The Bar that Doesn't Serve Alcohol
Written: Mar 05 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Effective, versatile, portable
Cons: The paper comes off and the weight of the bar is lost.
The Bottom Line: I like Spri products and I think the Body Bar is a good addition to your home gym. Fifteen pounds is a good weight to own.
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| jo.com's Full Review: SPRI Products Body Bar Fifteen Pounds SPR0248 |
I have already reviewed the 12 pound Body Bar by Spri. The other day in a class called Totally Tone I used the 15 pound bar by Spri. I now use them with clients as well and find them useful.
What is this?
The Body Bar is a solid steel weighted bar. In the gym I use different weights depending on what I am doing. I think the Body Bar is a good addition to your home gym especially if you have a couple of sets of dumbbells. Most likely, if you are a women, you have a set of 5 and 8 pounds.
I have never seen a man use the Body Bar nor have I trained a man using it. At 15 pounds it is too light for most men although it can be useful if you have been injured and are just getting back to working out.
It has a lot of great qualities making this an essential piece for the home. It has thick foam rubber padding around it. This makes the bar comfortable to use and gives me a secure grip. The bar is less than 2 inches in diameter. When I get into a few exercises you can use the Body Bar for you will see why the Body Bar is so beneficial.
I do not recommend this for children. It is too heavy for them to attempt to carry and too easy to hurt another child either as a weapon or by accident! Although these are not considered lethal weapons, seriously make sure your children are not playing with your weights.
The Spri 15 pound bar is 4 feet long. Each bar is color coded at the ends with smooth rubber caps to make it easy to know what weight you are using. The 15 pound bar is color coded in green. All the bars are black. The Spri Body Bar has the weight written on it so you do not have to worry about the color. Having said that, I have found that the areas on each end where the color and weight can be found peels off. So you may only know what it weighs is there is some of the paper left on it. This is the one negative to the bar. Other than the fact they have put the color and weight on paper that peels, the bar is indestructible.
The Body Bar does not replace dumbbells but I use them along with dumbbells. I will often superset (work one muscle and then an opposing muscle such as biceps and then triceps) using the Bar and dumbbells.
A plus for those working out at home or the beginner is the fact the body bar gives you even weight distribution for stability. In plain English this is what I mean by that statement. When you use dumbbells each hand has to do its own work. That is fantastic and one of the reasons we love dumbbells. However if you find that one arm is weak (a good reason to work with dumbbells but maybe you do not feel ready) using a bar alleviates that weakness.
What happens is the other arm will compensate for the weak arm. If your goal is to get into fantastic shape and gain strength at some point you will want to add dumbbells to your routine to make that weak arm work. For now, though, we will stick with the body bar.
An instruction sheet comes with the Body Bar depending on where you buy it.
It is portable. You can just stand it up or lie it down in a corner so it takes up little room. Since it is encased in rubber with no metal on it at all, you do not have to worry about it scratching your floor or catching on your carpeting.
Ok personal trainer, what should I do with this bar?
I am going to start with what I do not want you do to. I do not want you to put the bar behind you and bend from side to side. You may do this because we all used to. You may think it will whittle away your waist. First of all you cannot spot reduce. Second of all some of us think that using weights when bending side to side may thicken your waist.
You can stretch from side to side. You will do that in Yoga or Pilates or just to stretch out your muscles. It is only when you add weight to it that I have a concern. You can put the bar behind you and twist from right to left. That is fine. That works your oblique muscles (the muscles at the sides of your waist) It is quite tempting to use it behind your back. Many of us grew up using wooden bars to whittle away our waists! Try not to be tempted.
Since I mentioned supersets I will go through with you two exercises I superset. I hold the bar by my sides. My elbows are tucked in tightly. This is crucial. I then am going to go through a variety of moves to work my biceps. I will lift the bar in a full range of motion. My arms will go from full extended to curled by my shoulders. I will do that 12 times.
I will now immediately do a tricep extension. I will use my Body Bar since I am supersetting but I can easily use my dumbbells for a change of pace. I am showing you how to superset and how you can incorporate the Body Bar and dumbbells in one workout. A tricep extension is done by lifting the bar overhead and bringing it down so that my elbows are facing front and as close to my head as possible. I then lift the bar. I will use my Body Bar since I am supersetting but I can easily use my dumbbells for a change of pace. I am showing you how to superset and how you can incorporate the Body Bar and dumbbells in one workout.
I am then going to put the bar down by my sides but this time when I lift the bar I am going to pulse 12 times making sure my biceps are tight and that I am squeezing them. Pulsing movements are short little movements.
I will now do a set of 12 tricep extensions.
I then am going to hold the bar in the up position and bring it down for a count of 2 and up for a count of 1. I will do that 12 times. I will now do another set of tricep extensions.
I will then hold the Bar in the extended position and bring it up for a count of 2 and down for a count of 1. I will do that 12 times. By this time my biceps and triceps and yours should be burning. You can also be creative with the Spri Body Bar. If you have a Resistance Tube you can put each handle on the ends of the bar, step on the tube and do squats. This will give you more resistance, in effect, adding weight to the bar without having to own plates for a barbell.
My Final Thoughts:
I really like the Spri 15 pound Body Bar. If I do not get to the gym I will use the Bar at home. I think it has filled a void that was empty. You can now essentially have a barbell in your home, which is comfortable to hold and not as heavy as a traditional metal barbell (25 pounds). It is versatile, takes up little space and though not portable in the sense that you can put it in your suitcase it can be carried from room to room.
I highly recommend this if you are looking for a piece of equipment that will do more than one body part safely. Please talk with your doctor before starting any exercise routine and make sure you know how to use this so you do not get hurt.
The Spri Body Bar will run you about $40. That is on the high end. You can find others that are $10 and even $20 less. I like the Spri brand. I have found their products durable and of good quality.
Please feel to leave me a question or comment. You may e-mail me privately for advice as well.
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Recommended:
Yes
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