Raising The Bar by Al Kavadlo
On Sale
$2.00
$2.00
Raising The Bar by Al Kavadlo
A heavily muscled urban athlete lines up under the high bar and looks up at it
grimly. He’s oblivious to his surroundings; the cars streaming past, the kids
playing and shouting all around, the noise of the city. All he sees is that bar—
he knows it’s the key to the extra muscle and power he needs to build.
A lean, tattooed convict queues up in the yard to work out on the rusty pull-up unit—
he may only be able to use it twice this week, and he’s got to get his workout done fast
and efficiently if he wants to stay on top of his game.
An elite gymnast arrives at the gym for her early morning session. After a brief warm-
up, she heads to her second home—the horizontal bars. The true training is about to
begin.
Some icy rain begins to spit as a tough, grizzled marine hops up to grip the iron chinning
bar left outside the barracks. Like endless generations of warriors and soldiers before him,
he’s mastering his bodyweight. Pull-ups, pull-ups, and more pull-ups for this wily vet.
What do all these fearsome athletes have in common? They’re using that damn bar!
And with pretty good reason, too: the simple horizontal bar is the most important piece
of strength and conditioning equipment there is—bar none. (‘Scuze the pun.) My mentor,
Joe Hartigen—one of the great “unsung heroes” of physical culture—always used to say
that a horizontal bar was the only essential piece of training equipment. He believed that
you could replace the barbell with floor calisthenics (one-arm push-ups, bridges, one-leg
squats, etc.) but there was no way to replace the value of a horizontal bar. You’ve just
gotta work that bar!
Joe was right. Bar training is indispensable for strength athletes. Even if you are a hard-
core lifter, you still need to train with a horizontal bar to unlock your maximum poten-
tial. Why? Physics. I learnt at least one fact back in school—on earth, gravity only ever
pulls things downwards. (I didn’t stick around to find out why; something to do with
apples, I think.) This means that when you lift weights, or perform floor calisthenics, you
are only ever moving things up. Deadlifts, curls, push-ups, squats, cleans—you’re lifting
things up, right? As great as these exercises may be, if you are only ever lifting up, you are
building your body in an asymmetrical way. You need to pull down as well—and this
requires a fixed bar.
A heavily muscled urban athlete lines up under the high bar and looks up at it
grimly. He’s oblivious to his surroundings; the cars streaming past, the kids
playing and shouting all around, the noise of the city. All he sees is that bar—
he knows it’s the key to the extra muscle and power he needs to build.
A lean, tattooed convict queues up in the yard to work out on the rusty pull-up unit—
he may only be able to use it twice this week, and he’s got to get his workout done fast
and efficiently if he wants to stay on top of his game.
An elite gymnast arrives at the gym for her early morning session. After a brief warm-
up, she heads to her second home—the horizontal bars. The true training is about to
begin.
Some icy rain begins to spit as a tough, grizzled marine hops up to grip the iron chinning
bar left outside the barracks. Like endless generations of warriors and soldiers before him,
he’s mastering his bodyweight. Pull-ups, pull-ups, and more pull-ups for this wily vet.
What do all these fearsome athletes have in common? They’re using that damn bar!
And with pretty good reason, too: the simple horizontal bar is the most important piece
of strength and conditioning equipment there is—bar none. (‘Scuze the pun.) My mentor,
Joe Hartigen—one of the great “unsung heroes” of physical culture—always used to say
that a horizontal bar was the only essential piece of training equipment. He believed that
you could replace the barbell with floor calisthenics (one-arm push-ups, bridges, one-leg
squats, etc.) but there was no way to replace the value of a horizontal bar. You’ve just
gotta work that bar!
Joe was right. Bar training is indispensable for strength athletes. Even if you are a hard-
core lifter, you still need to train with a horizontal bar to unlock your maximum poten-
tial. Why? Physics. I learnt at least one fact back in school—on earth, gravity only ever
pulls things downwards. (I didn’t stick around to find out why; something to do with
apples, I think.) This means that when you lift weights, or perform floor calisthenics, you
are only ever moving things up. Deadlifts, curls, push-ups, squats, cleans—you’re lifting
things up, right? As great as these exercises may be, if you are only ever lifting up, you are
building your body in an asymmetrical way. You need to pull down as well—and this
requires a fixed bar.
