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If you recognize the importance of strong shin muscles, you’ve probably heard of the unilateral tib bar, aka solo tib bar. It’s the younger brother of the great Tib Bar which helped so many athletes with lower body strength, mobility, and injury prevention.
Let’s see what this unilateral Tib Bar has to offer in terms of build, benefits, and the number of different exercises you can tackle (you may be surprised).
What Is a Solo Tib Bar?
As the name suggests, the solo tib bar is a tibialis anterior trainer that trains your legs individually. It is smaller and more compact than the original tib bar, but it’s no less potent when it comes to tibialis training.
The Solo Tib Bar is simply a more convenient tib trainer for some athletes due to its size. However, convenience is not everything this workout tool has to offer.
What Can You Do With a Solo Tib Bar?
The standard tib bar essentially locks your legs into a dorsiflexion-ready tib raise position. On the other hand, the solo tib bar offers more options.
Tibialis Raises
Of course, the main purpose of a solo tib bar is to help you isolate and tackle your tibialis anterior muscle via tibialis raises. This exercise allows for a full range of motion during ankle dorsiflexion, as well as plantar flexion.
To do the solo tib bar tibialis raises, all you have to do is:
- Load the bar (start small)
- Lock the weight with the safety clamp
- Put it on your foot and adjust the foot section to your liking
- Start doing tibialis raises by letting the bar stretch your ankle to full plantar flexion and by slowly dorsiflexing your ankle
Hamstring Curls
You may have heard of the ankle strap that allows you to attach dumbells to your feet. This bar can be used similarly for hamstring curls. The setup is the same as before, only this time I urge you to be careful when standing up. The center of gravity may feel weird at first, but that’s just your body adapting to new stimuli.
This is how to do hamstring curls with the solo tib bar:
- Set it up like you’re doing tib raises
- Stand up (you can hold on to something) with your other leg
- While standing straight, square your hips, brace your core, and contract your hamstrings by bending at the knee
Look at it like a bicep curl, only for your legs. After all, we have the biceps femoris as one of the main actors here.
Hip Flexor Raises
Just like you can do hamstring curls with the ankle strap, the solo tib bar can help you with hip flexor raises as well.
The setup is similar to the previous two exercises, only this time we are bending both at the knee and the hip.
Here’s how to do hip flexor raises with the solo tib bar:
- Setup the bar using a plate and the attaching system (don’t forget the safety clamp)
- Stand up straight and brace your core
- Now while holding tight, bring your working leg up, leading with your knees, bending your hip at the same time.
- Hold for a brief moment and repeat for reps
Can You Use The Solo Tib Bar With Regular Gym Plates?
Absolutely you can – the solo tib bar supports standard-size gym plates with a 50mm diameter.
On top of that, you’ll be happy to know that the Hybrid Athlete Solo Tib Bar is made with a durable (yet ergonomic) design in mind. Stainless steel is everywhere, except for the foam padding where your foot goes.
Solo Tib Bar vs Standard Tib Bar
So, by now you must be asking yourself which tib bar is for you. No matter the sport you’re in, ankle health is crucial for virtually every athlete out there. Even though these two tibialis trainers look like they do the same things, there are some subtle differences there. Besides the obvious unilateral/bilateral design.
The main differences between the solo tib bar and the standard bilateral tib bar are:
- Solo tib bar allows for more different exercises
- Solo tib bar is more convenient for carrying
- Standard tib bar allows you to load your tibialis muscles more, working in unison
The Verdict: Solo Tib Bar
No matter which option you choose, your tibialis anterior will get the love they deserve. However, we can safely say that the solo tib bar is a bit more versatile, and convenient when it comes to portability.
All in all, you’re on a good path toward a bulletproof lower body! Just take it slowly (it’s a new movement for most) and remember – never work through pain.
Have a great leg day!
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