Dr. Fred Hatfield holds his hand high after squatting 1008 pounds in 1985.
By: Jon Grove, North Georgia Barbell
I think the Safety Squat Bar is used by most powerlifters (and many athletes from all sports) and is a staple in most serious lifting gyms these days. Sometimes I hear people say, “I’m doing SSB’s today” and I wonder how many of them really know (or care) where this bar came from and how it ended up as the SSB we know and love today.
The Safety Squat Bar was invented by Jesse Hoagland from Trenton, NJ. He was trying to find a safe way to do squats and developed a bar that would stay on your back without having to hold on to it. In June of 1981 he received a patent on this invention and started his company Natural Power Safety and Fitness. He was featured years later in the December 1988 Ebony magazine article titled “Blacks with Unusual Businesses” and several other publications.
Inventor Jesse Hoagland created the Safety Squat Bar in 1981.
Jesse introduced Dr. Fred Hatfield to his invention at Man’s World Gym in Trenton and Hatfield realized the potential of this bar. He started using it regularly in 1984 and he nicknamed it The Magic Leg Machine. “Dr. Squat” Hatfield described its benefits in the Nov 1985 issue of Powerlifting USA magazine. He discussed how it eliminated many typical squatting errors by allowing the lifter to keep a straight back and pressure off the knees. Both Hoagland and Hatfield seemed to talk a lot about holding onto something and using your hands to help through the sticking point and/or to overload. Fred squatted the all-time world record of 1014 in 1987 at 44 years old and credited the addition of this bar in his training for taking him from 900 to over 1000 in competition.
An early ad for Hoagland’s bar with Dr. Hatfield pictured using it as intended.
A few lifters began catching on and in 1988 SHW lifting legend and college strength coach John Ware wrote an article in Powerlifting USA called “The Magic Leg Machine” where he is pictured doing 1025 X 3 in a power rack; John Ware officially squatted 1000 shortly thereafter.
Coach John Ware squatted 1000 pounds in competition after overloading with the SSB.
Many high schools, colleges and NFL strength programs adopted this bar for their athletes, and it grew in popularity but still wasn’t a regular tool in the powerlifter’s arsenal until Louie Simmons wrote an article in the Oct 1994 issue of Powerlifting USA. Louie changed the strength and conditioning game, as he is known for, and decided this bar was more effectively used without holding on to the rack and he discovered numerous benefits in lower back, hamstring and glute development. He also referred to it as a squat deadlift bar because it blasted all the muscles used in both lifts directly and really increased a lot of lifter’s deadlifts immediately.
Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell found many new uses for the Hatfield bar to build posterior chain strength.
The bars Louie used were built by Ralph Crepinsek in Hollister, CA. Crepinsek was THE place to get these bars in the ‘90’s and early 2000’s. Now, in 2022, there are dozens of companies that make copies of these originals (Elite FTS SS Yoke, Titan, Rogue, etc.) and even radical new advanced improvements on Hoagland’s original bar like the awesome Kabuki Transformer Bar or the Marrs Bar.
Chris Duffin has reimagined the SSB with his Transformer Bar that adjusts for different leverage points and load parameters.
The Marrs Bar is an interesting low bar version of the SSB.
Whether you call it the Safety Squat Bar, the SSB, the Yoke Bar, the Magic Leg Machine, the “Squat Deadlift Bar” or its most well-known name, The Hatfield Bar, this invention has definitely changed strength training as much or more than any other tool in the toolbox.
