haven't I seen towel(s) or straps utilized in place of the forward extensions of the safety bar, on regular bars?
just strap a lighter straight bar, and practice good shoulder shelf form , , ,(?)
Greysteel has safety squat bars but they weigh 70 lbs. Some elderly and some women cannot use a straight bar and cannot lift the 70 lbs. needed to use the safety bar. I have seen in catalog somewhere that is an adaptation to a lighter straight bar for squat. I cannot locate those. Are there safety bars that weigh 40 or less? Or can you direct me to sources for adaptation equipment for a lighter weight squat bar?
Carson
haven't I seen towel(s) or straps utilized in place of the forward extensions of the safety bar, on regular bars?
just strap a lighter straight bar, and practice good shoulder shelf form , , ,(?)
All of the SSB's that I am familiar with all weigh at least 65 pounds, you might check out something like this - Top Squat | Front Squat Assistance | Sorinex Exercise Equipment
The Black Widow Safety Squat Bar weighs 45 pounds (Black Widow Training Gear (BWTG)) there is usually a Black Friday promotion with huge discounts. I've owned my Black Widow SSB for about 8 years now and cannot tell a difference in it and the Elite SSB except for the Elite being heavier. Awesome Bar at an good price.
I've seen videos of folks using wrist straps on a standard bar. I'll try this out on warmup sets Wednesday.
I have a similar problem to Carson. I have a Rogue SSB, but it is 75 pounds. No problem for me, but some people my age I'm trying to get lifting... not so much.
This opens up my 45 pound bars and my 22 & 2 lb bars. So it solves a number of problems. I wonder about safety though.
I have thought they should allow this in strength lifting meets. It would open the squat to a lot of older folks with poor shoulder mobility.
Not everybody gets to lift in a meet. If every disability were accommodated on the platform, chaos would ensue. How about amputees in the UFC? Wheelchairs at Wimbledon? Misses the point entirely, which is to see who the best is that day, not to see how many entry fees the meet director can collect. Competition is inherently unfair, since somebody wins and somebody loses.
But to the OP: the best way to find out whether a light SS bar is needed is to manufacture one and see how many sell. If you can't keep them in stock, you were right.
There are lighter SSBs out there. Mine is an ATX model which is 17kg (37lb). Some of the cheaper ones are lighter than that.
Just use the lightweight straight bar with straps (15kg or even 10kg) until they are strong enough to use a empty SSB.
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