The REP Open Trap Bar Might Just Be the Most Innovative Barbell of 2024
REP Fitness
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Key Features:
- Open design allows for training versatility
- Built-in deadlift jack makes loading and unloading the bar a breeze
- Rackable design allows you to use this with your favorite power rack
In the world of barbells, innovations usually come in the form of minor changes to the material, bearings or grip, but the overall design rarely changes.
Trap bars first came to the market in the mid-80s, intended to make the deadlift safer, but the design hasn’t changed much over the years. While the standard hex trap bar is quite popular now, and probably the most common of all the specialty bars, they still haven’t changed much over the years… until now.
The REP Open Trap Bar is one of the most innovative barbells ever designed. REP wasn’t the first company to make an open trap bar, and it’s far from the only one on the market right now, but the brand’s high quality and fair pricing certainly make this model stand out from the competition.
Whether you’re looking to upgrade your garage gym, pick up a new piece of fitness equipment for your commercial gym or simply get one barbell that’s versatile enough for all of your lifting needs, it’s tough to beat the REP Open Trap Bar.
In this article, we’ll show you exactly what makes this bar unique, break down all of the built-in features and show you why we think this is the best trap bar on the market today.
REP Open Trap Bar Construction and Design
REP Fitness
The first thing you’ll notice when you look at the REP Open Trap Bar is the open design.
Most trap bars featured an enclosed design, where you step into the middle of a hexagon-shaped bar and grab onto handles located in a neutral position at your sides. This works great if you’re simply looking to perform trap bar deadlifts or carry the bar, but any other exercises are severely limited by the enclosed design.
The REP Open Trap Bar removes the portion that would normally be in front of your shins, but maintains the neutral handles. This allows you to perform all kinds of movements through a full range of motion, like lunges, split squats, bent over rows, overhead presses and a wide variety of other exercises.
In addition to the open design, the handles are removable, so you can swap out the default handles to use a narrow, wide or rotating grip. (You’ll pick which handles you want when you buy the bar, and can purchase additional options separately.) The stationary handles all have a 28 millimeter handle diameter, while the rotating handles offer three options—28 millimeter, 38 millimeter and 48 millimeter.
The unique bar design includes a built-in deadlift jack with padded feet which protects your gym flooring, while allowing you to safely load and unload heavy weight plates. You’ll load the plates onto sleeves with a hard chrome finish, designed to withstand wear and tear from sliding heavy plates on and off the bar.
The bar is also designed to work with nearly any power rack, so you can even use the Open Trap Bar to perform various squat and overhead pressing variations.
Finally, this bar is built to last, with a matte black powder coating, hard chrome sleeves and a round tubing frame with built-in knurling for enhanced grip and stability.
What We Like About the REP Open Trap Bar
The biggest pro of the REP Open Trap Bar is the open design that still uses the neutral handles. While many athletes try to use the standard trap bars for exercises like rowing, or overhead pressing, the enclosed frame often gets in the way, making standard hex bars only useful for lower body exercises or shrugs.
Thanks to REP’s open design, that’s no longer an issue, and there are dozens of exercise options with this trap bar.
The neutral handles allow you to keep the bar aligned with your center of gravity, and your arms out to your sides. With a traditional barbell, the weight is slightly in front of you, which can put a bit more strain on your back and joints if you’re not careful.
With the REP Open Trap Bar, you can now perform nearly any standard barbell exercise, but you’ll be able to keep the weight centered with your body, instead of having the bar out in front of you.
Aside from training functionality, we love the built-in deadlift jacks and removable handles.
If you’ve ever tried to load multiple plates on a barbell, you know that it can be somewhat awkward trying to lift the bar enough to slide on a new plate. If you’re lifting alone, this can be dangerous, if not impossible. With deadlift jacks, you can safely use both hands for loading and unloading plates.
