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4×4 Bar/Sumo Bar

4x4 bar 44 Bar
With this device I've hauled up 525 kg (1157 lbs), with the aid of a pair of wrist straps.

Partials

The 4×4 Bar/Sumo Bar lead to the most productive exercise I have used. It took me from lifting nothing to picking up the back of cars and hefting 1000-lb loads!

It started by accident. I'd invented the Power Rack which you see elsewhere in these webpages. I decided to test the rack with heavy weights by doing partials. With a straight bar in the Power Rack I worked up to 296 kg Sumo with the bar starting at 455 mm high. At that point I ran out of bar space for weights.

I liked the sumo lift but I couldn't get enough weight on the bar and I didn't like it scraping up my shins... so I invented the 4×4 Bar/Sumo Bar.

I then worked up to 525 kg on the 4×4 Bar/Sumo Bar from 520 mm handle axis height (with an 1100 mm stance), i.e. a superheavy partial.

Funnily enough people had been saying for years that partials were for 'advanced' lifters. It turned out that this was utter rubbish. Partials are even more basic than the 'basic' lifts. A full deadlift maybe basic but doing a partial is even more basic because it requires less ability to get into a stretched position and requires less negotiation of changing strength curves. In short it is 'easier' to perform a partial because it is less 'technical' than a full move. This means greater effort can be put into producing force.

Before the form police jump on me, yes of course full lifts are needed. One will not get strong at full lifts without training full lifts. But it also works in reverse you won't get strong at something by not doing it. In other words you won't get as strong as you can at partials by doing fulls...

This is the essence of sports training, its all about transfer - you get strong at the things you do but also get strong at similar things. If you only do the things that you do you eventually stall so you do similar things to stall the stalling, which means constant periodisation, cycling, programming, change... but you need to do the same things to adapt to them but you need to change.

Principle

The 4×4 Bar/Sumo Bar has a short handle instead of a long bar so there is nothing to scrape up the shins, the knees can come forward of the bar line and assume the strongest position. By having 4 weight holders the centre of gravity of the device is always below the handle and below the lowest hole on the device. This means the 4×4 Bar can't tip over, it hangs under the handle the same way a bucket of sand hangs below its handle.

Unlike a deadlift the arms are braced against the body especially with short range partials, this adds to the torso support enabling even bigger weights to be lifted. To lift bigger weights requires greater muscle force and this produces greater gains.

Doing just partials from the same height and stance width would be physiologically boring, so the device is adjustable in 25 mm increments and the stance can, of course, be adjusted from narrow to wide.

Specs

44 Bar 44 Bar
The handle of the Sumo Bar at its lowest level is at 225 mm which is equal to that of an Olympic Plate radius. It extends up to 375 mm in 25 mm increments.
44 Bar
I use an extension piece for superheavy partials which allows the height to go up to 600 mm (also in 25 mm increments).

Examples

With a close stance and the handle set low the range of motion is big. The bar does not swing and cannot tip over because the position of the total centre of gravity of the weight is under that of the handle. Weight 175 kg, handle 245 mm, stance 550 mm.
This builds strength higher up in the range of motion. A normal full deadlift builds strength near the start. Weight 235 kg, handle 370 mm, stance 600 mm.
The traps get a good hammering. It gets hot doing partials. This is because a lot of energy per distance moved is used. Weight 320 kg, handle 470 mm, stance 650 mm.
With a wide stance the amount of weight lifted goes up. If the weight gets heavier then the weight per millimetre of movement is higher, in other words the quality of the movement is higher per unit of movement. Note you can see I am astride the weight whereas with a normal straight bar I would be behind the weight. As such I could perform Dick Conner straddle squats if I wanted. Here you can see I'm using no wrist straps so the grip gets a good hammering. Weight 305 kg (390 kg with wrist straps), handle 445 mm, stance 1100 mm.
517 kg lift
With this sort of weight everything gets hammered. If the bar isn't level a small plate can be put on the front or back to bring it level - for example here I could have put a small plate on the back; however my aim was just to get the thing off the ground. Note the bar cannot tilt/turnover because the centre of gravity of the entire mass is below the lowest pin. Weight 517 kg, handle 520 mm, stance 1100 mm.

The Benefits

lift a car
Using the 4×4 Bar/Sumo Bar gives me strength to do other things. Vehicle kerb weight 1002 kg, force required to lift back ~350 kg. Note this car is rear wheel drive, the gearbox is at the back

25th November 2023