Using the Safety Squat Bar

By CJ Murphy, MFS for EliteFTS.com

The Safety Squat Bar (SSB) is one of the most versatile tools you have in the gym. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Powerlifter, Athlete, Strongman, or Body Builder (it pains me to write that last word) – EVERY GYM NEEDS A SAFTY SQUAT BAR! (Available at elitefts.com).

As I troll around on the Internet forums, I see this is a subject of many questions from “How do I use it?” to “Can girls use it?” In this article, I’ll give you some examples of our favorite Strongman assistance exercises. You can invest a few hundred bucks in a SSB, which will last longer than you, and use it for countless exercises, which is great for the budget conscious.

Don’t misread me, I’m not saying the SSB replaces event training, but for those without the cash or the room for a full set of Strongman implements, the SSB can give you a tremendous bang for the buck. Many, if not all of the exercises, will benefit everyone – not just Strongman.

Besides the basics (Squats & Good Mornings) which are listed in Dave Tate’s SSB article, I’m going to present 4 of the best exercises you can do with the SSB and the events they will help you with.

They are: Zercher Squat, Zercher Walks, Walking Lunge, and SSB “Yoke” Walk.

SSB Zercher Squat

As many of you know, the Zercher Squat is one of the gym lifts that has the most overall carryover to Strongman events. It places a greater load on the arms (biceps), torso, and for many, their will to continue. The Zercher Squat is absolutely no fun to do heavy!

The SSB makes a great Zercher Bar for two reasons: The camber of the bar keeps the weight closer to your centerline, minimizing shearing forces on the lumbar spine but more importantly, it’s padded! The padding on the yoke takes a great deal of the bicep pain away, allowing you to squat more weight for more reps.

To perform a SSB Zercher Squat, set the bar in a power rack about even with the upper portion of your abs. Set the pins in the rack about 1” below the bottom of your lowest point in the squat. Wrap your arms around the yoke and lift it out if the rack and begin your squats. Try to keep the bar from sliding down as you squat and keep your upper body straight (no excessive forward leaning).

I’m not going to discuss specifics of how to squat, as there are many great articles about that on this site, but try different stances from shoulder width to very wide to stress the body differently.

This exercise will not only improve your Strongman training by strengthening your whole body, but it will also help in certain events like the Conan’s Wheel, the Yoke Carry, and any event requiring walking with heavy objects.

SSB Zercher Walks

Zercher walks are done very similarly to the Zercher squat, but with the exception of squatting.

Lift the bar as if you were going to do a Zercher Squat and walk with it for a predetermined distance. A pair of squat stands are best are best for this but a power rack can be used. Try to use a weight you can walk with for 50-100 feet. You’ll also need a fairly large area for you to do these as turns are usually required, unless you have 2 squat stands or are doing these on a soft surface.

I would also advise against dropping the bar on the ground when done. Instead, walk, turn and return it to the racks. Your turns should be slow and precise as this exercise really stresses the torso strength at the height of the turn. It also strengthens the ankles much like in the Farmers Walk.

SSB Walking Lunge

The Walking Lunge is one of the best overall exercises to strengthen the legs, hips, and torso and doing them with the SSB add an even greater load onto the torso and upper back.

Before starting, make sure your area is clear of obstructions. I would also suggest doing these with the empty bar the first time you try this to get used to the movement. In the beginning, try doing these for distance, 100 feet is a good start. Once you have gotten the hang of it, load the bar up and try for 200’ or more. And one more thing, — USE COLLARS!

To perform this exercise, step out of the rack with the bar on your shoulders as if doing a squat. Step forward into a lunge, making sure your knee is behind your toe on the lead leg. Explode up from the lunge position and step forward moving into the next lunge. Try to go from one lunge position to the next without stopping for the desired number of reps.

As the lunge is a basic exercise, I won’t bore you with the discussion on technique, but there are two key points worth mentioning. First, take as long of a stride forward as you can and second, step up with your weight on your heel.

Doing these two things along with keeping the knee behind the toes and in-line with the feet will minimize shear forces on your patella tendon.

The SSB Walking Lunge doesn’t specifically strength any one Strongman event in particular like the other exercises I’ve listed so far. It does, however, when done heavy and for high reps/distances, kick your ass!

The SSB Walking Lunge will make you stronger, increase your conditioning, improve dynamic flexibility, your balance, and more. This truly is one of the few “wonder” exercises that gives unbelievable gains if you are man enough to train at it hard!

SSB Yoke Walk The SSB Yoke Walk is a great substitute for those who don’t have a yoke but it does differ from a regular yoke as the weight lever is much higher. You won’t be able to go as heavy on these as you would on a yoke, but it really won’t matter. Remember, this isn’t a replacement for the yoke, it is assistance work, and one of the best substitute exercises if you don’t own your own yoke.

The SSB Yoke Walk, like all SSB exercises, hits the traps and upper back like a sledge hammer. One thing we have found when training with the yoke is that heavy weights find your weaknesses fast and it’s usually in the abs/torso region. You’ll see people start squirming and wiggling on these pretty quickly when the yoke is loaded up. The SSB Yoke Walk stresses the abs/torso from a different position and less weight can be used to achieve the same effect. That makes the Yoke Walk a perfect assistance exercise or a great dynamic exercise if you are following our WSB/Strongman hybrid.

For example, heavy yoke walks 50-75’ on Monday then SSB Yoke Walks 150-200’ on Friday. If you are doing a 500lb. yoke, 2 plates per side will probably be enough on the SSB Yoke Walk.

This exercise will greatly improve your Yoke, Conan’s Wheel, Farmer’s Walk, Atlas Stones and more! For some real fun – add chains! I’ll definitely be expecting some hate emails after you try this one!

Get your book on SSB Training Here

Train Hard and Get Strong!

CJ Murphy