Buffalo Barbell, Do I Need It?

Last Updated on April 17, 2024 by grubdunkman

This barbell is quite popular topic of discussion in the weightlifting community. Seems like not that many people own it, but many want it. What is the reason, and what do athletes who have it have to say? Let’s explore if you need the buffalo barbell, and why.

Taking Care Of Your Shoulders

The primary function of the buffalo bar is helping athletes with injured shoulders and to prevent excessive pressure on shoulders while performing squats. The buffalo bar is designed as a curve, for this reason it is also called a bow bar. It wraps you back, and this way reduces the need to extend your hands behind you shoulders to perform the movement. The hyperextension of this kind for the athletes with injured shoulders is painful even if the injury happened years ago.

As for me I injured my shoulder while mountain biking almost twenty years ago. I still need to be careful with putting pressure on my right shoulder. It doesn’t bother me in my daily life. I can spend years without any problems or pain if I’m careful. Specialized barbells such as SSB (safety squat bar), the Buffalo bar and the Swiss bar are game changers for me. Each of them helps to avoid putting pressure on the shoulder. All three barbells I mentioned are available at our store most of the time, some of them more than one model, so feel free to explore our collection.

Squats With a Buffalo Barbell

Unlike other solutions, such as the safety squat bar, the Buffalo bar is not much different than a straight barbell. This allows you to exercise without changing form and technique as with the regular barbell, the grip also stays the same. Many athletes preparing for the competitions squat during their programs with the buffalo bar, switching to the regular bar only a few weeks before the weightlifting event. The buffalo bar has centre knurling for stability on the back, like many regular barbells.

The History

The buffalo bar has been around for many years, which proves the effectiveness of the idea. There were many attempts to build a squat barbell that helps to keep shoulders safe even before WW2. One of the authors was Peary Rader, the owner of the IronMan magazine. He started advertising and selling the buffalo barbell in 1950. We already talked about the influence of Peary Rader on the weightlifting progress in our post about the origins of the power rack, which you can find interesting. Another author of the cambered bar was Andy Jackson who was producing them before 1950. He was also a co-author of the EZ bar.

Helps Your Elbows

Similarly to the shoulders your elbows also receive extra pressure when squatting with the regular barbell. In case with the injured elbows this hyperextension can cause pain and recurrent injury. The buffalo bar helps you with the elbows as well. Experienced trainers also recommend other forms of protection for the elbows, such as protective elbow sleeves, that provide some stability and support.

Bench Press With a Buffalo Barbell

Unlike the safety squat bar, the buffalo bar has additional functionality. It can be used for bench pressing as well. The curve provides additional range of motion, since you can lower your arms a little bit more, an inch or so. It is beneficial for pecs development. The buffalo bar can be used both for flat and incline presses. From the reddit buffalo bar discussions I’ve heard many athletes really like incline bench press with the buffalo bar. Additional bonus it also provides some variety to the bench press, since it slightly changes the angle of the grip due to the curved design.

More Affordable Then Before

One great point that can help you too decide is the affordability of the buffalo bar. It used to have limited availability. Since it is a long and quite bulky bar it comes in a huge box. For this reason the shipping cost and sometimes import fees were making this barbell expensive. Not anymore, at our store you can find the buffalo bar at the price comparable to budget models of the regular barbells. It’s also available immediately, so that you don’t have to wait for it long.

The buffalo barbell has chrome finish, that protects it from rust and gives it the professional look. The sleeves are long enough to accommodate the requirements of most athletes.

Do I Need The Buffalo Barbell?

We promised to give our recommendation to decide if you need the buffalo bar. You need it to solve one important problem. It is highly recommended for the athletes who need to protect their shoulders and elbows to avoid recurrent injury and/or pain. Considering it s affordability it is a great addition for the home gym.

You don’t really need the buffalo bar if additional protection of your joints is not required. Additional benefits such as variety of your workouts due to the new grip angle and arms positioning in my opinion is not significant enough to justify a purchase of additional piece of gym equipment.

The buffalo bar is a great tool for the athletes who focus on squatting. We think it is a valuable instrument to have at any commercial gym, PT studio or physiotherapy clinic.