The E-Maxx Bar (aka “the SuperQuake”) is a member of Bandbell’s Bamboo Bar family of bars – a line of hand-made specialty barbells designed around the principle of Oscillating Kinetic Energy (OKE). The SuperQuake has the same hardened ash & composite resin shaft as the original Bamboo and Earthquake Bar, but because it’s over 6″ longer and has 33% more band capacity, the SuperQuake allows for more weight and has greater kinetic energy potential.
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The Rogue EZ Curl Bar – easily one of the most well-received and sought-after pieces of training equipment released in the last year. An instant success; just about every batch made available since its initial release has sold out the same day (it took me over three months to catch one in stock and place an order!) Are you wondering what makes a curl bar so popular?
About a year back I published a positive review for the Spud Inc Econo Lat & Tricep Pulley. I praised it for its ease of use, versatility, and low price. I even went so far as to refer to it as one of the best garage gym accessories on the market for under $100.
Well you will be happy to know that my opinion of the Spud Econo Pulley has not changed. It’s still just as functional, convenient, and almost as affordable as the day I published my original review. As a matter of fact my own Spud pulley gets used multiple times each week, and I cannot think of any other gym accessory that’s not only this inexpensive, but also used so frequently.
This is one of my ‘just in case you missed it’ articles where I highlight a handful of the more notable new training releases of the past couple months. If you’ve recently stumbled across a new strength training product that you found especially interesting and useful for a garage gym and it’s not listed here, feel free to share it in the comments. Enjoy!
Last spring I published a full review of the California Bar; American Barbell’s flagship WOD bar. If you happened to read that review then you already know that I discovered it to be a great mid-range WOD bar with a long list of pros. I found the overall quality, reliability, and performance to be outstanding for such a reasonably priced WOD bar, and I had absolutely no problem giving it a favorable review.
Athletes who focus their training around the two explosive Olympic lifts have a tendency to buy higher performance, more dependable training equipment than athletes who don’t Olympic lift at all; items like whippy, 28 mm bearing bars, competition-style bumper plates, and $200+ shoes. They buy this expensive equipment not just because of the edge that it can give to performance, but also because premium equipment is expected to last longer than the cheap stuff. But is this necessary?
This is a review of the new Rogue Fitness Stainless Steel Ohio Bar. In this comprehensive review I’ll go over the Stainless Steel Ohio’s technical specs, the benefits of stainless steel, knurl pattern, sleeve rotation, and elasticity. I’ll also compare the SS Ohio to the American Barbell SS bars, comment on comparisons to other stainless bars, and finally I’ll talk about how the new SS Ohio Bar compares to the classic Ohio Bars. As always, if I miss anything important or if you have a question regarding the review, leave a comment below.
Welcome to my 2016 Christmas gift ideas list. Every year I try to come up with a handful of products that may help you find the perfect gift for the gym rat in your life. Even if you don’t think that any of the suggestions I make are perfect for your friends or loved ones, hopefully something will at least spark an idea, and perhaps point you in the right direction.
You have a lot of options when shopping for new kettlebells. You can run down to Wal-Mart or Dick’s Sporting Goods and buy some inexpensive, plastic-coated kettlebells that’ll hold you over for a little while; you can order some half-decent scrap iron kettlebells from online fitness outlets or CrossFit shops; or you can spend a little bit more cash and buy some real kettlebells – and by real I mean kettlebells that are made of high quality materials, accurate to claimed weight, ergonomic & well-balanced, and durable enough to never crack, dent, or fall apart.
This is an in-depth review of the Vulcan Absolute Power Bar; the black oxide and raw steel variant (the other variant being entirely stainless steel). While the two Absolute Power Bar variants are similar they are also very different, so this review is not quite as relevant when it comes to the SS Absolute.
The Absolute Power Bar is a relatively new addition to the Vulcan bar line-up. It’s a rather beautiful, high strength, IPF-spec’d bar that has all of the features that you’d expect from a premium powerlifting bar; like a strong, 29 mm shaft; black oxide finish over a moderately-aggressive knurl; grooved bare steel sleeves; and a 4″ passive center knurl. The Absolute has a couple of unique features as well.
I received an email from Rogue Fitness a couple of days ago announcing that three Rogue powerlifting products are now approved and certified by the IPF (International Powerlifting Federation); making them legal equipment for IPF sanctioned powerlifting meets. The three products include the 20kg Rogue Ohio Power Bar, the Kilogram Competition Collars, and of course the Calibrated Kilogram Steel Discs, and .
This is a simple and brief DIY guide on how to convert your anchored power rack into a lat tower using the Spud Inc Econo Pulley and some basic rack components. This conversion is very simple to set up, yet it gives you access to heavy lat pulldowns and cable rows; just to name a couple. This DIY set-up is much cheaper than owning an actual cable machine or lat tower, and it requires no floor space commitment when not in use. Many of you might even to be able to set this up without spending a penny.
With the increasing popularity of Vulcan Strength’s barbells, and the seemingly boundless expansion of their bar collection, it seemed about time for a comprehensive buyer’s guide. This is that guide. Your questions, comments, thoughts, and personal feedback is welcome in the comments section below, as your opinions are just as important as mine; if not more so.
I purchased a pair of Rogue’s new Olympic Competition Collars and have been using them for about a good month now. I thought I’d spend a few minutes going over some of the finer points of these collars while also giving you my opinion of them. You know, just in case you have these on your radar.
A few months back I picked up a couple pairs of the Thompson Fatbells. After having spent a good amount of time messing around and training with these bad boys, I figured I’d spend a few minutes telling you what I think about them.
