In many ways my home gym has ruined me.
I no longer stress about how and where to workout. I have completely missed the influx of influencers and tripods on the gym floor and, owing to family/work commitments, my training schedule has fluctuated wildly (hello 10 pm deadlifts!). As I lose touch with my fellow trainees, I reflect on how this has changed me as a person. It has, for want of a better phrase, forced me to become an even greater fitness nerd.
I don’t drink, smoke or gamble so my excess income – which has dwindled significantly since becoming a father – goes towards my one vice… the home gym. At the time of writing my training space has slam balls, sandbags, prowlers, Indian clubs, reverse hyper-extensions, kettle-bells, a variety of pulleys and attachments etc. It also has specialty barbells. Unless you are an elite lifter (which sadly I am not), specialty barbells are the Dr. Pepper of fitness. You’re unlikely to see it in most places and if you request one you are ‘that guy.’
My ‘Dr. Pepper’ barbells include a thick grip axel barbell, an open trap bar deadlift, and a one inch Joe Weider barbell from the 1950s which I spray painted hot pink (don’t ask). My latest addition has been a deadlift barbell, which prompted me to write this article. For those who have yet to use one, a deadlift bar is a specialty bar designed specifically for the deadlift.
A deadlift bar is a specialty barbell designed just for deadlifts. Unlike a power bar (or stiff bar), deadlift bars are slightly longer, have a thinner shaft, more aggressive knurling, and more bend. In layperson’s terms, they’re easier to hold, making lifting the weights slightly easier.
For a visual explanation, I tip my hat to Alan Thrall
I struggle with the initial ascent from the ground when deadlifting. Over the years I’ve perfected (as much as I can) my form when deadlifting but it is still a struggle. The deadlift bar interested me for two reasons – it would allow me to pull the ‘slack’ out of the barbell easier and the bend in the barbell does make it easier to lift from the ground because… physics. Again I am a historian of physical culture, not a scientist so figure my ignorance on the specifics.
This is a barbell specifically made for deadlifting and thus helps the lifter. It’s wonderful. Not everyone agrees mind you with some very well-known figures in strength occasionally referring to it as cheating. Given the only thing I compete against is finishing my workout before my son wakes up in the mornings, I suspect this critique was not aimed at me.
So Who Invented This Wonderful Thing?
I really thought this was going to be a neat and easy story to tell. Shame on me!
In the course of my searches, I have found two early originators of the deadlift bar, both of whom appear to have designed an incredible deadlift bar independently of each other. I know that because one is called the Okie (as in Oklahoma) bar and the other is the Texas deadlift bar. Now it has been some time since I lived in Texas but I do know enough American geography to distinguish both states.
My smartass-nature aside, Rickey Dale Crain from Oklahoma and Buddy Capps from Texas both began to market deadlift barbells in the 1980s. It seems that Crain’s Okie barbell pipped Capps to the market but the timeline is rather tight. For powerlifting anoraks, Crain’s name will be instantly recognizable. He was one of the lifters Terry Todd focused on in his still-wonderful book Inside Powerlifting.
For lifters of the 1960s and 1970s, Crain was one of the most impressive athletes of his weight class. At 23 he became the first middleweight powerlifter (165 lbs.) to squat 700 lbs. Aside from being known for talking a lot on the platform, Crain had a remarkable self-belief. Writing on Rickey’s training goals in the ’70s, Todd expressed the following
To be honest, I doubt seriously that Rickey will reach these figures; in fact, I doubt if even his father expects him to reach them. But that doesn’t matter. The important thing – the crucial thing – is that Rickey believes he’ll do it, and this belief energizes his training and gives him the courage to address himself to weights no man his size has ever lifted. All the lifters in the book, in fact, share this almost obsessive belief in themselves – otherwise, they’d be unable to approach barbells which outweigh them two, three, and even four times. IF THE MIND WON’T BELIEVE IT, THE BODY WON’T HEAVE IT. Believe it.
Crain was a force of nature but someone who thought deeply and obsessively about his powerlifting goals. As someone whose upbringing revolved around strength (Crain’s father was a weightlifter), Crain had a series of achievements to his career. Oddly his invention of a deadlift bar is probably his most enduring. First sold in 1984 the barbell is effectively untouched since the 1980s which makes it both a useful, and historically awesome, tool.
