to do when that happens is TTT till someone notices. Eventually someone will.

"Are the doglegs(the dropped sections of the bar where the plates go) parallel to the neck yoke,or are they offset?That is,if you laid the bar on the ground,would it lay flat?Or would the yoke stick up like arms?" - Sorry. I tried to answer you yesterday and a co-worker walked up and interrupted me........... Anyway, yes the sleeves are offset on the SS bar. If you don't want to go throught the trial and error of welding and trying to get the balance right, you can always take a straight bar and smack it with a sledge hammer until you put a slight bend in it and make a cambered bar. Either that, or do like I did and load it up with several hundred pounds and do quarter squats for high reps. One you bend the bar, the weight on the ends of the bar is lower than the bar on you back. The leverage difference takes the shear off of your back. If you're holding heavy enough you can always order the Iron Mind bar. It's cambered, good quality, but expensive. Did that help????????

"When the bar is on your shoulders,the sleeves point down to the ground a little more than the neck yoke,right?" - Yes, the sleeves are lower than the bar on your back. Think of it like a bar across your back with buckets tied to the end of the bar and hanging about floor level, or better yet, actually do this with weight plates. Have one bar loaded normally, and a second bar with rope on the ends and plates about an inch or so off of the floor so you can feel the difference. "I read somewhere that the original came about when the owner's brother used his Olympic bar as a PRYBAR to lift his car to work on it,and bent the hell out of the bar(sounds like something my brother would have done)." - If I remember correctly it was J.C. Hise. I'm not sure, but I think his brother was using it to fix his Model-T Ford. Great story. Cambered bars are good, but if you can afford it go with the SS bar. If not, make or buy a cambered bar. They're a lot better than a straight bar for squatting. Just make sure you have another bar for your presses. Once you bend it you can't use it for anything other than squats.

Go here for a better picture that might answer your question That might answer your question better than I could with words........a thousand or so, the saying goes. If not, I'll check back tomorrow.

Anyone think this thread should be archived? I'm on the fence and would like input to sway the decision.

Yes please to archiving.

Cheers,

Will

Sure. It's definitely germane to the forum and helpful, imho.

You've got it! Archived.

TTT