Scorpion Iso-Bar Review

Every once and awhile I receive emails from readers who find or invent new bodybuilding products and want me to write a review on it. Some products are just plain crap, while others are very useful. I only review the ones that are worthwhile, and the Scorpion Iso-bar is one of them!

The Scorpion Iso-bar is another invention from one of my readers and contributors to this website, Jack Brady. You can see another of his inventions here, an ab isolation strap thats used with the ab coaster.

The Scorpion Iso-bar simulates the spider curl, without the need for a spider curl bench. This bar effectively isolates the biceps while doing curls and isolates the triceps when doing skull crushers.

When you do curls with a barbell or dumbbell, as you reach the top of the movement the load lessens; you are almost balancing the weight. With the Scorpion Iso-bar the tension is all the way through the complete range of motion. The exercise becomes more difficult near the top of the motion because leverage is working against you.

I bet this bar increases muscle tension by 50 60%!

In this photo, the lifters forearms are vertical but the plates are still a good six to eight Inches from the top of the motion and thereby still putting tension on the biceps.

This is a humbling exercise because you have to drop the weight that you normally do with regular barbell curls because this exercise truly minimizes the contribution of the front deltoids and isolates the bicep. Leverage equipment has the distinct advantage of requiring less weight while positioning the muscles for optimal development. 40lbs. will feel more like 70 or 80 lbs. The bar itself can hold up to 120 lbs.

Skull crushers: Isolating the triceps

My favorite exercise using this bar is pullovers for the chest:

The bar rests on the bench in the perfect starting position for the pullover:

When youre reaching the end of a set, and your arms and pecs are tired, you can easily set the Iso-bar back down into the starting position:

Standard or Olympic plates

The Iso-Bar holds standard weight plates with an Olympic version to follow. If you have Olympic sleeves, some will work and others won't. The ones that work are 1" throughout the entire center (not just the ends) with an embedded locking screw or bolt on one end that can be tightened down.

Perfect bar for Preacher Curls

Conclusion

Want to add a greater peak to your biceps without spending big bucks on a spider curl bench? This bar mimics the spider curl and has leverage working against you beyond the 90 degree mark of the curling motion.