These days most of my workouts are in a commercial gym. It’s not bad; they have made a number of accommodations for more serious lifters - platforms, bumper plates, Prowlers, space for farmers walks, a few boxes. No chains or boards, but they don’t squawk too loudly if you use your own stuff safely. They have climbing and hip thrust machines, which is helpful. But it is what it is. They don’t have everything.
What they don’t have is dumbbells above a hundred pounds. I could easily one-arm row 100 for many, many reps. But I would like to do Kroc rows, or something similar, with heavier weight.
So what is the best way to do this when big dumbbells aren’t available? Load a long bar with free weights and learn to balance it? Kroc had an iron worker brother who made custom handles. Most of the articles discussing them assume you have access to bigger dumbbells than many gyms carry. University gyms in my area don’t go bigger than 120. And not all of us live near an elite facility. So what are some practical suggestions?
And how could this be expanded for dumbbell bench presses or overhead carries, for that matter?
There is no shortage of exercise variations, and of course this is what I’ve always done. But if you wanted to Macgyver something closer to a Kroc row, how might you go about doing so? You could take a standard bar, cut out most of the middle and weld it together, maybe? Perhaps this has already been done or is available?
(A “minibar” allowing significant free weight would be a nice home gym addition; I’m guessing big dumbbells would be too pricey for a home gym… and progression would require multiples…)
(Standard dumbbells run 18-20” with 6” sleeves, or so. Kroc says his handles run three feet in one of his articles. Most pictures of Kroc rows show lots of smaller weights than, say, a dumbbell with four 45s or that might be awkward to grip in practice…)
I literally wouldn’t. You are changing the movement in any scenario.
But the advice I got from the only 600lb bencher I know:
“Take the heaviest DB wrap up w a strap but come to the front a bit. Lay a smaller db horizontally between db and your forearm and poof heavy db”
Or you could just change your exercise because that’s not an unreasonable thing to do.
Dumbbell Connects have been one of the BEST purchases I’ve made for my home gym. it allows you to connect two dumbbells to create a heavier one. Things like DB bench can get a little awkward, but rows are money.
My favourite row places an incline bench really close to the Smith machine to support the chest, loading the Smith heavy, and doing multiple rows with varying hand width and incline. It’s effective and convenient.
If Titan delivered those bars to Canada, I’d do that. I ordered something from a different website. After three minutes they had not processed my credit card. Then my credit card statement showed a fee from a “beauty” place in a different state. Still waiting for an e-mail response and will keep you informed.
I’m not a trendy gym guy. No chains around my neck. No 3L water bottle encouraging me to drink and disgorge my bladder excessively. Nothing to attach a cable to my ankles. No selfie stick. No curls in the rack. I keep my shoes on. I face the right way using the hack squat machine. But if Kroc Rows make me twenty years younger, I’m all for them! I’ll crank up the Hoobastank and OutKast. Middling. But you could do worse.
