The Trap Bar, also known as a hex bar, is a hexagonally shaped, Weight Plate loadable, barbell, which you step inside of. It often gets used for exercises like weighted shrugs, but is there more to a trap bar than just shrugs?

Differences Between a Trap Bar and an Olympic Bar

The hexagonal shape, unlike a straight Olympic bar, stops your body from getting in the way of the bar during lifts. They also come with a neutral grip position (palms facing the sides of your body), which is unique to the trap bar, allowing for a stronger grip on the bar.

This can be beneficial for multiple reasons: for beginners working on technique, to allow you to move the weight faster and to perform movements that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to with a traditional barbell.

So no, shrug barbell applications are not just limited to weighted shrugs.

Trap Bar Exercises

Trap Bar Squats

• Step into the trap bar and initiate the set with a deep bodyweight squat, until you are low enough to grab onto the handles.

• Take a deep breath and brace, pulling your shoulders back and down towards your bum.

• Stand back up with the weight, with your hips and shoulders rising at the same rate.

• Then continue the set with the weight staying in your hands.

• Each rep, sit between you knees, with your hips and shoulders rising and falling at the same rate, until your hips are below parallel.

Benefits of Trap Bar Squats

The trap bar squat is a somewhat niche exercise but for those without a squat rack or with poor upper body mobility, for whom barbell back squats are off the menu, then this can be a perfect substitute to still load the squat pattern heavily. A great exercise for a home gym with limited equipment.

Trap Bar Deadlift

• Step inside the hex, with your feet together, shoulder width apart.

• Push you hips back to the wall behind you until you run out of range. Then bend your knees until you can reach the handles.

• Grab the middle of the handle.

• Take a deep breath and brace, pulling your shoulders down towards your bum.

• Push the floor away to stand up, before slowly reversing the movement to lower it back down.

Benefits of Trap Bar Deadlifts

The hex shaped bar easily moves past your knees, while keeping the weight over our centre of mass. This makes it a unique deadlift variation because you can load the bar heavy but also move it fast. This is important for both athletes and general population, given that power is a good measure of functional capacity as we age and also has a greater carry over to most sports.

Trap Bar Farmers Walks

• Load up the hex bar to 30-50% (as a start point) of your deadlift 1 repetition maximum.

• Stand tall with the hex bar in your hands and your shoulders back and down.

• Walk 10-20 meters (as a start point) with the trap bar, like you’re carrying in the shopping.

• Focus on keeping your shoulders level, as if balancing a glass of water on your head, thus forcing you to stabilize your hips.

• Take slow, deep breaths throughout.

• Rest and repeat.

Benefits of Trap Bar Farmers Walks

The farmer’s carry is plenty popular in both WODs (work outs of the day) and as part of a strength session. For beginners, the farmer walk is a great exercise for developing general strength and a strong posterior, while they work on technique during the main lifts.

However, the farmer walk, usually gets performed using a pair of kettlebells or dumbbells, which are limited in weight but also requires a lot of kit for progressive overload. The trap bar allows you to load your farmer walks much more, allowing you to get strong, without needing to be a technical master in the gym.

By all means stick to trap bar shrugs, but the trap bar has so much more to offer that you don’t want to miss out on! Want to investigate further? Read our guide on the trap bar deadlift.

Written by guest author Ewan Hammond.

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Tags: Equipment > Bars & Weight Plates ; Exercise Type > Strength ; Misc > Workout