Evil Trap Bar
allother94
Posts: 588 Member
Why does the trap bar get a bad rep? I tried deadlifting with it today and it feels much more natural than deadlifting a barbell…
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Replies
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Who gives it a bad rep? And why do you care if what you're doing with it is getting you the performance you need and feels safer?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Ripptoe called it useless…
I’m thinking or using it to replace squats and deadlifts for a while to give my lower back a rest. Hopefully I won’t lose all my strength…0 -
I wouldn’t programme based on rippetoe’s advice. I love the trap bar.1
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I've never heard anyone say anything bad about using a trap bar.1
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When I was training for powerlifting I had entire cycles programmed with just the trap bar. Never heard anything at all negative from anybody about it. It’s just a tool.1
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Probably one of the reasons of its bad rap is that a trap bar deadlift allows a lifter to lift heavier loads in relation to the regular deadlift, there's less stress on your lower back so its definitely the safer choice.
Trap bar is also extremely effective at building strength and explosive power so you'll see a lot of athletes use it. Use to do them when I was still doing my workouts at a commercial gym to add variety from the usual conventional/sumo.1 -
When I read the title of this thread, I thought it was about a dodgy place that sells even dodgier alcohol.0
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It is probably as useless to most people as conventional deadlift. You probably can never lift anything other than a pair of matching suitcases on either side of your body. The movement helps you learn but will never be replicated in life.
Imagine if you need to lift something heavy - you'd probably straddle it and squat down low and squat it up. If you could not do the room for that, you'd probably still lift between your legs like a sumo deadlift.
Give me one real life situation where you lift with your arms outside your legs like a conventional deadlift. Same as a real life situation where the load is evenly placed on either side of your body...they just don't happen.
Can't use it in competitions either.
As far as training, I think the trap bar is a perfectly valid option for strength and performance.0 -
ExistingFish wrote: »It is probably as useless to most people as conventional deadlift. You probably can never lift anything other than a pair of matching suitcases on either side of your body. The movement helps you learn but will never be replicated in life.
Imagine if you need to lift something heavy - you'd probably straddle it and squat down low and squat it up. If you could not do the room for that, you'd probably still lift between your legs like a sumo deadlift.
Give me one real life situation where you lift with your arms outside your legs like a conventional deadlift. Same as a real life situation where the load is evenly placed on either side of your body...they just don't happen.
Can't use it in competitions either.
As far as training, I think the trap bar is a perfectly valid option for strength and performance.
Here’s my real life experience - I have runner ducks and have to empty their pond using buckets every week, clean it out and refill it. Guess how I lift those buckets and carry them up my garden? Yep, I deadlift them then do a farmers’ carry up the path.
Might be an unusual example but it is a real life example!
I also do Olympic weightlifting so the traditional deadlift (hands) position is spot on for the clean, albeit the hips are lower. And I competed yesterday in that very sport 😀1 -
claireychn074 wrote: »ExistingFish wrote: »It is probably as useless to most people as conventional deadlift. You probably can never lift anything other than a pair of matching suitcases on either side of your body. The movement helps you learn but will never be replicated in life.
Imagine if you need to lift something heavy - you'd probably straddle it and squat down low and squat it up. If you could not do the room for that, you'd probably still lift between your legs like a sumo deadlift.
Give me one real life situation where you lift with your arms outside your legs like a conventional deadlift. Same as a real life situation where the load is evenly placed on either side of your body...they just don't happen.
Can't use it in competitions either.
As far as training, I think the trap bar is a perfectly valid option for strength and performance.
Here’s my real life experience - I have runner ducks and have to empty their pond using buckets every week, clean it out and refill it. Guess how I lift those buckets and carry them up my garden? Yep, I deadlift them then do a farmers’ carry up the path.
Might be an unusual example but it is a real life example!
I also do Olympic weightlifting so the traditional deadlift (hands) position is spot on for the clean, albeit the hips are lower. And I competed yesterday in that very sport 😀
No you trap bar deadlift it. The buckets are on either side of your body - not in front of your body.
Therefore the trap bar deadlift is a superior training for that activity. In any comparison between the trap bar and conventional, the trap bar is better suited because you literally lift the weight straight up, not slightly in front of you.
I don't count practicing lifting weights making you better at weight lifting, that is kind of a given...0 -
ExistingFish wrote: »claireychn074 wrote: »ExistingFish wrote: »It is probably as useless to most people as conventional deadlift. You probably can never lift anything other than a pair of matching suitcases on either side of your body. The movement helps you learn but will never be replicated in life.
Imagine if you need to lift something heavy - you'd probably straddle it and squat down low and squat it up. If you could not do the room for that, you'd probably still lift between your legs like a sumo deadlift.
Give me one real life situation where you lift with your arms outside your legs like a conventional deadlift. Same as a real life situation where the load is evenly placed on either side of your body...they just don't happen.
Can't use it in competitions either.
As far as training, I think the trap bar is a perfectly valid option for strength and performance.
Here’s my real life experience - I have runner ducks and have to empty their pond using buckets every week, clean it out and refill it. Guess how I lift those buckets and carry them up my garden? Yep, I deadlift them then do a farmers’ carry up the path.
Might be an unusual example but it is a real life example!
I also do Olympic weightlifting so the traditional deadlift (hands) position is spot on for the clean, albeit the hips are lower. And I competed yesterday in that very sport 😀
No you trap bar deadlift it. The buckets are on either side of your body - not in front of your body.
