Customer Reviews

Squat Sponge 18"long, 3.5" diameter & 1.25"thick Olympic Barbell Pad

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was a little worried about buying the Squat Sponge, because there are a limited number of reviews, and most of those reviewers only reviewed this product. Still, it was down to four choices: a towel - kept falling off and not very good padding, a conventional foam pad - not enough padding, the manta ray - a plastic clip on assembly that spreads the weight over your shoulders, and the Squat Sponge.

I did plenty of homework on the various products, and finally opted to go with the Squat Sponge. Now after having used it for about a month, I think I made the right decision. The sponge is made of a soft dense foam, it easily slips around the bar, and is contoured to fit your neck. It definitely helps to make squats less painful. The only improvement I could suggest is that they make the sponge to fit the bar more snugly. As it fits now, it easily rolls around on the bar. It's not a big deal, since once you're in position, your weight presses it firmly against the bar - just an observation for their 2nd version should it ever be made.

Overall, the $40 seemed a bit high for the product. But it is comfortable and well made. So if you think $40 is worth paying to remove some of the upper neck/back pain from squats, I'd say get it.

Please be kind enough to indicate if reviews are helpful.

Written by Arthur Bradley, author of "Process of Elimination" - a novel that pits a martial artist against a world-class sniper.

I am a personal trainer, and am using the Squat Sponge myself and with my clients. It gets the bar in the right position and keeps it there, comfortably. I finally like doing squats again! I have to admit, after having tried other pads, I was not expecting a lot from the Squat Sponge, but thankfully, I was very pleasantly surprised. Get one! Your squats will never be the same!

This by far the best product I used for squats. Other products I used do not even have half the cushion. Well worth the money, I also use this when going heavy on benching and military press to reduce the impact coming down.

Very comfortable when loaded and the neck grove give you the feedback of the bar placement during the squating movement. Plus, this design lends itself well to use with other exercises. We've used the Squat Sponge with "Zercher" squats, lunges with the bar, even to help younger athletes with their benching technique.

I avoided doing my legs because the bar hurt my shoulders. I tried using my workout towel and it did little to help. But the Squat Sponge makes Squats comfortable allowing me to concentrate on my form and the workout at at hand. Go ahead and spend the $40, you'll own this thing forever and it will be worth it!

Save you money. I have no idea what the people are talking about with respect to this sponge. Based on reviews, I ordered this item. Nice, was most fortunate to happen to be my leg day, so I was eager. I took off my Hampton sponge off my bar and put this thing on. Fist thing I noticed was the sloppy fit. I load up 80 pounds for a simple warm and did 10 reps. Wasn't impressed to say the least. Figured ok, maybe it's a tad light. I proceeded to put up 130 lbs and dod 3 sets, sponge made the load seem more unstable. As for comfort I didn't find it any better then my 10.00 hampton sponge. So I put back my hampton sponge and did a a few more squats at 130 feels fine. Put back the squat sponge, no difference. Save you money on this item. 40.00 is way over priced for a simple sponge that flops all over the bar. Sent it back for a refund.

I never had a need for something like a bar pad, because I always did low bar squats, with the bar resting in the crease formed by my rear delts, upper triceps, lower traps and rhomboids. Plenty of muscle to pad the bar. However, I developed some arthritis in my shoulders, to the point where low bar squats became impossibly painful because of the shoulder impingement required to stabilize the bar in that position. Unfortunately, high bar squats were very difficult for me because I have had cervical spine surgery, and the bar rests against my surgical scar. Normal bar pads were completely ineffective. I basically stopped doing back squats because of this limitation, and my training suffered as a result.

Enter the Squat Sponge. Thanks to its unique design, the Squat Sponge not only provides excellent cushioning, but actually distributes the weight of the bar away from my cervical spine and on to my traps, with no instability. Although I am not normally a fan of anything that makes lifting "easier," the Squat Sponge actually allows me to train harder because it alleviates the counter-productive pain of having a heavy bar pressing against the area where I had surgery. It's also perfect for good mornings. Squats may be King, but the Squat Sponge is the Crown Prince.

The squat sponge works excellent and as advertised. Prevously with just the bar on my neck my vertebrae wopuld always feel sore like the bar had been grinding against them after squats. Now I can focus on proper form for the excerise as I'm not worried aobut the pain in my neck. Good product.

This is a remarkable product I love it. After my
second child it was time to get back in to shape,
easier said that done. Squats was a challenge for me,
it felt like the bar was biting into my neck even with
a barbell pad. However, with the squat sponge I feel
the weight but the bit. Now my butt is perky and
thighs are toned.

My husband purchased this product for me in October 2009. I started using it approximately 9 months later, because the gym we joined when we relocated out West did not have a pad available to its members. It worked well for about a year and 3 months, until I began using heavier weights. The pad split horizontally down the middle in the neck area during a 185 pound squat. I wrote to the owner of the company and asked if this was normal. He said yes, but that he would provide me with a new one if I provided my address. I did, and waited for 3 weeks and received nothing. When I followed up with him, he claimed that I never sent my address, and that he required the order number on the item. When I provided both, he said that "He wanted to be fair, but how is he supposed to stay in business?" I did not ask him for a replacement in the first place, he offered one and then changed his mind after he promised me a replacement but failed to tell me. For me, this is terrible customer service and I would advise people not to purchase this product. Plus, there is a better alternative available (i.e. the Hampton International bar Pad, also available on Amazon.com for about $30. (http://www.amazon.com/International-Bar-Pad-Extra-Thick/dp/B002G5PD1I/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1324577250&sr=8-12) It is thicker, well constructed, and will not split down the middle.