Everyone is looking for a better way. I don’t care if you are shopping for groceries, cleaning your house, working on your relationship, or in this case working out. We all want MORE. Not necessarily more in the sense of amount, but more from ourselves.
Think back to the hologram of who you were when you started working out. Maybe you were a scrawny teen, baggy shirts flapping effortlessly around your arms, wishing you could have more muscle mass. Or the other end of the spectrum, no size fits right.
At that moment, you decided it was time to upgrade your lifestyle. Well, it doesn’t adjust too far from that with your current routine. I am going to guess you have been stuck in the same 8-10 exercises for the memorable past. If that’s true, this is when you make a big time change for the better.
The Hex Bar (Trap Bar) gets pinned in a specific category: deadlifts and carries. Which, yes, its a great tool for that. When was the last time you spent time in the gym just playing around and exploring what you can do with everything. Most people don’t have that luxury of unlimited time to simply “play”.
Lucky for you, we are going to save you that time to instantly upgrade your routine. The trap bar is going to become a mainstay piece of your programming from today moving forward.
History of the Trap Bar
The trap bar was first created by Al Gerard, a powerlifter, who in the 1980’s was looking for a way to increase strength while minimizing the joint wear and tear. It was a beat up lower back that inspired Gerard to search for a better option. His inspiration came from lifts that limited the range of motion (rack pulls, pin squats, etc.) but allowed him to develop his strength.
This custom equipment fabrication was a complete gamechanger.
What started as doing squats with dumbbells by each side was now masterfully composed into a singular piece of equipment. The trap bar began to get some attention in the mid 80’s. It wasn’t until the 2000’s the trap bar was starting to garner the respect it deserved – not as an alternative – but as a superior piece of equipment for strength and power.
Trap Bar Qualities
Dimensions
The standard issue, silver trap bar you have seen in most gym across the world is:
Weight – 44lbs
Length – 56”
Handle Width – 24.5”
Weight Capacity – 500lbs
The most noticeable flaw of the trap bar is “Industry Standard”. Because of its increasing viability in the market, every equipment brand is coming out with their version of the trap bar. This variability can cause a lot of confusion and dysfunction when it comes to coaching in varying spaces.
So simply lifting with a trap bar doesn’t say enough, and as an industry, we need to do BETTER. When you buy a standard barbell, you know what you are receiving. Maybe the tensile strength is different from bar to bar. The knurling on the handle (the gritty diamond pattern) varies from company to company. But at the end of the day, you know you are getting a 7 foot bar that weighs 45lbs.
Trap bars can vary anywhere from 40-80lbs on average.
Don’t take this constant variability as a downfall though. Companies are making better versions of the trap bar every single day. With the introduction of the kickstand for effortless weight loading to adjustable handles, it’s a better bar.
We are simply in the transition phase of the trap bar into its best version.
Functionality
If we are being honest with ourselves, how many times have you had to lift an excessive weight on a straight bar in your everyday life? No times outside of the gym? Yeah, same here.
Our system (the body) is built on two principles: resiliency and efficiency. We want to survive as long as possible and the body tries to complete tasks in the easiest and more efficient way. That’s why you get natural pushback from your mindset when you are doing something that is truly difficult. Forcing the body to adapt is a matter of pushing the needle, little by little, one day at a time.
The trap bar is a great way to build strength in the most appropriate ways for your everyday life.
More than just a deadlift tool
Entire books and articles could be written on the benefits of the trap bar when it comes to deadlift (and we will have plenty of content on that topic). However, we want to highlight the piece of equipment in its truest form.
Grip position from the neutral starting point creates a lot of potential for what can be done. Working between internal and external rotation should be a keystone in any program. That point, however, doesn’t mean it has to be a focal point when it comes to some of your heavier lifts. Neutral hand positioning opens the door for execution without the running thoughts of hand adjustment.
Weights along your sides allow a better center of gravity. It may not seem like a big difference when using other pieces of equipment but weight shifted one inch in front or behind the body makes a HUGE difference. As weight moves away from your center, torque increases. This torque pulling on the fulcrum (pivot point) can unravel a myriad of issues. Keeping the weights by your sides allows the window of opportunity to simply work on STRENGTH in the way you would apply it within your everyday routine.
