(THE “MAD SCIENTIST OF STRENGTH” CHRIS DUFFIN HAS REINVENTED THE CAMBERED SQUAT BAR WITH HIS “DUFFALO BAR”, A NAME THAT PAYS HOMAGE TO THE HISTORY OF THE BAR)
(FAMOUS FOR BULKING TO 400+ POUNDS AND THEN CUTTING TO 223 POUNDS IN ORDER TO GAIN MUSCLE MASS, BODYBUILDER BRUCE RANDALL WAS OFTEN SEEN SQUATTING WITH A CAMBERED BAR)
The History of the Cambered Squat Bar (a.k.a. “The Buffalo Bar”)
BY: JON GROVE, North Georgia Barbell
Why would someone bend a perfectly good barbell? In fact, in most cases a “bent” barbell is the one you put in the corner of the gym or discard because it’s defective. That is in mostcases; for quite some time, however, there have been bars intentionally bent like an arch and these “cambered” bars have an interesting history in the iron game.
The word camber means slightly convex or arched shaped by definition but in the weightlifting world it usually refers to a bar that is offset by a bend on each end to pitch the weight differently for many different reasons. By this definition, serious gyms might have several bars that are technically cambered. The most radical is the “bully bar” or giant “U” shaped cambered bar where the weights are loaded around the height of the lifter’s abdomen, and it becomes difficult to control as it teaches one to stay tight and brace on a lift. Another popular bar with a pronounced camber is the Safety Squat Bar developed by inventor Jesse Hoagland and made famous by Fred “Dr Squat” Hatfield; some call this the “Hatfield Bar” and it is cambered to front load the weight and keep it held on to your shoulders with large, padded yolks. Yet another famous cambered bar is the MacDonald Bench Bar. This was invented by world record holder Mike MacDonald for increased range of motion to simulate the deep pectoral chest stretch of dumbbells. Though all these bars, and others, are truly cambered, I would like to explore the history of another version that is often called “the cambered bar” in gyms or referred to by its later name, The Buffalo Bar.
It is likely that a Buffalo Bar was created by accident. Back squatting with a barbell in the weightlifting community wasn’t common until the 1920s. People began to realize how effective the lift was for building both massive legs and for stimulating overall body growth. Back squatting allowed the lifting of heavier loads, but barbells were not yet designed to handle these bigger weights and could bend across the shoulders. One of the first big squat phenoms was the legendary Joseph “J.C” Hise in the 1930s. Often labelled as the “Pioneer of Powerlifting”, Hise endorsed squatting with heavy weights and high reps. There are many unsubstantiated stories about how this came about but J.C. Hise was among the very first people to ever squat with a bent, or cambered, bar across his massive shoulders.
(DAVE DRAPER IN ONE OF SEVERAL ICONIC PHOTOS FROM GOLDS GYM VENICE. THIS WAS LIKELY AN “ACCIDENTAL CAMBER” FROM YEARS OF HEAVY SQUATS BENDING THE BARBELL)
Why put a purposely bent, bow shaped bar across your back? The primary reason for this bar's popularity is because it reduces wear and tear on a lifter's shoulders, wrists, forearms and bicep tendons during the lift. It’s simply more comfortable for some people. It is possible that J.C. Hise, who was a large man with broad shoulders discovered this nearly a century ago. He could drape the bent bar over his shoulders and crank out more reps with less shoulder and arm mileage. Several prominent strength athletes were photographed using bent barbells in the early 20th century, but they were mostly large men like Paul Anderson and Bruce Randall, both well known as BIG men with BIG squats. Andy Jackson of Jackson Barbell was the first to mass produce and market cambered bars, but they didn’t become well known until Peary Rader introduced them to the world in his famous Ironman magazine in 1950. Rader started selling them under the name The Buffalo Bar.
The Buffalo Bar seemed to originally have what IronMind Enterprises, a company that sells this bar, calls a “gentle, classic camber”. The bar was bent but it wasn’t extreme. Though I’m sure there are some of Rader’s Buffalo Bars in basements and gyms across the country, the first time I ever heard of a high-end, well-engineered version was in the 1980s when equipment innovator Jim Sutherland and his Hastings Barbell Company produced their Buffalo Bar. Jim, known for his electrically powered squat racks and his “Passanella Squat Bar”, built a 1 3/8" diameter Buffalo Bar with revolving sleeves that was 92" long and 52 pounds. It was a beautiful, hand-crafted and nearly indestructible bar and many are still being used today. IronMind Enterprises replicated this bar to the exact specs many years ago and still sells it for $999 at www.ironmind-store.com.
(THE IRONMIND “BUFFALO BAR” IS BASED ON THE DESIGN BY HASTINGS BARBELL’S INNOVATOR JIM SUTHERLAND)
Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell introduced the strength community to conjugate training in the mid-1990s and the popularity of “specialty” lifting bars took off like never before. This reintroduced the modern lifter to the cambered Buffalo Bar and this has become a staple item in most serious gyms as well as college and pro strength facilities. Besides just squatting with less discomfort, people are using it for good mornings, versions of bent over rows, bench presses and increasingly more creative exercises.
This article would not be complete without mentioning the Jim Sutherland of the modern era and his contribution to the history of this barbell. Chris Duffin owns Kabuki Strength. Chris is an elite caliber lifter in every way with many accolades, but he is also a brilliant designer and fabricator with advanced knowledge of metallurgy, industrial design and biomechanics. Chris doesn’t just “sell equipment”; Chris is truly the epitome of the nickname he has been given, the Mad Scientist of Strength. Chris took the legendary Buffalo Bar and re-invented it with improvements in several areas with his Duffalo Bar, a name that pays homage to Peary Rader's original name. As with anything Chris digs into, the Duffalo Bar is the best cambered bar on the market. No corners are ever cut, and every aspect of his design is with intention. The IronMind Buffalo Bar is a work of art and history but the Duffalo Bar is functionally the best there is. It can be further read about and purchased at www.kabukistrength.net.
This article could be simply summed up by saying “a bent barbell drapes across your shoulders more comfortably and lets you squat longer and with less wear and tear on your body”. This is a true statement, but I wanted to pay tribute to the great lifters and creative minds over the last century that helped evolve this bar to where it is today. A lot of young lifters will only know it as a Duffalo Bar and others might just say “I’m using the cambered bar today” with no idea of where it came from or how many people were involved along the way to allow those statements to be made.