With the removable handles, you can now fully customize the grip to your needs, even using the removable handles. Standard trap bars have a fixed width, so if you have arms that are shorter or longer than average, the grips may feel a bit off. With the removable handle set, you can easily change the handles to fit your needs and preferences.
Finally, we love that the bar will work with most squat racks. If you’re looking to use the REP Open Trap Bar for back-loaded squats or lunges, or want to press it over your head, this will fit in your standard power rack, functioning much like a safety squat bar.
What To Consider About the REP Open Trap Bar
While we think the REP Open Trap Bar is a great bar for any gym, it’s not without its cons.
As far as the structure goes, it’s a bit heavy. The bar frame weighs 58.4 pounds, without any additional plates, and the handles weigh even more, ranging from 12.8 pounds to 34 pounds. Beginners may find this a bit heavy to use, especially once you add bumper plates.
This is a minor detail, but considering most standard barbells are 45 pounds, the extra weight can make it slightly more difficult to figure out exactly how much weight is on the bar, as you’ll need to do some extra math and account for the bar, varying handle weight and the plates you’re using.
The replaceable dual handles are one of the best features, but they come at a cost. You can choose one set of handles when you order your Open Trap Bar from REP, but if you want to use the other handles, you’ll have to order the whole kit of replacement handles, which costs an additional $89.99.
Finally, the bar itself costs $399. This isn’t too bad as far as barbells go, especially for all the features it includes, but $399 means this isn’t a cheap barbell. And, unless you already have a lot of plates around, you may need to purchase your own bumper plates if this is going in a home gym.
This is still cheaper than competitor alternatives, like the trap bars from Rogue Fitness or Kabuki strength, but with the additional handles, you’ll be spending nearly $500 in total.
If you’re looking to save money, there are certainly budget barbells to choose from, though they won’t have all the features that the REP Open Trap Bar offers.
Who the REP Open Trap Bar Is Best For
REP Fitness
As this is one of the most versatile bars on the market, nearly anyone interested in weightlifting will benefit from adding the REP Open Trap Bar to their lifting area. Whether your goals are to build muscle, lose weight or improve your athletic function, this bar will help you.
Compared to other specialty bars, like cambered bars or EZ bars, this has much more versatility.
Trap bars are commonly used in strength and conditioning gyms that work with athletes, as the centered weight and neutral handles provide a slightly safer way to lift and allow you to safely perform heavy exercises like deadlifts and farmer’s walks. This makes them a good choice for athletes of all skill and fitness levels, who want to train in the safest manner possible.
If you’ve got a home gym and already have a standard barbell, this will open up all kinds of new options for you. Barbells are great, but many struggle with proper form due the bar being slightly in front of them, and the neutral or rotating handles open up all kinds of exercise variations you can use.
For commercial gym owners, having this bar available is a great way to accommodate those who aren’t comfortable lifting with a standard barbell, or those who prefer using a trap bar for certain lifts. The heavy-duty design is built to last, so it’ll withstand the wear and tear of daily use, and shouldn’t need to be replaced more often than any other gym equipment.
Put simply, if you’re interested in strength training and this fits your budget, we highly recommend this bar, as the versatility allows it to be used for nearly any type of lifting.
Who the REP Open Trap Bar Is Not Best For
If you compete in powerlifting or Olympic lifting and can only afford one barbell, this isn’t the bar for you. Those lifts are standardized and must be performed with a straight barbell, so that’s the one you should use, and we recommend getting a specialized Olympic barbell or powerlifting barbell.
That said, if you do have the budget and space, trap bar exercises are very similar to barbell lifts, and a great alternative to build in some lifting variety and provide a new stimulus.
Some users with shorter arms have reported that the handles are a bit wide. You can get a narrow option, but if you have particularly short arms and tend to struggle with trap bars, the narrow handles could still be a little bit too much. The standard handles are 25 inches apart, and the narrow handles bring this down to 23 inches.
Finally, those brand-new to lifting may struggle with the weight of this bar, and want to opt for a lighter, beginner bar.
