I was all about it, nothing could match it. I truly believed that if you performed heavy squats, presses, and deadlifts, you would pretty much be prepared to do anything. That is after all what all the “real” strength training books and experts said. Heck, if you could put a giant amount of weight on your back and squat or pick up or put overhead a barbell loaded with 45’s, you were just flat out strong!

Not only were these important measures for me, but my clients as well, at least I made them important. In all honesty, in 15 years of being in the fitness industry I had less than a handful of clients that ever stated their goal was to perform a big deadlift, squat, or press. I did have clients that told me they wanted to lose weight, get rid of back pain, have better fitness, run faster, jump higher, and yet I had made our work on the barbell a priority. Somewhere along the line I had decided that barbell work was an accurate measure of these goals.

I don’t think I was really to blame (maybe a little), I had worked with and studied some of the best coaches and if they thought this really was the best way to do things, who was I to argue otherwise? That is till my own body began to fail me.

It wasn’t as though I wasn’t aware of certain flexibility deficiencies I had, or imbalances. No, I was more than aware, but I truly believed as long as the number on the barbell went up it wasn’t all that important. I had completely convinced myself that these “other things” weren’t important and everything could be fixed by good heavy weights. After all if you look hard enough you are going to find problems anyways and those things were just not that important.

As I became involved in Strongman I learned one thing very fast, “heavy” is a very relative term so is being elite! Quickly I had found myself far from the strongest guy under the bar. So, to be competitive I had to get better at lifting big weights, makes sense right? Well, the problem was as I began to push myself to these new levels, these new “heavy weights” I found my disc problem in my low back would flare up more and more. Making progress and seeing the weight on the bar grew more difficult every day and managing pain became at least a part time job.

The remedy came in focusing on all these imbalances and problems that I had ignored. It had become obvious that they were keeping me from making progress. I found myself doing all types of “non-conventional” lifts to help my strength for Strongman. Lots of single leg training, kettlebell swings, rotational work with the Ultimate Sandbag and using it to learn to develop power from various positions. The results were very cool to say the least.

When I came back to performing any of my standard barbell lifts I was stronger and often had to wear less supportive gear. I was moving a heck of a lot better which also meant I spent less time managing my pain. Lastly, and sometimes most exciting, I found myself being competitive in Strongman even though I wasn’t performing what many would think of as traditional Strongman training.

As I became better and better it would have seemed like a good idea to re-emphasize my work on the barbell. That was actually the road that I was contemplating going down until I really took a look at what I was doing and it struck me, why? If I had found a way to become stronger and feel actually better, why did I have to prioritize something that often left me stiff and aching?

This further made me re-evaluate how was I was treating my clients as well. Was I really doing what was best for them, or what I thought would justify me in the Strength & Conditioning world? It became evident by my programs that I wasn’t challenging myself to be a better coach, I was doing what was “safe” or maybe better stated, more accepted.

Digging deeper into really rationalizing what I was doing I found it harder and harder to justify heavy use of the barbell. Coaches I had great respect for were either falling for the trap I had experienced, or actually found them moving in the same direction I had found as well.

The truth of the matter is that the training tool does matter. We want to use tools that gives us the biggest “bang for the buck”. Don’t we want our tools to be able to do lots of things and most importantly, put our clients in a position to succeed and move closer to their goals?

The barbell presents so many issues in using it for most training purposes.

It is typically the most intimidating training tool for most individuals.

The barbell can hide more muscle imbalances and asymmetries than any other tool.

The barbell works predominately in one plane of motion.

The only reason that we can load the barbell the heaviest is because it usually works from our body’s strongest leverage points. Therefore, making it the most stable and least demanding on the stabilizers compared to many of the other strength tools.

The least amount of options to progress someone typically lie in the barbell, usually load is the dominant means to progression.

Josh, Josh, Josh, some of you are out there shaking your heads at the shear thought of what I am saying to be some of the most absurd thinking out there! Haven’t many great lifters been developed with the barbell? Yes, I love it when people compare themselves with elite lifters who for typically decades worked on developing their fitness in a wide array of areas. Especially when most of the people that quote “elite lifters” are anything but elite themselves. Sorry, just usually the case!

In many instances we take things out of context. Are athletes, our clients, or ourselves best served with that seems to be “old school” training? What is “old school” anyways? Here are some pictures of some pretty “old school” gyms, ever notice not one of them has a barbell and squat rack? So, what do we consider “old school” and if we are going to use that as a frame of reference are we ready to really absorb the culture of movement that was more prominent then?

“Old School” is such a vague term that we can use to try to support what we enjoy doing, but if we do so, we better be prepared for what “old school” really does entail!