Active Balance Bar - Same as free wight lifting?

[jacky79]

I am currently considering to purchase Bodycraft Jones with Active Balance Bar. I have not tried or seen the real stuffs yet. They claim that it works just like a free weight lifting bar but with much more safety features. You still able to enjoy the benefit of the balancing the bar by our self and free 3D movement on this Actie Balance Bar.

Of course the price is much more expensive compare to a Power Rack but i am thinking this might able to help me push further on lifting heavier weight due to the higher confidence on the safety features from the Jones when i am working out alone.

Hope to get some advice from you guys on this. And appreciate if anyone who have seen or used this Active Balance Bar, please share your opinion.

[morebarbell]

I've never used one. For lifting safely, I haven't wanted anything more than the safeties on a power rack. But... FYI, Star Trac makes something similar to the Active Balance Bar.

[handaid]

The only thing you would need a spotter for is benching and squatting and if you're in a power rack you can just set the safety rails. If its a lot more expensive than a power rack I don't think it's worth it

[jackbravo]

I haven't used Bodycraft, but I did use that startrack in the youtube video. It definitely does not feel like free weights. Even though you can move anywhere in space, the guiding rods feel like they're supporting some weight (not a big deal) but also restrict movement. It feels like moving your hand through jello instead of through the air. For me, it makes me off balance on squats, which doesn't mean you won't like it.

[sherman]

Those machine are not 3D, they are 2D. The third dimension is side to side. Some day a true 3D self spotter will come along, but it will take a genius to invent it, probably cost a small fortune too.

[morebarbell]

I'll buy one when they can move in 4 dimensions.

[sherman]

I'll buy one when they can move in 4 dimensions.

My bad. Time is the 4th dimension. So yes, adding time, the Jones does move in 3 dimensions, and the genius machine will move in 4 dimensions.

Will that mean that you now want 5 dimensions MB?

Sorry for the confusion I might have created.

[morebarbell]

Three is being too generous. It can only move forward in time. I was OK with saying it was 2D but I guess it could be considered 2.5D. I'm still going to hold out for 4 whole dimensions.

I'll pass on the 5th dimension.

[Maluket]

Which lifts do you think you'd feel more confident lifting heavier on? Maybe I'm off base, but I consider "much more safety features" to be a marketing gimmick, not a statement of fact. I just trust a rack more. For me, there's something more reassuring about those big, solid safeties in a rack. Now, the Star Trac has those, but in exchange, you have to rack at the front or back of the machine, which to me gives up the one arguable advantage. I suppose providing side to side balance IS a safety feature, keeping you from losing it so badly sideways that you propel the bar halfway out of the rack and off of the safeties on one side, but I'm not sure how much the active balance bar still forces you to balance side to side. In any case...

Those machine are not 3D, they are 2D. The third dimension is side to side. Some day a true 3D self spotter will come along, but it will take a genius to invent it, probably cost a small fortune too.

Ignoring the sarcasm and risking negs, exactly. If you're unsatisfied with the safety of a power rack or want the advantage of being able to "rack" the bar at any point, instantly, the free-spotter gives you full 3D motion and safety, it's cheap, and it works great. About all you lose are lifts that require significant bar rotation, but are you really doing curls and Olympic lifts in your rack?

Now, if I were doing Olympic lifts, I'd probably love to be able to release safely at any point. But I don't want to be lifting through jello to do it. That's not Olympic lifting. And probably releasing safely means you have bumper plates and lots of room and you just drop the bar.

Anyway, I don't consider a free-spotter necessary. I love mine, but I think you get sufficient safety from a power rack. I just like that extra margin of safety, and I like being able to rack and unrack the weight at any point, which I see as the supposed advantages of the Jones you're considering. Unnecessary advantages in my opinion, but if you want them (and I did), you can get them cheaper and better.

[jacky79]

Hey guys, thanks for all of your valuable inputs, appreciate them...

Let me share more information about this Active Balance Bar. In the market right now, there are 3 manufacturers who do Jones and they are BodyCraft, StarTrac and Hoist. Jones from StarTrac (Max Rack) and Jones from Hoist (PTS-1000) are using Olympic bar or Power bar. While Jones from BodyCraft is the only one who provides the option for Active Balance Bar.

