Category Archives: General

Flying Pull-up Bar

The flying pull-up is an amazing exercise that really teaches people how to generate explosive momentum as well as develop good hand-eye coordination. Often learning to perform flying pull-ups is the final piece that an athlete needs in order to figure out muscle ups. Until recently, however, if you wanted to add them to your workouts, you needed to spend the money for a custom rig.

Now everyone can enjoy the benefits of this essential exercise, with this attachment for your 9 or 12 foot Rogue Infinity Rack. The angle of the rig has been perfected to ensure it will fit in most gyms. Like all the Infinity Rack attachments, it can be installed within minutes. This is the attachment that will set your home gym or commercial strength and conditioning facility apart from the competition, and of course, it is Made in the U.S.A.

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Rogue Wrist Wraps

An indispensable piece of personal gear! Whether you are nursing a wrist injury and want to be able to continue your program while it heals or want to prevent injury, this is the answer: Rogue Wrist Wraps They are heavy duty, like every piece of gear that bears the Rogue name. They come in three sizes to accommodate all body types and programming. The 24″ inch size offers maximum support for power lifting movements and the 12″ and 18″ sizes allow extra flexibility for Olympic weightlifting movements while still providing enough support to let you heal or prevent injuries. It is amazing that a product that is so affordable can have such a big effect on keeping you in the game!

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More Bar Questions

There are many variables to consider when choosing a bar. Here are some questions that you might be asking:

Do you choose a 25 mm, 28 mm bar, 28.5 mm or 29 mm bar or do you go even thicker?

What is bar whip and do you need it?

What finish is best for you?

What knurling texture will best suit you?

Olympic Competition bars are 25 mm in diameter for women and 28 mm for men. These diameters have 2 effects. First they allow most people to properly perform a hook grip. Second, the thinner steel is able to “whip”. A hook grip, where your thumb is gripped between the fingers and the bar, is not only stronger, it allows you to grip the bar while keeping your forearms somewhat relaxed. When your arms are relaxed you are much more able to perform the rapid movements required for the clean and the snatch. The whip in the bar allows an advanced lifter to use the bar as a spring by taking advantage of the fact that the bar bends under the load and acceleration and then springs back to it’s original shape.

It takes stronger steel to reach the same strength as a 28.5 mm or higher diameter with a 28 mm bar and therefore these bars are typically more expensive if made to stand up to the demands of Olympic lifting.

28.5 mm bars still allow athletes to use a hook grip and whip pretty well, but not as well as 28 mm bars. 28.5 mm also works well for Powerlifting. Therefore many hybrid, general purpose or CrossFit bars have 28.5 mm shafts. Most of the bars used for men at the CrossFit Games for the past several years have been 28.5 mm.

Most dedicated Powerlifting bars are 29 mm. They do not make separate bars for men and women, since a hook grip is not required. Athletes use an alternating grip for deadlift that allows nearly any hand size to grip effectively.

29 mm bars are much stiffer than 28 mm bars so some of the whip of an Olympic competition bar is lost in a Powerlifitng bar. In competion, the whip is not needed as much since the power lifts are not as dynamic as Olympic lifts, although some people do use the whip to get out of the bottom of a squat.

The thicker a bar gets, the more comfortable it feels on your shoulders for back squats and the easier it is for a bar manufacturer to make a really strong bar. Also gripping a thicker bar will help develop grip strength. Rogue sells bars with diameters as high as 50 mm specifically to work on grip strength.

An uncoated bar often offers the best grip available without having to make a sharp knurl that will tear up your hands. However, if you live in a humid climate or near the ocean, the bar will quickly rust unless it is made out of stainless steel which is much more expensive. The rust will not affect the performance of the bar unless it is excessive, but it will discolor the bar which is a problem for many people.

Chrome offers rust resistance but is generally more slippery than uncoated steel. However, there are many types of chrome and if done well the grip can be quite good. Many of the best bars in the world have a chrome finish.

Nearly everyone agrees that the best knurling texture for Olympic lifting is a fine knurl that is not sharp. This is accomplished by closer spacing of the cuts and deeper cuts than you will see on the bar that comes with the 300-pound weight set from your local sporting goods store. Knurling like this takes precision equipment and is time-consuming to create, which is one of the things that makes bars like this so special.

There is less consensus in the Powerlifting world with respect to knurling texture. Some athletes like the same knurling texture as the Olympic lifters. However, some prefer a slightly sharper knurl that comes from making the cuts a little deeper. Rogue sells power bars with both styles of knurling.

The Olympic style knurling seems to be perfect for CrossFit movements and workouts which is why most quality bars aimed at the CrossFit market have this texture.

Once you know the answers to these questions, you can find the perfect bar to suit your needs here.

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Center Knurl or No Center Knurl?

You may be trying to decide between a bar with a center knurl like this, this, or this and a bar with no center knurl like this, this, or this.

There is not a definite right or wrong answer. Any of these bars will perform well at just about any task you throw at them, but different bars are optimized to really excel in certain areas. It all depends on what your predominant use will be for the bar. You need to ask yourself some questions as for whether or not a bar has a center knurl is only a small part of picking the right bar for you.

Will the bar be used predominately for powerlifting movements, Olympic lifting movements or both?

Will the bar be used in CrossFit workouts?

Here is some discussion to help the answers to those questions to help guide you to the perfect bar to fit your needs.

