Olympic vs cambered bar deadlift

[OrigamiProdigy]

Which you like better?

[BeginnerGainz]

Wth is a cambered bar deadlift?

[POTA]

Wth is a cambered bar deadlift?

/thread

[Brandon2576]

I would absolutely love to see someone deadlift with a camber bar from the floor.

[radrd]

Other than an olympic bar, I think hex/trap bar and fat/axel bar are about the only ones you'd use to deadlift. I bet OP meant hex bar. I still vote olympic.

[Brandon2576]

Other than an olympic bar, I think hex/trap bar and fat/axel bar are about the only ones you'd use to deadlift. I bet OP meant hex bar. I still vote olympic.

Yea he probably did and I would still go Olympic too. I think Hex bars are kinda just an ego stroke. They may be useful for people with injuries, but for the healthy person they should be deadlifting with a regular bar. I’ve done axle before. It is great for grip work, but for just deadlifting I’d still go Olympic bar.

[dumb.bell]

I think it depends on what muscles you are trying to work. Personally, I prefer the hex lift because it allows me to hit the quads more. I have trouble hitting quads, so any exercise that allows me to engage the quads more is a winner for me.

[C123C]

I assume he meant hex. Reality it that hex dramatically changes the lift. That's neither good nor bad if you don't compete but a deadlift is pulling using the posterior chain with the weight in front of you. Once you center the weight, this is completely different maybe more akin to a squat variant or full body push from the floor (hence dumb.bell's comment about quad recruitment above). Despite any individual preferences, for general fitness I wouldn't completely neglect pulling from the floor in some form (dead, clean, high pull variants etc...). It's just fundamental to the human body and functionality. Obviously if you can't deadlift for some reason but can use a hex bar more easily - have at it - we all work with what we have.

My 2 cents anyway.

[Duplicitous]

Yea he probably did and I would still go Olympic too. I think Hex bars are kinda just an ego stroke. They may be useful for people with injuries, but for the healthy person they should be deadlifting with a regular bar. I’ve done axle before. It is great for grip work, but for just deadlifting I’d still go Olympic bar.

I've been DL with a hex bar for several years and ego has never come into it. My femurs are long AF, which puts me at a biomechanical disadvantage (and my back in a more precarious position) for the DL. For 1-2 years I tried pulling Sumo and that worked ok. One day I decided to try trap bar DL and liked the movement so much I just stuck with it. I don't compete and my goal is simply strength building, so I see no tangible benefit to being locked into any exercise just because I'm "supposed" to.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

My vote is for the Hex Bar deadlift, you get strength, a better mechanical advantage to train in higher rep ranges with it, health and longevity (due to it saving pressure off the lower back).

If you don't compete, don't have the leverages for it, like your shins, or just aren't that involved learning conventional...a pull from the floor is a pull from the floor at the end of the day and pair that up with heavy weights on it and trust me your strength levels won't falter either way. There's many ways to lift and conventional is not the end all be all (no disrespect to it, but pick whichever you like and get lifting).

[Brandon2576]

The reason I say hex bars are an ego stroke is because you can lift a lot more weight (generally speaking) on a hex bar than if you are pulling from a barbell (sumo or conventional). I think hex bars change the movement because of different loading patterns. Yes it’s a pull from the floor, but no it’s not the same. The hex bar is much more quad dominant as someone said earlier. Regular deadlifts are much more glutes and hamstrings. Also, the weight is not in front of you with a hex bar which makes a huge different. Because of this displacement of weight, it turns a hex bar into more of a knee dominant movement instead of a hip hinge. Almost everyone if not everyone is in a biomechanically better position to pull more weight using a hex bar. Not to mention, grip is a lot easier on a hex bar (atleast in my findings).

[Duplicitous]

The reason I say hex bars are an ego stroke is because you can lift a lot more weight (generally speaking) on a hex bar than if you are pulling from a barbell (sumo or conventional). I think hex bars change the movement because of different loading patterns. Yes it’s a pull from the floor, but no it’s not the same. The hex bar is much more quad dominant as someone said earlier. Also the weight is not in front of you with a hex bar which makes a huge different. Almost everyone if not everyone is in a biomechanically better position to pull more weight using a hex bar. Not to mention, grip is a lot easier on a hex bar (atleast in my findings).

