Originally Posted by
Chamberlain
Hello!
I searched diligently for info on the cambered squat bar, and I found some brief comments about it in one of Ripp's Q&A sessions; however, I was curious to know a little more because I read a blog post on westside-barbell.com ("Starting Conjugate: Giant Cambered Bar" by Burley Hawk) and elitefts ("What’s that Specialty Bar for?" by C.J. Murphy) which asserted that the cambered bar squat places emphasis on the strength of the back, glutes, hamstrings, hips, and trunk. This caught my attention because my squats tend to be quad-dominant.
The technique of squatting with a cambered bar appears to be identical to that of a conventional, low-bar squat (according to Jim Wendler, "6 Specialty Bars for Strength and Size"); however, Revolutionary Program Design believes the pendulum motion of the weights on a cambered bar force the lifter to recruit more muscle fibers in his legs and lower back. If it's true that a barbell squat is superior to a machine press due to requiring more balance, it seems logical that a cambered bar squat is superior to a low bar squat for the same reason.
I began considering how the leverages change as a result of lowering the weight via the cambered bar during the squat. It seems a couple of things happen: the moment arm from the hips, knees, and low back to the bar at the bottom of the cambered bar squat will be shorter than in a straight-bar squat. Furthermore, the center of gravity at the bottom of a cambered bar squat is lower.
These factors imply the lifter will be more stable in the bottom (due to the lower center of gravity), will be capable of lifting more weight (due to the shorter moment arms), and will experience less torque / stress on the low back (also due to the shorter moment arm). I have found attachments online which convert a straight bar into a cambered bar for a reasonable price, so I'm wondering if it's worth trying out to achieve my objective of improving my squat mechanics and overloading my posterior relative to my quads.
Thank you for reading!