Why Use A Rotating Hande On A Thick Bar?

[Jasonbrightwell]

This topic came up on the forum over at Dragon Door, and I was wondering if anyone could let me know, Why is using a rotating handle important?

I know that thick-bar training is good, but I don't see a reason to put a rotating handle on it.

Thanks in advance.

Jason

[joehawkins]

Do a power clean with a pretty good amount of weight, and don't rack it exactly right, and that will let you know, ah ha. Basically (I don;t know the sciency reason), the rotating bar relieves the pressure on your wrists. I think that it doesn't matter for other lifts, just the cleans.

[Jasonbrightwell]

I emailed Tom Grace, president of Black Iron Strength (the thick bars that functionhandstrength.com sells) about the rotating handle. Here is his response:

You want a rotating handle on any bar that you lift with. That is why all Olympic/Power Bars rotate. The rotation of the bar protects your wrist, elbow, and shoulder from injury. Thanks for your interest. If you need more info, let me know.

[supermagnamon]

I emailed Tom Grace, president of Black Iron Strength (the thick bars that functionhandstrength.com sells) about the rotating handle. Here is his response:

You want a rotating handle on any bar that you lift with. That is why all Olympic/Power Bars rotate. The rotation of the bar protects your wrist, elbow, and shoulder from injury. Thanks for your interest. If you need more info, let me know.

I guess that's a decent enough answer for me.

[steelbiceps]

When you do a clean, your hands start palms-towards-your-shins. By the end, your hands are palms-upwards -- a rotation of about 270 degrees. If the bar rotates, you can accomplish this. If the bar does not rotate, you either have to let go of the bar to rotate your hands, or you have to rotate the hundreds of pounds of plates attached to the ends of the bar. Neither of these options are very good or very realistic for heavy lifts.

For deadlift, it doesn't matter much, since your hands stay in about the same orientation throughout. In fact, it's easier to hold onto a bar if it doesn't tend to rotate out of your grip.

[aorange]

I emailed Tom Grace, president of Black Iron Strength (the thick bars that functionhandstrength.com sells) about the rotating handle. Here is his response:

You want a rotating handle on any bar that you lift with. That is why all Olympic/Power Bars rotate. The rotation of the bar protects your wrist, elbow, and shoulder from injury. Thanks for your interest. If you need more info, let me know.

Exactly. If you're doing Olympic lifts, the plates are going to have rotational momentum at the top of the lift. If the bar itself doesn't rotate, your shoulders and other joints are going to have to supply a torque to stop the weights and bar from rotating. Goodbye shoulders.

This is why some people are against dumbbell and kettlebell Oly lifts, although I'm not sure how much of a point they have since the torque is much smaller due to a couple of reasons.

[Sybersnott]

On an RT lift, the handle will spin to the weakest part of your grip thereby exploiting it.

It also works your wrist, since your wrist fights to keep the handle from spinning.