If you will be predominantly Powerlifting and only occasionally Olympic lifting a good power bar will serve you well. The center knurl will help keep the bar in place on your back during back squats and on your chest for front squats. If you are not doing cleans and thrusters you will not have to worry about scraping up your chest. Even if you are using a bar with center knurling for traditional Olympic lifting workouts a center knurl may not bother you, because the number of repetitions is not typically that high. In fact, all certified men’s Olympic lifting bars have a center knurl. However, if you are doing Olympic lifts during CrossFit workouts you may end up scraping you chest raw.

If you will have separate bars for Olympic and power lifts or of you almost exclusively Olympic lift, you will love the dedicated Olympic lifting bars or even the hybrid bars without a center knurl since you won’t end up with a permanent abrasion on your collar bones.

If you are competing or considering competing in Olympic weightlifting or Powerlifting, not only are you likely to lift more with a dedicated bar for that sport, you will also be lifting with an implement that is a close as possible to what you will be using in competition, helping to eliminate at least one variable on competition day.

Dedicated Olympic bars have bearings or bushings that ensure that the collars will spin freely 100% of the time which greatly reduces the likelihood of a wrist injury. Since many of the athletes that Rogue caters to, do a variety of lifts, most of the bars we sell spin well enough to keep you safe when Olympic lifting. However, a really fast bearing bar, may not be the best choice for bench press, since the spin may cause the weight to feel wobbly, making the lift more difficult and less safe.

If you will be using the bar for CrossFit workouts and both Olympic lifting and Powerlifting, a good hybrid bar like the Rogue Bar or the Burgener Rippetoe Bar may serve you well. They will stand up to abuse and do well in all the movements.

There are many other variables and many other questions you can ask to find the perfect bar for your situation. Read the descriptions carefully and don’t hesitate to ask questions to ensure that you get the best product available for your situation.

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Rogue Kids Pull-up Bar

There are more and more CrossFit Kids programs out there and many people training their kids at home. Finding a reasonable pull-up bar for them can be difficult. Having the kids use a box to get up to an adult height pull-up bar can be dangerous, and you want to be able to change the height as they grow or move from jumping to unassisted pull-ups.

The Rogue Kids Pull-up Bar can be adjusted in height in 2″ increments from the ground to 7 feet. It attaches to the J-cup holes on the Rogue Infinity Rigs, Wallmounts, R3, S1, S2 and S3 Squat Stands in seconds. As you can see from the video, it is strong enough to handle the weight of any kid.

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Rogue Cargo Net

Train for the unknown and unknowable with the Rogue Cargo Net. The original CrossFit Gym in Santa Cruz had a cargo net that they put to great use. The applications are endless. Whether training for the CrossFit Games, preparing for military training or just general physical preparedness, this adds another functional challenge for your gym.

These heavy-duty non-stretch cargo nets are designed for indoor use. They are easy to attach to an Infinity Rig or other structures using the 4″ eyeloops. Of course, mats, spotting and supervision are required.

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Starting Strength – 3rd Edition

Starting Strength

The most important book in strength training has a new edition.

The second edition sold over 80,000 copies in a highly competitive sport and fitness publication market because it is just that good.

It is written in a way that is easy enough for a beginner to understand, but detailed enough that advanced lifters and coaches will gain new knowledge. Unlike most books on training, it does not put you to sleep. It holds your interest through the plain language, and often funny, explanations of what should be done and also why it should be done. If you are a coach, after reading this book you will be able to handle almost any form issue you might encounter with one of your athletes with simple cues as well as the knowledge to back up your recommendations. If you are an athlete, this book provides a wealth of information that you can use to improve your form as well as real programming that you can use to greatly improve your strength.

Now, after four more years of testing and adjustment with thousands of athletes in seminars all over the country, this third edition expands and improves on the previous teaching methods and biomechanical analysis. No other book on barbell training ever written provides the detailed instruction on every aspect of the basic barbell exercises found in Starting Strength, 3rd Edition.

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Rogue Strength Wraps

The Rogue Strength Wraps are a great alternative for an athlete that doesn’t prefer the bulkiness of a traditional lifting wrap. The unique design provides support without digging into your wrists.

Just twist the material to easily tighten or loosen. You can change how restricting the wraps are to fit your needs as an athlete. This allows you to train Olympic lifting, powerlifting, and for general physical preparedness without wasting time wrapping and unwrapping.

These are made in the U.S.A. and are machine washable. Because there is no Velcro to fail, these will last you for years.

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Rogue Knee Wraps

Sometimes you just need some extra support. Your knees take a tremendous load during Powerlifting or Olympic Weightlifting max sets. While knees are suited to the task if the lift goes well, a missed or unsteady lift can put lateral force on your knees that can cause ligament damage. In those cases, wraps can provide an additional measure of support. These also add protection while handling heavy weight on strongman implements where uneven loads are commonplace.

These heavy duty wraps are 3 inches wide and come in two lengths, 6.5 inches and 9 inches.

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Rogue Lifting Straps

If you can not grip the bar, your body will not let you pick it up even if your back is strong enough.

Quite often your max sets are limited by your grip strength, so you are not training your muscles to their maximum potential. Set new PRs on your pulls, hang pulls, high pulls and other back and trap work. The straps are made heavy duty cotton or leather, 1.5 inches thick and 21 inches long.

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