As discussed in Thrall’s video above, the deadlift bar (and Crain’s was an early originator) was longer in length, smaller in radius and ‘whippier’ than your traditional barbell. Here’s a video of someone using an ‘okie’ barbell
So Who Invented This Wonderful Thing? Part II
Now the other contender in this ‘fight’ is Buddy Capps from Texas. Capps was also a powerlifter from the 1970s and 1980s who also owned a blacksmith/machine shop. As an athlete, Capps was a Texas State powerliter champion and Capps is probably better known for creating what we now call the Texas power bar in 1979/1980 when he was working with Mac Barbell. In an interview as part of a Branch Warren video, Capps talked about his annoyance with his generation’s style of barbells which were cumbersome and difficult to maintain.
Al Myers actually has a great article on the Texas power bar and details how popular it was within the first decade of production.
I bought my first Texas Power Bar in the early 80’s from Mac Barbell Equipment. At that time, the main advertising for lifting was through the PL magazine, Powerlifting USA. You could count on there being an advertisement for the Texas Power Bar in every issue. One of the company’s selling pitches was this comment in their ads, “The Mac Texas Power Bar has been used in more World and National Championships than all other brands combined. Make sure you don’t get a cheap imitation or counterfeit”. Mac Barbell was located in Grand Prairie, TX, thus the reason for the name being called the Texas Power Bar.
Capps eventually fell out with Mac and struck out his own path with his own power bars. There is some confusing marketing around Texas power bars that we won’t go into here (effectively a lot of individuals are using that name independently of Capps.)
Where were we? Yes deadlift bars. Aside from producing the Texas power bar, which is a great all round barbell for the ‘Big 3’ lifts, Capps produced a deadlift bar in 1985. This appears to have been used first in Texas powerlifting competitions – and Texas was a hotbed of powerlifting during this period – before spreading around the country. The previous status and profile of the Power Bar undoubtedly added to its prestige.
So Who Invented This Wonderful Thing? Part III
I would be remiss not to mention Rogue Fitness in this story. In 2016 Rogue came out with their Ohio deadlift bar. This came around the same time that Rogue introduced the Elephant Barbell at the Arnold Strongman Classic. The Elephant Barbell is effectively a deadlift barbell turned up to 11 (Spinal Tap for the win). It is longer and whippier, has a better name, and is the deadlift device of strength athletes pulling over one thousand pounds in strongman shows.
The Elephant Bar, and the genuine excitement and disgust it caused on creation, will be covered in a later article. Here is is enough to note that the Ohio Deadlift Bar followed the same trajectory as the Texas Deadlift Bar. It came after Rogue produced an Ohio power bar. Interestingly of the three bars, the Okie, Texas and Ohio deadlift bar, it seems that the Okie bar is the least unchanged since its invention. Both the Texas and Ohio bars have been updated since their first runs.
Here’s a nice video running through Texas vs. Ohio vs. the ISF barbell
Now of course many other deadlift bars exist, but in conversations around the deadlift bar, Ohio, Texas, and, to a lesser extent Okie, are typically what lifters discuss. Of the three barbells, the Ohio one arguably came with the most hype given the media buzz surrounding the elephant bar. On which is better, you have thousands of social media videos and shorts giving you the ‘perfect’ answer. In my own case, I managed to buy one second-hand in Ireland from a fellow lifter who had initially bought one in Australia. So yes, even my niche deadlift bar comes from the nichest brand possible. I told you my home gym ruined me…
Why the Deadlift Bar Matters Historically
I am fascinated by the deadlift bar in much the same way that my father is fascinated by golf clubs. The evolution and minutiae of the sport, in this case powerlifting, has lead to the creation of a ‘lifting friendly’ barbell. The deadlift bar’s very creation highlights an increasing specialization within strength sports from the 1980s and, alongside the creation of the subsequent Elephant Bar, illustrates the increasing strength of the community as a whole. That, in itself, is awesome.
As always… happy lifting!
Big Update!
My thanks to friend of the website and key eyed Iron Game collector Thomas Klose for alerting me to some rather big news. In 1983 Texan powerlifting legend Chip McCain offered an Elite Deadlift bar in Powerlifting USA magazine. Here is the advertisement from the November 1983 issue. I am now off back down the rabbit hole!
