EP.60 | Making your Bars Spin like NEW Again
All about that Bar Spin
Do you like your wrists just the way they are? Yeah, me too. Just a little something you may want to consider when it comes to maintaining that glorious spin on your barbell(s).
It's not simply all about how much more appealing a freely spinning bar is than a bar that doesn't spin. In fact, it actually poses an injury risk to yourself and others.
Take the Olympic Clean for example. Starting off with the clean, think about the hip extension portion of the lift, followed by bringing your elbows through to receive the barbell. This requires the barbell's sleeves to spin freely, which most of us take this for granted (I used to be among this group). So, if you are trying to catch the bar in the bottom of a full squat and the bar is not rotating (because it's locked up), then you could potentially smash your elbows into your knees and/or thighs. Much of the time this results in a wrist injury of some sort.
Not only do locked up or slow spinning sleeves contribute greatly to the risk of injury, they also make for a way less than optimal lifting experience overall. Think about going for a 1 Rep Max Clean or Snatch. Do you want a barbell that is primed and spinning correctly, or a barbell that you have to overcompensate in your pull, just to get your elbows through or the bar in the correct position? I would venture a guess that you would side with the former.