Thick Bar Training
Are you aware of all the benefits thick bar training can bring you?
You can read the full article here on [URL="http://www.ironbullstrength.com/shop/articles/thick-bar-training.html"]thick bar training.[/URL]
[B]Thick Bar Training[/B]
Thick bars and dumbbells will help you improve grip strength and forearm strength, which in turn will help your whole body build more muscle and more power. Old time strongmen knew all about it and used it to build their incredible power. You too can take your workout to the next level!
What is Thick Bar Training?
"Fat" or thick bars and dumbbells are just like any other normal bars and dumbbells you see in your gym, but they're equipped with a thick handle. A handle diameter over 2 inches is considered "thick" or "fat".
Both terms are largely used in the fitness industry.Top level coaches around the world always recommend to incorporate some form of thick bar training into your workouts.
Thick barbells and dumbbells will bring variety into your training which is essential to get results. Most people will fall into a pattern of doing the same things over and over again where your body will quickly adapt to it and stop showing results.This is where thick bar training comes into play.
[B]Why Use Thick Bars?[/B]
As mentioned previously, not only will it bring variety into your training and keep your muscles "guessing", but it will work on one specific area that most people lack. And that is simply grip strength.
With a regular 1 inch bar, you can easily wrap your whole hand around it and simply "support" it in your palm with no effort needed what so ever. It's a total different game with a thick bar.
The larger the diameter of the handle will be, the more force you will need to apply just to hold the bar or dumbbell in your hand. And that is pure grip strength.
Here are a few benefits of having a stronger grip and forearms:
[LIST][*]Increased forearm muscularity since your fingers and hands are controlled by your forearm muscles
Increased hand strength which will allow you to hold onto heavier weights
Increase your weights on pulling exercises and deadlifts
Hand endurance and improved dexterity
Better grip strength in every sports like grappling, tennis, hockey, rock climbing, etc.
Easier every day chores.[/LIST]
[B]How and why thick bar training works?[/B]
[I]1) Increased neural drive[/I]
Thick bars stimulate more muscle fibers in your fingers, hands, forearms, upper arms and in your whole body. But how can a simple barbell with a thicker grip can achieve this?
This action is called muscle irradiation. When you contract a muscle as hard as you can, such as holding a thick bar which requires your hands and forearms to fully contract, the muscles around it are also stimulated. These "borrowing" muscles help achieve the full contraction required.
Therefore, if you want to get a maximal contraction in your biceps, your forearms need a full contraction too.Try flexing your bicep with a soft grip, with your free hand on your forearm. When contracting your bicep, you will feel a small contraction in your forearm. This is because the nerve impulse in the surrounding muscles help with the actual muscle contraction.
[I]2) Full Body Irradiation[/I]
Now this principle also acts on the full body. A tighter grip (like holding a thick bar) will make your hands and forearms work harder, which will increase the contractions in other muscles like your forearms, biceps and triceps, chest, back and even the shoulders.
Basically, using a thick bar on any exercise will increase the contraction of the working muscle thus recruiting more muscle fibers. You know the rest: more muscle fibers worked = more strength and mass.
[I]3) Increased Joint Stability[/I]
You might ask what does grip strength and shoulder stability have to do together? Well the answer is simple: A LOT . The rotator cuff group, which are small muscles involved in shoulder stability, are directly linked with your ability to grip. It has been proven that injured rotator cuffs will decrease your grip strength and vice versa.This being said, improving your grip strength will directly improve shoulder stability by increasing strength in the the stabilizing muscles of the shoulders. This is the main reason why many people who use thick bar training report that it has cured their wrist, elbow or shoulders issues. Now you know that it hasn't cured anything, but has only strengthen the stabilizing muscles in their joints.
[I]4) Better Weight Distribution[/I]
Further, the actual size of the bar helps spread the weight more evenly across the body. It affects the way your hand holds onto the bar which shifts the action line of the weight, distributing it throughout the entire arm.With a regular 1 inch bar, your forearm flexors (muscles on the bottom of the forearm) do all the work to hold the bar which on the lung run will cause imbalances which leads to tendinitis and wrist injuries.A 2+ inch bar will require your forearm flexors AND extensors (muscles on the top of the forearm) do the work thus allowing a symmetrical development of the forearm and prevent any injury.
[I]5) Your body's weak link - Grip Strength[/I]
Most people actually think that their grip gets enough work from their main exercises like deadlifts, pull ups and curls.The truth is their grip strength is deeply under trained which impacts their whole body development. If you ask top coaches how to build bigger arms, they will probably put you on a forearm specialization training since most of the time, weak grip is the main reason why your arms stop growing.The body is a very smart organism and will do everything to stay injury free. In this case, the body will stop all progress and limit the weights you can use for your arms so you don't injure your precious forearms.
The easiest fix to poor grip strength is to use a thick bar. You will work your grip, hands, and forearms while doing your regular workout. You don't even need to do any extra exercises.
[B]How to Use Thick Bars and Add 20+ Pounds to your Lifts in 6 weeks?[/B]
To anyone new to thick bar training, we recommend to use it on EVERY exercises. At first, you will struggle with the weights you were using but after a few workouts, you'll feel pretty comfortable with the new bar thickness and new grip strength.Do this for 6 full weeks on all your exercises, then return to the regular bars and take a week off from thick bar training. You will see an instant 10% gain in strength on most of your upper body exercises because of your new grip strength and overall joint stability.Then, incorporate phases of thick bar training in your workout or use it on certain exercises where they help you the most. We recommend to always use thick bars on presses, curls and pull ups. You can cycle thick bar training on other exercises.
[B]Where do I get a Thick Bar if my Gym doesn't have one?[/B]
Most gyms dont offer thick bars or thick dumbbells and for a reason. A full set of thick dumbbells and barbells can cost up to $50,000, and this only for one size.
We have just the right solution for you. We offer an alternative to [URL="http://www.ironbullstrength.com/shop/true-grip.html"]thick bars and dumbbells called TrueGRIPs.[/URL] They are fully portable, thick rubber-like grips, that you can install in less than 10 seconds on any barbell, dumbbell or cable attachment and transform them instantly into thick bar training. They are the ultimate solution to build muscle fast and improve grip strength.
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