The Safety Squat Bar (a.k.a. “The Hatfield Bar”)
The safety squat bar has a camber that places the
weight in front of the body. When coming out of a
squat or deadlift, the shoulders should raise first.
The safety squat bar teaches you to raise the head and
shoulders first, otherwise you will buckle over
forward. Because of the yoke on the bar, it isn’t
necessary to hold the bar at all. This allows you to
spot yourself if training alone as you can hold onto
something in front of you, like a power rack, to pull
yourself up through a sticking point. It should be
noted that holding on to something does tend to take
your stabilizers out of the movement to a considerable
degree.
Performing safety squats on a box where you sit back
and keep shins vertical can be very difficult for
some. The camber changes the stresses placed on the
body while squatting, increasing the amount of back
involvement. Many people have found their deadlift
increasing from using this bar due to the greater back
involvement and resulting increase in strength.