NATURALSTRENGTH.com – Old School Weight Training Strength Strongman Power Vintage Bodybuilding: Pressing and Trap Bar Deadlifts – A Great Combination

     I was very fortunate to have learned this lesson when I joined Bruno’s Health Club in the Summer of 1983.  I was nineteen years old, and I was lucky to get in “on the ground floor,” so to speak.  Over forty years later, I am still fortunate to be able to train hard and heavy on the basics.  I’ve never lost sight of the fact that hard work on basic movements is the sine qua non of building lasting strength.  And over the years, I have trained in many gyms where this lesson was reinforced.  I won’t list every gym I ever joined ( I don’t think I can even remember ALL of them), but the gym that most closely reminded me of Bruno’s was Iron Island Gym, which I joined in the Winter of 1992.  

     There have been many articles written about Iron Island, some even by me, over the years.  Suffice to say that it was a gym that was worthy of every good thing that was ever written about it by members and guests alike.  It was at Iron Island that I was first introduced to the Trap Bar.  Up until that time, I had only seen articles about this wonderful piece of equipment.  But upon joining, and seeing it in person, I had to try it out.  And, like most people who have tried the Trap Bar, I was instantly impressed.

     During the past thirty years or so, I have always tried to include some form of Trap Bar Deadlifting in my workouts.  Sometimes it was an adjunct for my regular deadlift workouts.  One brutal, high-rep set of Trap Bar Deadlifts is an excellent assistance movement for the Deadlift.  Most powerlifters would benefit greatly from incorporating the Trap Bar into their training.  Whether as a primary movement during the “off season,” or an assistance exercise during contest preparation.  

    Several years ago, I purchased a thick-handled Trap Bar.  Since I do all of my training at home now, it made all the sense in the world to ensure that I had a Trap Bar.  And the one I have, 2” thick all around, guarantees that I will always have a brutal workout at my disposal whenever I want.  I have done just about every type of workout with it:  high reps ( 20 or more), lower reps for sets of five or six.  I’ve even devoted certain amounts of time to working towards a personal best for one rep ( 525 Lbs as of this writing).  One thing that I would like to make clear is that my Trap Bar does NOT have raised handles to shorten the range of the movement.  In the past few years, there have been any number of “lifters” posting pictures of their Trap Bar prowess for all to see.  One only has to see the raised handles ( sometimes 6” or more), use of lifting straps, heavy duty lifting belt and knee wraps to realize that they are doing a partial, assisted movement at best.  Stay away from the gimmicks and artificial aids.  You can build great strength with a thick-handled bar ( or dumbbells) over a full range of motion while at the same time eschewing the use of a belt.  

     It is because of my belief in the value of the Trap Bar that I was honored to participate in the “Trapped on Long Island” lifting event which was a fundraiser for the Dr. Ken Leistner Memorial Scholarship Fund at Logan University as well as the Lakeview Youth Federation.  Anyone who was familiar with Dr. Ken was aware of his close association and relationship with the Lakeview Youth Federation, and this event was in honor of Dr. Ken as well as Coach Charles Nanton, who was one of the founders of the federation.  Coach Nanton had recently passed away.  The event was the idea of Kathy Leistner, who has staged events of this type over the years at her home training facility.  

     The last time I had seen Dr. Ken had been when he still owned Iron Island.  One of the things that I regret is the fact that I had lost touch with a man for whom I have a great deal of respect and admiration.  Hardly a day goes by that I don’t chastise myself for not making a greater effort to keep in touch.  But the fact is that you can still feel his presence at the training facility which is still used to help others realize their strength and conditioning goals.  

     The lifting event took place on Saturday, August 3, and there were two events:  Clean and Press and Trap Bar Deadlift.  Sounds pretty easy on paper, doesn’t it?  But there was a catch:  Each event had to be done for fifty repetitions.  You read that right:  100 total reps on a brutally hot and humid August day.  And it was a timed event too!  Ten minutes to complete the Clean and Presses and then a two minute rest before the ten minutes to complete the Trap Bar Deadlifts.  

     As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, I’ve always believed that high-rep Deadlifts have a place in any serious lifter’s training regimen.  But fifty reps!  And after fifty Clean and Presses!  There’s an old saying that goes “Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.”  I believe the person who first coined that expression had to be someone who had to do 100 total reps on a day when the temperature approached triple digits.  

     The Clean and Press is another movement which needs no explanation as to its importance in anyone’s training routine.  And you do not need to be an Olympic weightlifter to reap the benefits of this fine movement.  Just about every muscle group is taxed by this exercise, and if you want to challenge yourself then try to do a high rep set of Clean and Presses using either a barbell, or a set of heavy dumbbells.  Back in 2018, for my birthday workout that year, I wanted to do as many reps as possible with 75 Lb dumbbells in the DB Clean and Press. I think I was able to complete 12 reps.  Again, it looks simple on paper, and if all you had to do was clean the DBs once and press them twelve times it isn’t difficult at all.  But when you have to do a separate clean for each rep then that changes everything.  

     Another point that I would like to make is that it makes perfect sense to do these two movements on the same day.  The Clean and Press is a perfect way to warm up you back and hips for deadlifting.  Hopefully there is nobody reading this who engages in the silly practice of “body part training.”  Leave that sort of silliness for the pumpers and toners.  Real men and women who want to get strong realize that it is important to train the LIFTS rather than individual body parts.  

     Lately, I have been using my 60 Lb Center Mass Bells for the Clean and Press.  I only do one or two sets of ten reps.  I find that going heavier will inevitably cause me to lean back too much.  And while this will enable me to use more weight, there is no excuse to sacrifice good form.  After the CMB Presses, I move on to my Trap Bar.  I’ve been using several different rep schemes lately in an effort to add variety to my workouts.  My most recent workouts include doing a moderately heavy double, followed by eight sets of triples with a lighter poundage with only 90 seconds between each set.  It’s challenging to say the least, but I am encouraged by the results so far.  

     If you have been training for a long time, sometimes you need a reminder that it is the constant attention to the basics done consistently with an eye toward poundage progression that yield the best results.  And that the ability to embrace brutally hard work is the one thing that will deliver the best results.  I’d like to thank Kathy Leistner for this important lesson, even if it is a couple months too late.  I’d also like to acknowledge Barbara Cittadino from Barbara’s Photo Creations who took more pictures than I have ever seen from the event, including the one below.