Is it superior for building strength? Sure
Does it allow variable height for lifts? Absolutely
Does it create more functional carryover to everyday life? In most cases, yes it does.
But again, this is about the tool and how we can use it in many other highly applicable ways.
The Moves
Trap Bar Deadlift
We can’t start without the bread and butter. The hex bar deadlift utilizes the musculature throughout the body in a more even distribution. Neutral grip, better center of gravity, and a higher starting point for your ground lifts puts you in a position to maximally develop strength.
How to: While maintaining a strong posture, bend your legs enough to grip the handles of the trap bar. With tension in the bar, drive your feet into the ground while the knees and hips extend fully resulting in the standing position. Under control, descend back down to the ground while maintaining the same rigid posture. That is one rep.
Heels Elevated Deadlift
Elevating the heels is a quick way to get more activity out of the quads. While this is a deadlift, don’t get too fussy whether it’s a squattier position or a hingier one. The goal is to get stronger and this variation is going to elicit some more range of motion calling on the anterior legs. This adjustment is guaranteed to get the quads nice and spicy.
Coaching Tip: You aren’t going to need the largest rise for your heels to get the results of this adjustment. Start with something as small as a 45lb plate lying down to release some of the tension from the posterior chain resulting in a deeper bottom position.
Staggered Stance Deadlift
Adjusting foot position is an important adjustment to work with. Life isn’t always symmetrical. Training in the range of a hybrid between the hex bar deadlift and a split squat stance can give you the best of both worlds: alternative muscle recruitment coupled with heavier lifting capacity.
Coaching Tip: Deadlifting from this position can be tricky if you don’t feel out the best position for your legs. Trust in the feel of your foot positioning. The staggered stance will be best used from the high handle positioning.
Trap Bar RDL
While the barbell elicits more activity from the hamstrings in this move, based on bar position, don’t count the trap bar out.
How to: Hold the trap bar and begin with a tall rigid posture. Stand with feet shoulder feet apart and a slight bend in the knee. Slowly push your hips all the way back with the weight descending down. The bottom position of your hands will most likely end just below the knees. Pull your hips forward until you return to the standing position. That is one rep.
Kickstand RDL
Too often, we’ll get caught up going from bilateral to single leg. That’s a huge jump considering how much mental processing goes into play when you drastically minimize your base of support. Building towards single leg activity can be greatly improved when having a touch point with the ground. This doesn’t mean you are distributing weight to the “kickstand” leg, but simply downregulating anxiety from lack of stability.
Coaching Tip: The kickstand (1.5 stance) isn’t an even distribution between both legs but just a light touching point with the back leg. This light assistance keeps the leg out of the way so it avoids stress through hip flexion and reduces the positional anxiety from a single leg stance. Don’t always jump to strictly single leg actions.
Snatch Grip Deadlift
Spreading out wingspan is going to elevate our stress and recruitment from a posterior perspective. The RDL is going to focus on the lower body posterior, hips, and back extensors. Opening up your grip will demand more work from the lats, rear deltoids, and posterior muscles directly related to the arms.
Coaching Tip: This move is only an option if you have plates with hand grips available. While you can be a hero and try to pinch grip the outside of the weight, you want to make sure you are still in a position where the focus is on leg drive and not on the grip specifically.
Trap Bar Split Squat
If you are going to split squat, there is no better way to load up the weight than using the trap bar! Creating one piece of equipment to hold the weight creates a little more stability from an upper body perspective while testing strength at a higher level.
How to: Begin at the ground in a ½ kneeling position. With a firm grip and tall posture, stand tall with the weight until both legs are at the fully extended position. From the top staggered stance, descend down into the motion in a slow and controlled manner until you are back to the ½ kneeling position. That is one rep.
Single Leg Deadlift
Oh, you didn’t think we could do single leg work with the trap bar? Think again. Resting the single leg on the backside of the trap bar focuses on the down leg to control the weight. The non-working leg rests on the backside of the trap bar to make an open chain movement closed.
