Use the versatile Hex Bar for much more than Deadlifts and Shoulder Shrugs
A Quebec, Gagné has earned a reputation as one of nybody remember MacGyver? This was a 1980s Canada’s leading strength coaches and rehabilitation TV series about a government specialists. He has personally trained more than 50 agent who was able to solve crimes players in the NHL and has and save lives (often his own) by worked with many professional virtue of his ability to turn ordinary golfers and football players. But objects into extraordinary objects.
the one trait that sets Gagné apart With a comb, a paper clip and some is his ability to develop special chewing gum, our hero (played by exercises to help rehabilitate Richard Dean Anderson) was able injuries and take athletes to the to unlock safes, perform heart surgery highest levels of functional and develop a radar jamming device strength. His most recent project: that would alter the course of a nuclear the BFS Hex bar. missile headed for New York City. The The Hex bar is a hexagonal legacy of the show, which ran for seven barbell that allows an athlete to seasons, was that any person with a perform exercises from inside the knack for inventing things was autoencompassing bar.
Handgrips matically nicknamed “MacGyver.” For strategically placed on the two this reason, Canadian strength coach ends of the bar enable the weight Paul Gagné is a great choice for a 21st Paul Gagné is one of on the bar to be in perfect aligncentury MacGyver. Co-owner of the Sports Canada’s premier strength ment with the athlete’s center mass. This design enables athletes Performance Center in Montreal, coaches and a big advocate of Hex bar training. tional carryover to sports.” Although performing safer deadlifts is a key issue for Gagné, the main reason he prefers the Hex bar is to help his athletes increase grip strength.
“Grip strength is very important for most of the athletes I train, especially hockey, baseball and football players. Some of my athletes use over 600 pounds for certain Hex bar exercises, and using these types of Sylvain Girard is a wide weights develops tremendous grip receiver for the Alouettes strength without placing excess stress in the CFL. Girard is one of on the lower back. We often play Canada’s fastest football around with a thumbless grip players, running 4.22 in or just the 40-yard dash. using certain likes to have a large variety of fingers exercises in his strength coachon exering toolbox.
But working out of cises such a small private gym, he does not as shrugs have the floor space to load up and deadon lots of bulky, expensive Photo courtesy Patrick Sanfaçon, lifts. I also machines. This necessity, plus Montreal Alouettes like to use the his MacGyver-like disposition, Hex bar for the prompted him to develop dozens of effective exercises farmer’s walk, to use with the Hex bar. as it prevents As with many coaches, Gagné prefers the Hex athletes from bar deadlift to the regular deadlift because he finds overstriding, is athletes tend to round the back and get out of position more stable and is when they use the barbell.
“With a regular barbell athless likely to cause injury than letes tend to flex the spine too much, which shifts the when using dumbbells or the special ‘tornado’ devices weight away from the muscles and onto the ligaments. used to perform the exercise.” Over time this could be very dangerous. The Hex bar Another valuable aspect of the Hex bar is teachincreases the proprioception of the lumbar spine so ing proper squatting technique with the lower back that athletes will more likely maintain the correct lumarched and sitting back. In addition to teaching the bar curvature when they lift the weight off the floor.”
squat, Gagné often teaches the Hex bar as a good alterOne slight variation of the Hex bar deadlift that native, especially for tall athletes. “When you’re workGagné often uses is to perform the exercise in the reging with tall athletes you really have to be careful ular manner but doing so with the toes raised. “Lifting about overloading the spine, especially with hockey the toes shifts your bodyweight back, which will players because they bend forward all the time when increase the recruitment of the glutes and hamstrings. they play, a position that places a lot of continual tenFor athletes who are recovering from ACL surgery or sion on the spine.
The Hex bar places less compressive have other knee problems such as patella femoral synforces on the spine, which enables me to train these drome, I have them perform the Hex bar deadlift with athletes with a higher volume of training than they their toes elevated.” could handle if they only performed squats.” In addition, says Gagné, deadlifting with the toes Gagné has developed dozens of exercises to use elevated might be of some benefit to athletes who tend with the Hex bar, and he’s always coming up with new to overpronate (i.e., have flat feet), as it can strengthones. Here are eight of his favorites. en the muscles that arch the foot.
Further, Gagné will also have athletes perform Hex bar deadlifts on the low rocker board to develop the muscles of the feet Hex Bar Push-up and ankles. “Performing the Hex bar deadlift on a rocker board is much, much safer than performing Performing a push-up with the Hex bar has the squats on this type of apparatus. Also, it is easier to advantage of allowing the athlete to work the arms, balance, and athletes can use more weight, which is chest and shoulders through a greater range of motion.
important if these types of exercises are to have a funcIt also allows for less stress due to the alignment of the to safely and more effectively perform deadlifts and shoulder shrugs, which are the two primary exercises most coaches have their athletes perform with the bar. Gagné takes his Hex bar use to the next level. Because he trains athletes from several sports and is also involved in rehabilitation, Gagné wrist and forearms. “There’s a lot of research now showing that we should not do push-ups on the hands because of the stress it places on the wrist,” says Gagné.
“Women especially complain about wrist pain and compression of the hand, but they don’t have this problem with the Hex bar and they get better results.” To increase the difficulty of the Hex bar push-up, Gagné will add weight plates (usually bumper plates, as they tend to roll easier than steel plates). “The plates make it hard to control the barbell, working the shoulders and even the abdominals and many of the muscles that stabilize the spine.” When that’s too easy, he will elevate the feet.
