Bar “Tsunami”

Javier Colomer 2 min. of reading Fitness Leave a comment

The “Tsunami®” bar is a relatively new tool in the sports world that came out in 2012. The main feature of the bar is that it’s flexible, which creates an oscillatory instability that the athlete has to overcome:

Gravity force (total bar weight + added weight on the bar).
Oscillatory elastic force: It increases as the number of reps goes up, since according to Hooke’s Law of elasticity, the unit elongation experienced by an elastic material is directly proportional to the applied force.

This way, according to the creators of the tool, the athlete can improve both strength and muscle contraction speed, which will boost power in the chosen exercises. Plus, there are several models available; different thicknesses, lengths, and elasticity levels.

Index

1
2 Most recruited stabilizers and sensory receptors
3 Has it been scientifically studied?
4 Conclusions
5 Sources

Most recruited stabilizers and sensory receptors

The extra challenge of resisting the oscillation frequency means that the motor and stabilizer muscles get recruited faster. This, in turn, promotes conditioning of sensory receptors and proprioceptors.

Has it been scientifically studied?

It has. Here are the results:

Study 1: With similar weight and hand movement, the Tsunami® bar can produce greater external reaction forces compared to a traditional Olympic bar.

Study 2: The Tsunami® bar showed significantly higher muscle activity in all muscle groups involved in bench press (deltoid in its three parts, pectoralis major, and triceps brachii) compared to the traditional Olympic bar at the same %1RM.

Study 3: Improvements were measured over 5 weeks of training (4 days/week) comparing classic functional training (CFT) VS Tsunami® training (TT). Results showed greater improvements in long jump and stair climbing with TT, and similar improvements in medicine ball throw and vertical jump.

Conclusions

Two perspectives come from these results. First, the studies were sponsored by the bar’s own creators, so the interest in highlighting benefits over usual equipment is clear. On the other hand, it’s true that it has its advantages and time will tell if it’s really a useful tool for the main goal: boosting sports performance.

Sources

Tsunami® Bar (2013) Retrieved on May 3, 2014 from http://www.tsunamibarbell.com/home/start.