Original Gerard Trap Bar

[middleageguy]

"Gerard Trap Bar" http://www.trapbartraining.com/ $239.99 + $70 s/h

"The Genuine Gerard Trap Bar Review" http://www.mm2k.com/trap-bar-review.html

Does anybody on the board own "The Genuine Gerard Trap Bar" or know someone that owns one or has used one?

Now I was getting the money together to buy from Jesup Gym a Hex Bar.
"Olympic Combo Shrug Bar with Free Collars" http://www.jesupgym.com/products.php?cid=12 $130.00

Then I started doing some more searching wanting to confirm more of bits and pieces of what I read about Al Gerard inventing it "because his back was so beat up from deadlifting with a straight bar".

I developed some back pain doing DeadLifts, form was poor and had been trying to improve form but eventually had to stop.
But I really miss the feeling of doing DeadLifts and the mass it helped me put on.
I'm just getting over the back pain.

So I thought as an alternative, the Hex Bar, Trap Bar...

"The Genuine Gerard Trap Bar" is quite a bit more pricy.
But if, if the design differences are enough to make a difference for my back, it would be worth it.
Look them over, at first glance they look the same, but they are different.
I will have to save for some more time, just barely scraped the extra money together for the cheaper one at Jesup Gym.

Can anyone on the board give me some advice.

 

[PaulBlack]

I own the Gerard. Personally, I have never used some of the newer trap bars, but heard some good stuff and can't really see a big difference.
Unless a knockoff is so cheap, it bends, (I did see a guy break an end off one once in a rack, but he dropped it down on the pins and it was loaded up above #600+ pounds maybe) but I think Jessup is not bad really. I know some of them have the double handles where you can either use the ones at center plate height, or use the ones that are raised. Some guys with lower back trouble may in fact benefit for the raised ones and if they so desire, work down to using the lower ones.
The best thing about the TB is the pull is more low back friendly as the weight comes up more thru the center of the body and does not have to move out over the knees like a conventional pull.
The plate ends are kinda short on the Gerard, so you need #100's if you are going up over #600 or so, which on some of the newer TB's are longer.
You can stand on a block to increase ROM and still not shift too far forward like in a reg bar dead too.
IMO it is a bit better squat sub. than a reg straight bar too.
It works for shrugs also.
The transfer power to a straight leg dead is not great IMO, but if you are looking to save the low back, it may be a good start.
It seems that when I used to use (I have been pulling a lot of conventional lately) it hit my glutes more and even the quads some (if I was standing on blocks) than the straight bar, as the strt bar hit my low back & hams better.

 

[Piston Honda]

Gerard Bar is too narrow; I prefer a hex bar. I think if you had massive legs you'd need the space a hex provides otherwise you're always rubbing against the side of your thighs.

 

[PaulBlack]

Gerard Bar is too narrow; I prefer a hex bar. I think if you had massive legs you'd need the space a hex provides otherwise you're always rubbing against the side of your thighs.

Yeah, it is not the biggest bar in there is it!?!? lol

 

[Piston Honda]

Nor am I the biggest that has stepped into one and I still feel cramped! Maybe I'm just claustrophobic!

 

[PaulBlack]

Maybe I'm just claustrophobic!

Haha, I like that...!

 

[middleageguy]

but I think Jessup is not bad really. I know some of them have the double handles where you can either use the ones at center plate height, or use the ones that are raised. Some guys with lower back trouble may in fact benefit for the raised ones and if they so desire, work down to using the lower ones.
The best thing about the TB is the pull is more low back friendly as the weight comes up more thru the center of the body and does not have to move out over the knees like a conventional pull.

more lower back friendly. Yes that's what I'm looking for.

The double handles that the hex bar at Jessup Gym is something that I notated the Gerard Trap Bar did not have.
I like the idea that the Gerard Trap Bar is made in the USA and the other little extra's, like zinc plating and the 3 books. But it's at least $100 more and does not have the double handles.
It should be a no brainer, still I feel undecided.

 

[PaulBlack]

more lower back friendly. Yes that's what I'm looking for.

The double handles that the hex bar at Jessup Gym is something that I notated the Gerard Trap Bar did not have.
I like the idea that the Gerard Trap Bar is made in the USA and the other little extra's, like zinc plating and the 3 books. But it's at least $100 more and does not have the double handles.
It should be a no brainer, still I feel undecided.

Well, honestly, all you really have to do to raise the pull, is set the weights on blocks, which in turn will raise the handles and shorten the ROM of the lift. I have 2"-3"-"4"-6" concrete blocks I use all the time. You just need a stopper so the plates do not roll off the blocks while you are lifting. (Not to sell the Gerard really, as if I was buying one now, I probably would not buy a Gerard)
I think Jessup has sold quite a few of their bars and actually, they look pretty nice too.
And wasn't Jessup Jack Nicholson's name in A Few Good Men ??? Please tell me colonel, you've got something else and have not placed these men's futures on a phone bill???