Side-to-Side Hex Bar Push-Up The side-to-side Hex bar push-up strengthens all the upper-body muscles that the Hex push-up does, but it also works the rotator cuff muscles harder, as they are involved in stabilization during this exercise. “The Hex bar will tend to tip during this exercise, and the rotator cuff muscles have to work especially hard to prevent this.” To perform the exercise, Gagné assumes the same position as in the Hex bar push-up, but instead of lowering straight down, he lowers to just one side, alternating left and right with each rep.
As with the pushup, to gradually increase the difficulty he starts without the weight plates, then adds the plates and then elevates the feet.
Hex Bar Pivot Push-up Here is a great core exercise for all the major stabilizing muscles of the torso. It’s performed by turning the Hex bar sideways and placing one weight plate on the weight shaft farthest from the body. Keeping the body rigid, the athlete pivots from side to side. “It’s important to squeeze your glutes together and make the body as rigid as possible during this exercise,” says Gagné. “Dr. Mel Siff always told me that the glute is the link between the lower body and the upper body, and this exercise is a great one to strengthen that link.”
Hex Bar Standing Press Performing the standing (i.e., military) press with a Hex bar is a good exercise, as it allows for a greater range of motion and its greater stability will allow you to use more weight than you can with two dumbbells. “I actually call this exercise a “W” press because you are able to bring your elbows very low to the side of your body,” says Gagné. Also, I like this exercise because there is less temptation to lean backward as you would if you performed the exercise with a barbell in front of you.”
This exercise is a variation of a barbell exercise the late sports scientist Dr. Mel Siff showed Gagné. In contrast to those wheel-like devices you might see on infomercials, the barbell allows you to greatly— and incrementally—increase the resistance of the exercise. Although the barbell rollout is good, the Hex bar rollout is better. “It works the shoulders, obliques and stabilizing muscles of the lower back harder than a barbell because the Hex bar is more difficult to stabilize,” says Gagné. “The Hex bar rollout is one of the main exercises I use to work the entire abdominal region, especially the rectus abdominus.”
For most athletes, Gagné has them first perform this exercise on their knees, and as they get better, they’ll progress to a standing position. “The key is that when you start from the bottom position, you have to slightly flex your spine and squeeze your glutes tightly. The most common mistake is that people will drop their hips, which could cause discomfort to the lower back.” In addition to increasing resistance, you can make the exercise more difficult and increase tension on the abs by extending the arms, which should occur only after the shoulders have traveled as far forward as possible.
To prevent slipping or collapsing forward, Gagné recommends that you perform this exercise with your feet resting on a rubber pad. Gagné has his athletes perform this exercise on a platform, turning sideways. He says you can spot it by placing your arms under the abdominals, which he says encourages the athlete to tighten their abs. You can also position the bar in front of a barrier, such as a wall, so that the barrier will stop the bar from traveling too far. As the athlete becomes stronger, he or she stands farther away from the barrier.
The overhead squat is a standard exercise used by Olympic lifters to improve their catch position in the snatch. Because it is so effective at developing overall lower-body flexibility in the hips, Dr. Greg Shepard recommends it as part of his “power balance” series of exercises. Gagné often starts off athletes with the Hex bar rather than the regular barbell. “It’s much easier for many athletes to perform the overhead squat with a Hex bar, especially for those athletes who have limited flexibility in the shoulders,” says Gagné. “The Hex bar enables them to sit more erect.”
The best way to perform this exercise is to start from a standing position (removing the bar from a power rack, or even performing it inside a power rack). Assume a squat stance, bend your knees and thrust the weight overhead to straight arms. Now perform a squat, balancing the weight overhead at arms’ length. When you’ve performed the required reps, lower the bar back to the start position and return the weight to the rack. Having someone stand behind you to spot you, especially when you first perform it, is a good safety practice.
Hex Bar Sots Press A variation of the overhead squat is the Sots press. The Sots press is an exercise named after Victor Sots, the 1982 world champion weightlifter from Russia who could allegedly military press 413 pounds from the full squat position (witnesses at one international competition saw him do 352 pounds in this manner) and push jerk 589 pounds at a bodyweight of 220 pounds. Gagné believes this is a great exercise to develop overall flexibility that will help technique in squats and Olympic lifting exercises. “As with the overhead squat, perform the Sots press with a Hex bar rather than a barbell.
I’ve tried dumbbells with both the overhead press and the Sots variation, but it’s difficult because they are so unstable and force the athlete to use a much lighter weight.” The best way to perform this exercise is to start from a standing position (removing the bar from a power rack, or even performing it inside a power rack). Assume a squat stance, bend down as low as possible and then press the weight overhead. As with the Hex bar overhead squat, having someone stand behind you to spot you is a good safety practice.
Victor Sots is a former 220-pound world weightlifting champion from Russia, and the person that the Sots press is named after. He has reportedly military pressed 413 pounds from a full squat position and push jerked 589!
Gagné prefers performing weighted jumps with a Hex bar instead of a barbell. “When you jump with a bar over your shoulders, there are high levels of compression forces on the spine. This stress is greatly reduced with the Hex bar, and you can use more weight safely than with a squat jump,” says Gagné. “Also, with the squat jump your hands are up in the air so you cannot use your traps—the Hex bar jump is a more natural movement, similar to the muscle actions that occur in the Olympic lifts.” Gagné performs the Hex bar power jump by having the athlete hold the barbell as if he or she had just finished a deadlift.
From this starting position the athlete bends the knees, jumps while shrugging the shoulders, then lands on flexed knees, and then immediately rebounds for the required number of reps. The arms stay straight throughout the exercise. “I also will perform a variation in which I have the athlete perform rapid short jumps, just flicking the toes and having minimal contact on the ground. With both types of power jumps, I seldom perform more than 10 reps, as the goal is to develop power,” says Gagné. Give a few of these challenging exercises a try in your future workouts.
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From BFS Magazine — September/October 2004. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
