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PRODUCT
REVIEW But, oh, the price we pay when we choose to bow at the temple of the mighty squat. From grated knees to blown out lumbars to impinged necks and twisted wrists, the squat's victims lay claim to a panoply of maladies similar to those seen by grid iron warriors and stunt motorcyclists. But, for every pop and crack we also experience growth and strength gains unlike those to be had from any other exercise. So, as is the case with much of bodybuilding, we take the good with the bad. That's just the way it has to be, right?
Wrong! Thanks to the ever-churning mind of the great Dave Draper we can all look forward to many more years of self-inflicted torture on our muscles, if not our joints. With the 'Top Squat' Dave has invented a device that not only puts the body in a mechanically ideal position for squatting, it also takes the weight off your cervical vertebrae and distributes it across your traps. Top Squat is comprised of a black rubber-coated steel cuff which snaps securely over a standard Olympic bar. Two 1" thick arms extend 18" fromthe cuff, spaced at a little less than shoulder width apart, to serve as stabilizing handles. While the cuff acts to distribute weight comfortably across the upper back, the arms perform two functions. For one, they eliminate the need to hyperextend your shoulders in order to hold on to a barbell (for those of us who've incurred shoulder injuries or suffer arthritis this alone is a blessing). Secondly, grasping the ends of the handles requires you to keep your arms out in front of you which results in the ability to keep a more upright position throughout the entire range of the squat. After only one set of top squats I realized that this was the piece of equipment I'd been missing my entire training life. The knee pain and cacophony of patellar creaks and clicks accompanying each rep of traditional squats was gone. The cervical vertebrae didn't ache. The lumbar felt fine. And, as an added bonus, my glutes were reduced from being a prime mover to a secondary one! You see, traditional squats have always put great stress on my glute/hip region-- not an area I'd choose to bulk up. But top squats manage to focus the stress on my thighs, and minimize glute and hip involvement. Because the Top Squat turns the squat into an isolation movement, less weight needs to be used than in traditional squatting. Without the glutes coming into play, the thighs are forced to go it alone, and obviously can't handle the same load as they would when assisted by the most powerful muscles in the body. Plus, you'll find that you can go lower more comfortably with Top Squats, giving you the chance to really hit the hams as well as the quads. I love my Top Squat and can't imagine how I suffered through more than 20 years of squatting without it. Thank you Dave Draper! You're a life (and neck, back, shoulder, knee and glute) saver! Now, about my issues with the bench press... Dave Draper's Top Squat is available through http://davedraper.com- $99 for the Metal-Line version, $119 for the Thick-Line Padded version, which I tested.
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