Do you need barbell training?

- Tweet0
- 0
- Pin It 0
- 0
- Subscribe to RSS
Subscribe

Subject: Do you need barbell training?

Unlike the kettlebell, which belongs in the training arsenal of every man and woman, champion and beginner alike, the bar is not for everyone.

You must train with the barbell if:

1. Your sport demands very high levels of absolute strength.

In some events, the sky is the limit. If your sport is a “speed-strength” sport, you need the bar. You are a thrower, a jumper, a sprinter.

Strength matters in every sport, but in some, like boxing or distance running, reaching some point of diminishing returns is enough. Beyond that level, competitive excellence has to come from other qualities, and extra strength is not an asset and/or even a liability.

An MMA fighter does not need to be stronger than a powerlifter, just stronger than other fighters. Because he does not have to maximize his absolute strength development, he can build all the strength that he needs with kettlebells and bodyweight.

Note that I did not say that he should not train with a barbell—just that he does not need to.

2. You need to maximize your muscle mass.

You are a football player. Or you simply choose to be as large as a tank.

Other modalities can build a lot of muscle—but none as much as the trusted barbell. You are not going to add 20 pounds of meat in six weeks lifting kettlebells and you do not stand a chance with bodyweight.

So hit some heavy fives in barbell squats and deads, eat and sleep like a teenager, and you will have to replace your wardrobe in a couple of months.

3. You love the adrenaline rush of heavy lifting.

Primal rage.

Tunnel vision in which nothing else exists or matters—only your opponent, cold hard steel.

An uncompromising one-time effort.

The victory of standing up with a bending bar.

If you have not experienced this thrill, you do not know what you are missing.