Hi Coach,
So I saw you mentioned you were a fan of the Axle bar when it came to pressing, but not so much pulling.
I just placed an order for an 84 inch Axle bar, and was was curious as to if a round grip string barbell (see link) would be a good compliment/replacement/ or too similar to the Axle bar to justify buying it:
It would probably be “OK”, but from what I see, the bar you linked can “spin”. I prefer thick bars that do not spin. A spinning think bar can be unstable and it is possible to have it “roll out” out of your hands and either get you in a bad pressing position or you can even drop it.
It might be just me, but I never buy thick bars that spin.
Now, if you plan on doing thick bar cleans, the bar that spin might be a good idea
Gotcha, so compared to an axle bar-you would only perfer this over an axle when it comes to
Cleans but nothing else?
Probably not this bar specifically. I don’t like the “two size” of the bar, I honestly never tried it, but my instinct is hat it would feel weird.
But for cleans with a thick bar (which you should only do if you are a strongman competitor anyway) I’d go with a far bar variation that spins.
CORRECTION after reviewing the pics more closely that bar doesn’t look like it spins. But I still don’t like the two thicknesses to the bar
AND the bar you posted is too thick, even fo optimal pressing It’s 3" thick. I recommend 2"
@sdewitt10 FYI, you can literally make an axle bar (and dumbells) for about 50 bucks using some galvanized pipe from home depot. DIY HOME GYM UPGRADE! Axle Bar & Dumbbell Handles for $50! $550 VALUE! - YouTube
I can’t see this bar being useful for people smaller than a WSM competitor. A 3" thickness would be near impossible to deadlift with without straps. Pressing would be weird I think because the hands would be almost open. IDK, seems like a solution looking for a problem.
I agree 100%.
We do have a 2 and a 3" thick bar at Biotest HQ but in something like 10 years I used it once