Top two most universally triggering topics seem to be Functional Training is Crap and Trap Bars. We will need to explore this further.
Vejins are always mad so they don't count, and there aren't that many of them.
Top two most universally triggering topics seem to be Functional Training is Crap and Trap Bars. We will need to explore this further.
Vejins are always mad so they don't count, and there aren't that many of them.
Trap bar is dumber than sumo.
Hangs unstable during the whole ride up and down, too. Not just at the top.
Also, the neutral grip does not foster the proper setting of the back and use of the lats.
To the point of who invented the trap bar. Al Gerard claims to have done so in the 80's. I suspect that some earlier variant of them existed in the post Civil War US under a general physical culture rubric termed the "health lift" that you can find a reference or so to if you bother to read some of the history.
Not that I disagree with any premise or concept here-in stated, but I do want to offer my $0.02 with regards to the changes in the last few years, and those yet to come, in the Army and Marine Corps' physical testing requirements.
Both services offer more options and events at more stringent requirements. The Marines opted to drop flexed arm hang for pushups, but you cannot max-out the score as with pullups (70/100). Next year you can do the plank instead of the crunches. Age brackets were split to require more in the PFT and CFT in the young adult age groups.
The Army's, even given the complexity and extra equipment, is actually more impressive. Trap bar it may be, but it is the first significant "peak strength" requirement (3RM) in a U.S. military test in modern history. Most impressive is that it is gender and age neutral, and instead relies on occupation in three groups. Granted, those requirements could probably stand to be increased 50-100 lbs, but compared against our military leaders' give mindset of even 5 years ago -- it is a light speed jump forward.
If anything, it provides a platform where the strength and condition training in the SS/PPST model can distinguish itself from all of the silly bullshit.
Roger Wilco, 10-4. They're doing a great job of pretending they are doing a great job. And somebody is selling a lot of trap bars.
Sold, technically. The money is spent, the equipment received. In a week, units throughout the Army will begin the fiscal year with two "prepatory" ACFTs to take. It may or may not change in large or small ways once implemented in such a scale. I am training with Coach Broggi to re-enter the fray, so I can let you know how the process works out. 100% of my novice and intermediate prep will have been under SSCs, and I will also be tested under more involved standards than just the ACFT.
Prior to my discovery of Starting Strength, I deadlifted with the trap bar because the bar didn't restrict my form as much as the barbell. What I initially thought was better, soon turned out to be a very short-sighted decision, as I very quickly injured my left hip. The shooting pain during hip abduction lasted for months and prevented lower body training movements. I didn't feel the initial injury, but it likely resulted from my hips low, partial squat-like stance, or the uncontrolled swaying at the top since, the bar wasn't stabilized through contact. Either way, since learning the proper method with a barbell, I have not experienced the hip pain, and my life-long back pain has resolved as well. Thanks for starting this thread. More people need to realize the potential danger of the trap bar deadlift.
Will
Has the equipment been received? I thought the big Army contract for ACFT equipment was held up by disputes from losing bidders (which is pretty common for government procurements). There was talk of potential delays to implementing the ACFT across the force. I know some installations and units have procured their own equipment, and are moving forward, but thats because their equipment contracts are stoo small to be worth the billable hours to dispute.
An opposing view: Trap Bar
I have tried them and just didn't feel solid doing them. I've also taken the ACFT (the new Army PT test) and maxed out the trap bar deadlift without having touched a trap bar in probably two years. Definitely not an essential exercise.