Therefore the trap bar deadlift is a superior training for that activity. In any comparison between the trap bar and conventional, the trap bar is better suited because you literally lift the weight straight up, not slightly in front of you.
I don't count practicing lifting weights making you better at weight lifting, that is kind of a given...
She's only dipping water out of the pond with a bucket on each side of herself if she's standing in the water where it's almost bucket deep. If she stands outside the water, it's more like a dead. To know how close to that motion it is, I'd need more info, but that much seems obvious.
I thought the PP was weird, too. I pick up things in front of my body fairly frequently in daily life - boxes, bags, furniture, large potted plants, you name it. Depending on the height of the object and the grab on options, it can be deadlift-like.
Dang near every achievable lifting motion occurs at some point in real life, seems like. Most standard lifts aren't "functional movements" exactly, but do emulate some of the daily life patterns, or part of some daily life pattern.1 -
ExistingFish wrote: »It is probably as useless to most people as conventional deadlift. You probably can never lift anything other than a pair of matching suitcases on either side of your body. The movement helps you learn but will never be replicated in life.
Imagine if you need to lift something heavy - you'd probably straddle it and squat down low and squat it up. If you could not do the room for that, you'd probably still lift between your legs like a sumo deadlift.
Give me one real life situation where you lift with your arms outside your legs like a conventional deadlift. Same as a real life situation where the load is evenly placed on either side of your body...they just don't happen.
Can't use it in competitions either.
As far as training, I think the trap bar is a perfectly valid option for strength and performance.
Moving boxes. Moving furniture. If I pick up one end of a couch or a coffee table or whatever I deadlift it.
My programming has me using a trap bar more often than not as deadlifts are supplemental to my Oly lifts and done after my power cleans and power snatches and using the trap bar takes a load of my lower back that has already had a lot of work. My programming only has me do traditional deadlifts on days that I only do hang cleans or hang snatches or cleans and snatches from the rack or blocks where I don't have the deadlift pull for each movement and my lower back is fresh.1 -
"It is probably as useless to most people as conventional deadlift. You probably can never lift anything other than a pair of matching suitcases on either side of your body. The movement helps you learn but will never be replicated in life.
Imagine if you need to lift something heavy - you'd probably straddle it and squat down low and squat it up. If you could not do the room for that, you'd probably still lift between your legs like a sumo deadlift.
Give me one real life situation where you lift with your arms outside your legs like a conventional deadlift. Same as a real life situation where the load is evenly placed on either side of your body...they just don't happen."
Thought of this when I picked up a 7ft heavy duty fence post today - only weighs just over 50lbs but the length makes it awkward so you lift with hands outside your knees to make balancing it easier. Yes it's real life and you definitely want the load balanced evenly or it acts like a big lever.
Ditto lifting my double extension ladders off the ground to load on a car roof rack, you want a wide hand grip. As most likely you are lifting by the rungs of the ladders even your hand/wrist orientation is more similar to a trap bar grip than a barbell grip.
A squat style lift for lifting a big bag of cement or sand - makes sense, a deadlift style lift for long, awkward loads also makes sense.
There's a big difference between "most people" and "never" or "just don't happen".2 -
ExistingFish wrote: »claireychn074 wrote: »ExistingFish wrote: »It is probably as useless to most people as conventional deadlift. You probably can never lift anything other than a pair of matching suitcases on either side of your body. The movement helps you learn but will never be replicated in life.
Imagine if you need to lift something heavy - you'd probably straddle it and squat down low and squat it up. If you could not do the room for that, you'd probably still lift between your legs like a sumo deadlift.
Give me one real life situation where you lift with your arms outside your legs like a conventional deadlift. Same as a real life situation where the load is evenly placed on either side of your body...they just don't happen.
Can't use it in competitions either.
As far as training, I think the trap bar is a perfectly valid option for strength and performance.
Here’s my real life experience - I have runner ducks and have to empty their pond using buckets every week, clean it out and refill it. Guess how I lift those buckets and carry them up my garden? Yep, I deadlift them then do a farmers’ carry up the path.
Might be an unusual example but it is a real life example!
I also do Olympic weightlifting so the traditional deadlift (hands) position is spot on for the clean, albeit the hips are lower. And I competed yesterday in that very sport 😀
No you trap bar deadlift it. The buckets are on either side of your body - not in front of your body.
Therefore the trap bar deadlift is a superior training for that activity. In any comparison between the trap bar and conventional, the trap bar is better suited because you literally lift the weight straight up, not slightly in front of you.
I don't count practicing lifting weights making you better at weight lifting, that is kind of a given...
She's only dipping water out of the pond with a bucket on each side of herself if she's standing in the water where it's almost bucket deep. If she stands outside the water, it's more like a dead. To know how close to that motion it is, I'd need more info, but that much seems obvious.
I thought the PP was weird, too. I pick up things in front of my body fairly frequently in daily life - boxes, bags, furniture, large potted plants, you name it. Depending on the height of the object and the grab on options, it can be deadlift-like.
Dang near every achievable lifting motion occurs at some point in real life, seems like. Most standard lifts aren't "functional movements" exactly, but do emulate some of the daily life patterns, or part of some daily life pattern.
Yeah I am definitely not standing in the water to fill the buckets. Ducks are grim little creatures and they poo in their own bathing and drinking water. It’s bad enough that I usually tip stinky duck water down my legs when I’m manoeuvring around the garden with the buckets 🤣 The plants love it though!2
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