Active Balance Bar incorporates the need for lateral stability which effectively provides the unique benefits of free-weight training, combined with the safety of machine training. Olympic bar or Power bar on a Jones does not provide muscular symmetry or engage synergistic stabilizer muscles. Only Active Balance Bar does that. Please have a look at the picture below showing the lifting of a Active Balance Bar.

For me, I am still 50/50 on getting a Power Rack or a Jones with Active Balance Bar. The concern that i have, for example i am doing bench press with heavy weight. My chest muscles and triceps got very tired on the 5th reps due to lifting on super heavy weight. But i wish to push 1 more before giving up. For the Jones, i might feel more confident to push further on this 6th reps because i could rack half way if feel not able to go on anymore. For the Power Rack, i will probably got stuck during the 6th reps and ending up the bar resting on top of my chest while waiting for my muscles to recover to lift and rack the bar on the original position.

However, there any few disadvantages of Jones like the jello feeling while lifting on Jones. And it's not really 100% free weight movement, there might be some part of muscles not able to be utilized compare to lifting a bar on Power Rack.

Please share with me on your experience on this as well as your opinions and thoughts.

(By the way, BodyCraft does not manufacture the Jones. I am not 100% sure but i think they do not even design the Jones. Bodycraft just get them from a Taiwanese fitness equipment manufacturer. I know about this because i am currently communicating directly with the Taiwanese.)

[deiphid]

To me it seems like they've gone to a lot of effort to simulate lifting in a power cage... and ignored the fact that y'know, you could just lift in a power cage?

The startrac machine seems like a waste of time to me, you unrack the bar at the front or back of the rack, you do your lifts, then re-rack at the front or back again. If you fail on the lift you drop the bar on the safeties. Hmmm... seems suspiciously like a power rack.

Now I understand the bodycraft model allows you to re-rack anywhere within the rack, but how important is that really? If you really want to be able to re-rack a partial rep get a gun rack or shark fin style rack. Promaxima makes a rack with j-hooks that allow you to rack a partial rep.

Most of the appeal of a smith machine is that the movement is locked into a straight plane.

[deiphid]

Also, OP if you fail while benching in a power rack the bar should be resting on the rack's safeties, not your chest. You then wriggle out from under the bar (the wriggle of shame).

[ICEcap2]

IMO an expensive solution to a non-problem. A good rack and barbell can do the same thing. Olympic lifting would be a joke. People spend 500 to 1100 just for good bars to do Olympic lifting it is all negated by the friction of this equipment.

[Detrus]

If you can't finish the rep in a power rack, you can still control it on the way down to the spotters. And push yourself to a ridiculous extent. If you want the ability to re-rack anywhere use shermworks free spotter in a power rack. This way you have a real freeweight power rack and not a weird contraption that's a psychological gimmick for people who fear freeweights. Don't worry, if you injure yourself lifting crazy heavy it won't be because a machine didn't limit your ROM or you couldn't re-rack any place you wanted.

[morebarbell]

The ProSpot Fitness Fusion Loop is another one. It allows the bar to travel in 3 dimensions... but not back in time.

[daniel327]

The ProSpot Fitness Fusion Loop is another one. It allows the bar to travel in 3 dimensions... but not back in time.

That's a pretty good deal, especially with the built in dual weight stack cable machine.

[Wildtim]

That's a pretty good deal, especially with the built in dual weight stack cable machine.

Except that Prospot cost so much and broke so often that the company went under so you need to travel back in time to find one.

[morebarbell]

Someone mentioned that the patent rights were purchased. There might be a new Pro Spot (to repair) in the future.

....

Many years ago, a company sold a kind-of-similar machine, call the Pro Spot. It was a power rack with a cable-suspended "free" bar, and operated with solenoids, relays, and sensors. It was supposed to 'catch' the bar when the trainee reached 'failure,' or otherwise was unable to get the load off of himself.

It was a commercial failure due to it's unreliability and lack of people to repair it when it (frequently) broke down. I read online somewhere a few months ago that some new company had bought the patent rights and was planning to bring this thing back to market.

I wonder if they'll assume the liability of the original company, and make good on all the lawsuits filed against it.

[halrabeah]

Except that Prospot cost so much and broke so often that the company went under so you need to travel back in time to find one.

Ressurecting this one for evidence. Is this true? I'm looking at one being sold locally.