Crepinsek Safety Squat Bar Review

I recently acquired a new piece of equipment. It is the Safety Squat Bar (SSB) by Crepinsek. For those of you who do not know what a SSB is, it is a bar that has a yoke and handles in the center. The idea was to move the hands to either the handles or to grab the rack uprights. This allows people with shoulder problems to continue to work on squats and to also allow overloading by grabbing the rack.

There are many different brands of the SSB but some should not be considered as the engineering design of the bar was not thought of and instead was just made to "copy" the more expensive brands. Reputable brands include anyone like EliteFTS, Rogue, Crepinsek, Black Widow, and Watson. A side benefit of the design of the SSB was that it actually pitches you forward during the squat and so more posterior and core work is performed. Another useful feature of the bar is that since the weight tips forward a little, you can actually let go of the handles and be hands free. This allows you to grab the rack to better control yourself. Louie Simmons of Westside sometimes refers it as the deadlift squat bar because it helps a ton for the deadlift.

I used this bar last night and I was absolutely humbled. I trained heavy squats the night before but I could only do 245 on the bar the first time. It will progress but it is a weird feeling the first time you use this.

Things that you can do with a SSB are:
Calf raises (flat bars usually try to roll off the back)
Good Mornings (way more comfortable and won't roll up the back)
SSB squats (helps to keep the body upright during the regular squat and also helps the deadlift)
Hatfield Squat (this is similar to a leg press)
Front squats (you can turn the bar around)
Westside style box squats

Now specific to Crepinsek.
Regarded as one of the best SSB around. It weighs 65lbs and is about 4" longer than a typical barbell. It comes with 5" stubby handles but can be swapped out with other handles as they are tension bolted on. Ralph Crepinsek is a very very nice person to deal with. He is very personable and makes good products. I highly recommend his products. He gave me a rundown on everything about the SSB and how to use it. The website is 1500