Trap bar

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The trap bar is an implement used in weight training. It is an assemblage of bars welded into a shape which lies flat in a plane, comprised of:

A barstock welded into a circular, square, trapezoidal, or hexagonal shape, sized to allow a human to stand in the middle
2 (almost always) coaxial stub bars, welded to opposing positions on the outside of the perimeter of the hollow portion
A set of handles pointing forward and back, welded inside the hollow portion.

The trapbar was invented by Al Gerard, a competitive powerlifter.

The stubs are used for loading the trapbar with plates. The handles are used (obviously) to hold the trapbar while an exercise is performed. Note that these handles are aligned at 90 degrees to the plate-loading bars.

The trapbar is used primarilly for two exercises: the trapbar deadlift and shoulder shrugs. It may also be used for overhead presses, upright rows or "high pulls," and stiff leg deadlifts.

The trapbar's use in shrugs was promoted by Paul Kelso, in his book The Kelso Shrug System (1993). However, there is also an entire chapter in the book on training with the trapbar for competitive deadlifting, for which the bar was originally intended. The advantage with deadlifts is that there is no risk of the bar hitting the front of the legs. The grip is also different, targeting the shoulder and arms differently. The advantage with shrugs is for the same reason, as the traps can be targeted directly against gravity, rather than the angle necessitated by the impossibility of having a shrugging bar directly below the body.

Variants are produced by several vendors.

Proponents of trapbar deadlifts include Hardgainer magazine, Bob Whelan, the Cyberpump website, and Ken Leistner.