Manta Ray

[Brak]

I was considering purchasing one of these. Sounds like it be of great help. I find it is uncomfortable to squat with the bar high on my traps and when I put it in the more comfortable spot between the traps and posterior delt I am distracted by the feeling that it is sliding down and needing to be held up by my arms.

So, opinions on the Manta Ray?

Brak.

 

[Dood]

I've been using one for the last month, works pretty well, though I feel it keeps the bar a little higher on the shoulders than I would like. I can shift it a little lower, but then I have to concentrate on not letting it slip too far. I actually think it could use more padding, other than the plastic it's made of. My .02 cents.

 

[the_dark_master]

Using the bar in the Power Lifter position of the squat, does bring the arms into play - ie you're working nearly all the muscles of the body. (I also believe it opens up the chest/shoulders ala breathing pullovers)
So my advice would to be to save your cash and knuckle down - to some serious squatting...

As a side note: people insist on padding the barbell in the centre - whereas wrapping some padding eitherside, of the spine, would allow for better transfer to the traps. Padding is something you "grow" out of, eventually!

 

[quadancer]

Until my back wouldn't support the weights I was getting into, my manta ray was a total salvation: bars even with pads always hurt my spine a lot. The downside of the Ray was that I had to take a razor knife and carve out a bit around the neck to accomodate my then 18" neck. It takes a few workouts to get used to, but it really spreads the load out for me, so I can concentrate on the weight, not the pain.