How to: Begin with an offset grip leaning towards the front side of the handle. Stand up tall with bilateral stance and bring the non-working leg to the backside of the trap bar to rest and move out of the way. Descend down into the deadlift with hips and knees bending at the same time. From the bottom, stand tall until back at the starting position. That is one rep!
Front Foot Elevated Split Squat
Rather than jumping straight to rear foot elevated split squats (Bulgarian Split Squats), start with elevating the front leg first. This is going to give you that added range of motion on the working leg while not completely taking the backside leg away from ground contact.
Coaching Tip: The Front Foot Elevation is going to add more range of motion to the movement. Begin with small increments of range of motion before making any large jumps, especially with a movement that can become as difficult as this one.
Trap Bar Row
You don’t need a multi grip bar to crush some serious neutral grip pulls. This single piece row puts you in a position to load up some serious weight while allowing a comfortable amount of width in your grip. This grip width is important to allow the scapulas to move freely while the arms in motion.
How to: Begin from the standing position. Descend down with a hinge position (hips moving back) while maintaining a tall posture throughout the movement. From the hinged position, draw the elbows back with your hands moving towards the belly button. Allow the shoulder blades to move freely with the arms as they move. In a controlled manner, allow the weight to descend down to the arm extended position. That is one rep.
Offset Weight
The Offset weight is going to throw your body for a challenge. This slight difference is weight will become a major difference in postural and body mechanics. Don’t go trying to set any PR’s on your first round through. The goal is to use weight to increase tension but offset weight – just a bit – to make an asymmetrically difficult load for movement.
Coaching Tip: I would suggest going with a small increment in weight differential. When the weight difference from side to side gets above 45 lbs. Start with small increments of either 10-25 lbs and move from there.
Trap Bar Floor Press
Floor presses are a highly undervalued piece of the pressing puzzle. Limiting the range of motion with chest presses to the 90 degree point (dead spot) will propel triceps integrating with the pectoral muscles in the push. This neutral grip position emphasizes the carrying angle of the arms closer to 45 degrees from the body which is more appropriate for proper shoulder positioning.
Coaching Tip: Use the low handle grips to start this exercise. The high handle position can throw you off by adding distance between the loaded weight and your hands. This is also an exercise that can be loaded in the rack – so if that makes you feel more comfortable – use that option.
Push Up
For similar reasons to the floor press with regards to arm positioning, the push up can become truly refined with the assistance of the trap bar. Grabbing the handles from the trap bar also allows wrist pressure to be minimized and development of grip strength.
How to: Begin with the hands on the high handle position of the trap bar. The bar should be unloaded for this move. Descend down to the ground while maintaining a strong posture allowing the shoulder blades to move freely and controlled with the arms. The bottom position will be when the chest drops to handle height. From the bottom, drive your hands into the handles bringing yourself back up to the tall push-up plank position. That is one rep.
Trap Bar Carry
Pack on the weight for some trap bar farmers carry’s. Holding weights on each side is a great way to increase single side integrity. As you get stronger, the best way to load up that weight is through the trap bar. Extra pressure structurally added to the shoulder girdle, emphasis on pillar stability, and stability through gait patterning. Talk about a true test of strength.
Coaching Tip: The beginning is a traditional trap bar deadlift. Once you are standing, you can really load up the weight now that you are working with one piece of equipment. For a loaded carry, spinal stability should be the key focus. Make sure your movement is slow and controlled all the way throughout. To finish the move, go back to shoulder width stance and complete the downward motion of the trap bar deadlift.
Vertical Grip Carry
Positioning the weights in front and back completely changes the exercise. This adjustment will amplify grip recruitment, shoulder girdle stability from side to side, as well as testing the torsos ability to brace from an anterior to posterior perspective.
Coaching Tip: The bar wants to rotate from side to side which makes this such a grip and shoulder stability dominated move. Start with a much lighter weight than you normally would because this new position will surely catch you by surprise.
