Bamboo Bar

[Robert Hunt]

Anyone know where to purchase a bamboo barbell? Beginning to think Louie made his.lol.

Enjoy.

http://bandbell.com/ wfs

[Gene Pires]

for $285?
Is there a benefit to using this over simply putting the bands over a standard bar?
Is there that much more flex in the wooden shaft?

I have never used one myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuU4G...eature=related wfs

[Robert Hunt]

Thanks Rob!

[Zach S]

Sorry but what a waste of money.

[Daniel Frankel]

The belief and concept behind the bar is useful and quite interesting, in my opinion. But agreed with above poster, you could just take a par and hang kettlebells from it with bands.

[Preston Sprimont]

Originally Posted by Daniel Frankel

The belief and concept behind the bar is useful and quite interesting, in my opinion. But agreed with above poster, you could just take a par and hang kettlebells from it with bands.

Yes, hanging kettlebells is one way of adding "chaos" to your lift to involve more of the stabilization muscles (and one that I rather like for its simplicity), but I imagine that using a very flexible bar (the bamboo bar) would just multiply that chaos and work those stabilizing muscles all that much more. And the guys using the bamboo bar in the Westside video use it with a bunch of KBs hung from either side and I think with resistance bands attached to the rack too. All kinds of crazy.
For the average guy who wants to get strong, I'd say it's a waste of money. But if you're competitive in powerlifting or need it for rehabilitative purposes (though I have no idea if/how it works for rehab), it might be a worthwhile purchase (if you have $300 dollars ready for the spendin').

[Lindy Hruska]

I like the theory behind the Bandbell. My understanding is that the bar weighs less than 5 pounds but is strong enough to hold around 200lb. I decided to try it and see if I could help strengthen an injured shoulder. I bought some PVC and put some KB's on the bar- For $10 it seems to work similarly to the Bandbell bar. (based only upon watching WS videos for comparison, I have not used it personally) I'm sure there are some benefits to the Bandbell that I am not going to experience, but for now it seems to be a reasonable alternative for an "experiment"...

[Robert Fabsik]

I used the Bandell Barbell when at Westside Barbell and after seeing the vid posted on the CF Journal the other day, I thought I'd see how it would feel on a regular steel bar.

The Bandell Bar creates tons more chaos than a steel bar. The bandell bar clearly shook much more in my hands and helped me notice an imbalance I have on my left compared to my right.

On a steel bar, there was some instability with the weights hanging from the bands, but it wasnt' as robust. I think the mass of the bar helps you balance any strength imbalances much easier.

Seems that trying with a PVC pipe would be a cheap place to start and if you were too strong for that, move on to the bandell bar.

I think of the bandell bar for the bench is what pistols is for the squat. It really helps with stabilizing and grooving form. You can make an ugly squat, but it is damn tough with a pistol. Same thing with the Bandell bar.