Rogue Squat bar vs Toomey bar

This is a comparison of the Rogue Squat bar and the Toomey bar including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details

Overview and review of the Rogue Bella bar Toomey Edition

This overview of the Toomey bar was originally published in my comprehensive guide on which Rogue barbell to buy. If you are currently considering to buy a Rogue barbell it is worth a read to get input on the latest models. I update the guide on a yearly basis depending on Rogue's new releases.

Price 375$

What else to consider from Rogue

Overview of the Rogue Bella bar Toomey edition

The Toomey Edition pays its respect to the 2017 Crossfit champion Tia Clair Toomey. Its basis also comes from the Bella bar and the Cerakote finish is applied to get an arrow design on the shaft. The blue used for this bar is slightly darker than the one for the Davidsdottir bar.

This bar weighs 15kg and has a diameter of 25mm. The sleeves have bushing to make them spin. It has a good whip and is built to IWF specifications for women. It withstands 190K PSI tensile strength and has a loadable sleeve length of 13.00. The knurling is standard. All of these specs make this bar an all-around bar with a nice design,

This bar is good for anyone who wants to add a special bar to their commercial line up or weekend warriors who want to have something special in their home gym. Tia Clair Toomey is from Australia, so if you want to show some flag, this is the bar to get.

Pros of the Toomey Bar

With the darker blue, the Toomey bar might be a better fit for certain colored power racks of Rogue than the Davidsdottir bar. Some also might prefer an arrow on their bar compared to a dog. The design is pretty and well executed. As with all of the branded bars Rogue makes good use of the Cerakote finish and is willing to experiment for best results.

Cons of the Toomey Bar

If you do not like the design this bar is not for you. As with other high gloss bars, it might not be the right choice when you want to buy in bulk for commercial or educational purposes. For this use case the Bella bar, Ohio bar or training bar might be better suited. If you are really hard pressed for the budget when buying in bulk have a look at the Castro and C-70 bar.

Conclusion

The Toomey bar is a great addition to your barbells to make the ladies in your gym feel more welcome. If you are planning a home gym this is a good choice of a barbell either for yourself or for your wife depending on who is buying.

Learn more about the specs of the Rogue Toomey barbell and purchase on the Rogue website

Overview and review of the squat bar

The Rogue squat bar is a 32mm long sleeved version of Rogue bars to maximize what you can squat. Here are the pros and cons.

The Rogue squat bar is a special design that focuses on squatting at $445. The main differences to regular bars are

Bigger circumference 32mm
Longer shaft
Fully knurled
Longer sleeves

This makes it a bar that is aimed at big, heavy squatters. It could also be interesting for some deadlift experiments as the elephant bar from the Arnold has not gone into mass production yet. The specifications of the bar are:

Made in the USA
Weight: 25 KG
Diameter: 32mm
Stainless Steel Shaft - 200,000 PSI
Aggressive Knurl Pattern along full length of shaft + powerlifting and center knurl marks
Bar Length: 94.488
Distance Between Sleeves: 56"
Loadable Sleeve Length: 16.795"
Chrome Sleeves
Bronze Bushings

Pros of the squat bar

The pros of the squat bar compared to other bars are in the name. The design features are inbuilt to maximize big squats.

Longer sleeves
Longer shaft
Full knurling
32mm

Longer sleeves will enable you to put more weight on the bar with rubber or steel plates. If you see Ray Williams squatting you can get an idea of why he might run out of space on the sleeves.

32mm stainless steel will keep the whip at bay. While you want whip in an Olympic barbell to make use of momentum to get the bar overhead, it is not a desirable feature in a squat bar. You want to minimize 1000 pounds taking a life on their own on your back.

The full knurling will provide more grip to your back. There are other bars out there with center knurls which does almost the same thing for you.

The longer shaft will make it less like for you to bump into the rack when oh are walking out very heavy weights. Depending on your setup this can be annoying. I injured myself twice because of twisting my upper body when walking out of a setup and touching off the j cups.

Cons of the squat bar

The cons of the squat bar are

No IPF / IWF approval
Space requirements
Limited use
Price

If you are considering the squat bar because you want to break records, keep in mind that it is not approved for the IPF or IWF. You will still earn respect for posting the first 500kg raw squat, which this bar is basically built for, but it won’t count in these federations.

If you are setting up your home gym in a very crammed place, keep in mind that this bar will protrude even further to the sides. If you have already cut it very thing with the distance of your bar to the wall or another rack, the squat bar might just push it over the edge.

The squat bar is mainly limited to squats. As it has bushing and knurling all across the bar it might not be the best option for Olympic lifts, the bench press, and deadlifts.

For the price you are looking at you can get more versatile barbells for your home gym with a cooler design. If you are setting up your home gym the squat bar might not be the go-to option.

Alternatives to the squat bar

Alternatives to the squat bar are

The Rogue Chan bar is a good alternative for mere mortals who don’t squat 400kg. It is cheaper than the squat bar, has a poppier design and can also be used for Oly lifts. If I was to spend $400 on a starter barbell for my home gym it would be this one.

The duffalo bar is an interesting bar for people who squat 800 pounds plus on a regular basis. This bar has been invented at Kabuki strength which is headed by Chris Duffin. The design is aimed at relieving stress on the shoulder while bench pressing and squatting. This is a very interesting second bar to buy instead of the squat bar, even though it costs $200 more.

Summary for the squat bar

The squat bar is a great bar for someone who actually needs it. This would be people who squat more than 300kg on a regular basis. There are not that many of them around. I personally think for a second barbell in your home gym you are better off going with safety or duffalo bar.vs Squat bar