1. Gymnastic rings
The rings have gained a lot of fame over the last few years thanks to the rise of the bodyweight community. The main benefit of this tool is its versatility and effectiveness. You can build an incredibly strong upper body by doing basic movements on gymnastic rings.
Another bonus is the reduced joint stress during some exercises such as pull-ups. The rings are free and to a certain extent so are your joints when you train with rings. Consequently, your body can find a pattern that’s less stressful on the connective tissues during specific movements.
Of course, the hardest part of training with rings is building up your stabilizers. Some exercises like dips, for instance, are a lot harder on rings than on parallel bars.
2. The Trap Bar
The trap is not as popular as you may think. Many gyms don’t actually have one. Yet this is a great tool that allows you to deadlift with a more upright posture. This results in less stress on your lower back and more stress on your legs.
3.The Angled Log Bar & The T-handle barbell
The angled log bar and the t-handle barbell allow you to use a slightly different grip when benching. Your wrists and elbows can assume a neutral position, and as result, there is less stress on your shoulders. Of course, regular dumbbells could provide a similar benefit, but bars make it easier to rack and unrack the weight.
People who hate getting heavy dumbbells into position and experience pain when doing bench presses with the regular straight bar can benefit from similar non-standard bars.
The Angled Log Bar
4. The Front Squat Harness
The front squat is a solid exercise, but for some people, it’s really hard to hold the bar properly without wrist/elbow/shoulder pain. This is when devices like the squat harness come into play. If your gym has one, use it. It will allow you to front squat with less wrist pain. For more information on front squats and wrist pain, consult this post.
5.The Safety Squat Bar a.k.a Hatfield Bar
image source fredkochtraining.wordpress.com
The so-called safety squat bar takes some stress off your shoulders and gives you more control over the weight. This piece of equipment is particularly useful to people who have poor shoulder flexibility or an upper body injury that prevents them from doing regular straight bar squats.
Before using the safety squat bar, you need to learn the proper form. The biggest mistake that people make is grabbing the handles and pulling them down. This will raise the bar and cause serious stress on your neck. It may even make you go unconscious. For proper usage of the safety squat bar, consult the video below.
Happy training!