What Customers Say About the REP Open Trap Bar
If the customer reviews are any indication, users love using the REP Open Trap Bar. This bar currently is sold on Amazon, and there are plenty of reviews on REP’s website from verified buyers, and Google reviews.
With over 250 Google reviews, and a 4.8/5 average rating, it’s clear that people have a lot of good things to say.
Many users love the easy loading with the built-in deadlift jack and the grippy handles, and report that using this bar has removed a lot of lower back strain from regular barbells.
One user wrote:
“I'll be honest, this bar isn't the cheapest so it was a bit of a gamble, but the quality of this bar is beyond fantastic. It goes together superbly and the metal, knurling and design are just top-notch.
Best of all...I have no pain when deadlifting and I feel far more stable throughout the lift. I'm also able to do bent-over rows without pain, and lunges without needing to load a bar on my shoulders and have my back stabilize that weight.”
Another user said:
“Awesome design! I got the narrow grips and have loved using the trap bar so far! Have used it for step ups, reverse lunges, deadlifts and neutral grip floor press. The built-in deadlift jack and the ability to rack the bar make changing plates super easy.”
Warranty and Return Policy
If you purchase directly from REP, your purchase will be protected by a five-year warranty.
The brand also provides a 30-day return policy, but you’ll need to pay for your own return shipping, and you may be subject to a 15% restocking fee if you don’t return the item in its original packaging.
This is an ok return policy; just be aware that return shipping costs could be quite expensive with how heavy this bar is.
REP Open Trap Bar FAQs
Is a trap bar better for deadlifts?
We wouldn’t say the trap bar is better, but many do prefer the feeling of lifting with a neutral grip.
Having neutral handles centered with your body removes most of this strain, and creates a very comfortable deadlift experience.
How heavy is the REP open trap bar?
The bar frame itself weighs 58.4 pounds, but that’s without any handles, which will increase the total weight of the bar.
The wide handles weigh 12.8 pounds, the standard handles weight 15.9 pounds, the narrow handles weigh 17.9 pounds, and the rotating handles weigh 34 pounds.
What is the difference between a REP trap bar and a Kabuki Strength trap bar?
The Kabuki Strength Trap Bar HD shares a very similar design, with an open frame and built-in deadlift jacks. Kabuki also features interchangeable handles, though it doesn’t have a rotating option like REP does.
The Kabuki strength does have a slightly higher maximum weight capacity of 1,500 pounds, while REP’s weight capacity is 1,350 pounds, but most users won’t be lifting anywhere near that capacity.
Finally, the Kabuki strength bar is nearly double the price, costing $749.99 compared to the REP Open Trap Bar at $399.99. If you’re outfitting a commercial gym, you might find the sturdiness of the Kabuki bar holds up a bit longer, but for home gyms, the REP Open Trap Bar should be more than enough.
What is the difference between a shrug bar and trap bar?
A shrug bar is just another name for a trap bar, as is the name “hex bar.” Each of these feature neutral grips, similar to the way you’d hold dumbbells when performing shrugs, designed to grow the traps.
That said, standard shrug bars use the enclosed design, while the REP Open Trap Bar features an open design, making it the more versatile option.
Do traps respond to high reps?
They certainly can! Muscle growth, or hypertrophy, can be achieved with a wide variety of rep ranges, including high reps.
Takeaway: Is the REP Open Trap Bar Worth It?
The REP Open Trap Bar is one of the most versatile, well-constructed and affordable barbell options on the market.
While beginners may not utilize all of the functions, anyone who’s serious about lifting and strength training will certainly benefit from using this tool. With interchangeable handles, a built-in deadlift jack, and sturdy design, it’s hard to beat the quality of the REP Open Trap Bar, especially at this price point.
If you’re on a tight budget, this may not be the best option. But if you can afford the cost, have space to use it, and have bumper plates already, we highly recommend the REP Open Trap Bar.
Prices are accurate and items in stock as of publish time.