Yeah, I understood what you were saying the first time and I responded accordingly. We all get that it's a different movement. And? For someone with long femurs it's not simply a biomechanical disadvantage in terms of the amount of weight that can be moved, but also one of putting one's back in a more stressful position, which can have a significant impact over time. Regardless, I don't subscribe to the idea that anyone "must" do any movement unless you're competing, in which case it doesn't make sense to avoid a specific lift that you need to be able to perform in competition.

[Brandon2576]

Yeah, I understood what you were saying the first time and I responded accordingly. We all get that it's a different movement. And? For someone with long femurs it's not simply a biomechanical disadvantage in terms of the amount of weight that can be moved, but also one of putting one's back in a more stressful position, which can have a significant impact over time. Regardless, I don't subscribe to the idea that anyone "must" do any movement unless you're competing, in which case it doesn't make sense to avoid a specific lift that you need to be able to perform in competition.

By no means am I saying if you aren’t gonna do a regular deadlift then don’t deadlift at all btw. I always think doing something is better than doing nothing. If you absolutely hate regular deadlift then do hex bar. I am just saying why I personally don’t like it. If I had to guess for the majority of hex bar lifters, they do hex bar because the deadlift is too “hard” and the hex bar is easier. I think with proper progression and technique the deadlift is not gonna hurt the back, but if you feel it is and won’t do deadlift because of it by all means go ahead and do the hex bar. I would rather see someone do something than them do nothing as I said earlier.

[Duplicitous]

By no means am I saying if you aren’t gonna do a regular deadlift then don’t deadlift at all btw. I always think doing something is better than doing nothing. If you absolutely hate regular deadlift then do hex bar. I am just saying why I personally don’t like it. If I had to guess for the majority of hex bar lifters, they do hex bar because the deadlift is too “hard” and the hex bar is easier. I think with proper progression and technique the deadlift is not gonna hurt the back, but if you feel it is and won’t do deadlift because of it by all means go ahead and do the hex bar. I would rather see someone do something than them do nothing as I said earlier.

Whether you choose to accept it or not, it's widely accepted that biomechanics play a significant role in how far a given lifter is going to be able to take a particular lift and the impact that lift is going to have on the lifter over time. It's not a matter of it being hard or easy. It's a matter of deciding whether - if you are at a biomechanical disadvantage - you would rather continue on with a given lift knowing the long-term repercussions or make adjustments that allow you to continue to get stronger while taking long-term health into consideration.

If Joe has a curved acromion, he is going to be far more susceptible to pressing-induced shoulder impingement than John with a flat acromion. If Joe keeps pressing heavy with an Oly bar, he is going to have long-term shoulder problems long before he would had he swapped the Oly bar out for a football/swiss bar or dumbbells whereas John can probably go on pressing with the Oly bar forever and may never have a shoulder impingement issue. If Joe is 25, he'll probably just keep using the Oly bar because he is "supposed to." When Joe turns 45, however, he may change his perspective.

[Brandon2576]

Whether you choose to accept it or not, it's widely accepted that biomechanics play a significant role in how far a given lifter is going to be able to take a particular lift and the impact that lift is going to have on the lifter over time. It's not a matter of it being hard or easy. It's a matter of deciding whether - if you are at a biomechanical disadvantage - you would rather continue on with a given lift knowing the long-term repercussions or make adjustments that allow you to continue to get stronger while taking long-term health into consideration.

If Joe has a curved acromion, he is going to be far more susceptible to pressing-induced shoulder impingement than John with a flat acromion. If Joe keeps pressing heavy with an Oly bar, he is going to have long-term shoulder problems long before he would had he swapped the Oly bar out for a football/swiss bar or dumbbells whereas John can probably go on pressing with the Oly bar forever and may never have a shoulder impingement issue. If Joe is 25, he'll probably just keep using the Oly bar because he is "supposed to." When Joe turns 45, however, he may change his perspective.

I am not arguing that some people are not biomechanically at disadvantages at all. I know some people are. That is why some people are great at sumo and some people suck. Biomechanics can play huge rolls in how much a person is able to lift and how efficiently the person is able to lift. If a lift hurts you, don't do it. I never said to do it. I just said if I had to guess that majority of people doing hex bars are doing it cause it is easy. Meaning that some people do it because of injuries or other related issues, but most people do it because it is easier.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Even though this is off topic from Hex Bar deadlifts, the Hex Bar is excellent for shrugs as well (depending on how you train).