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If the goals are to grow muscles and shrink workout time the X3 Bar Elite can make that happen. But it’s also gonna shrink your wallet, too!
Pros:
- Durable
- Reduces workout time
- Compact
- Legit on-the-go portable option to bring on road trips
Cons:
- Pricey
- Exercise limitations
- One size only
Using a combination of resistance bands, a high quality bar, and a baseplate, the X3 Bar Elite can generate 600 pounds of resistance – that’s how much a baby grand piano weighs. Workouts are designed to be done within ten minutes or complete muscle failure (whichever comes first)!
Resistance ranges from 10 up to 600 pounds
FYI, there’s a smart version of the X3 Bar system, called X3 Force, which connects to an app to give you real time tracking during workouts. It's basically the same thing as the Elite version, just more money.
Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned athlete, here’s everything you should know about the X3 Bar Elite system.
Product Specs
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In The Box: When you order the X3 Bar Elite, you’ll receive the 16-pound exercise bar four resistance bands (10, 20, 30, and 40 pounds), a ground plate, a footplate, a workout guide, and a carrying bag. Optionally you can add a 5th Elite band for more resistance. It’s shipped in a plain brown box, so if you’re not around at the time of delivery, the box is discreet enough that no one will know there’s a high-value item inside.
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Dimensions: This platform band system doesn’t take up much space. The steel ground plate measures 30 x 10 inches.
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Product Weight: When packaged up the whole kit weighs about 12 pounds.
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Maximum Resistance: The resistance range on the standard set is 10-300 pounds. This is achieved by combining all included bands together. If you add the optional Elite band you can achieve 600 pounds of resistance. However, in our experience, we didn’t even unwrap that Elite band from its packaging. Most workouts you’ll be plenty fatigued with just a single band or some combination of the lighter bands.
What We Like About the X3 Bar Elite
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Full-body workout: It’s amazing how such a compact setup can provide such an ass-kicking workout. The X3 Bar Elite targets all major muscle groups, just follow along with the included workout guide.The band’s design provides a variable rate of resistance throughout your range of motion for more challenging workouts.
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Scalable: While you can achieve a very high level of resistance if you want, this setup is not intimidating even for beginners since it’s very easy to drop the resistance level by using the lightest weight band. You can even hack the setup and use the bands for other workouts (we found a great way to do tricep pull downs and seated rows by wrapping the bands around a squat rack).
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Portable: The entire set is compact and easy to transport, making it easy to use at home and tuck out of the way when you’re done. It’s also small enough you can carry it with you if you’re traveling (though would definitely add about 20 pounds of weight to your suitcase)
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High-quality materials: The bar is made of steel, and the resistance bands are made of latex, ensuring durability and long-term use. The ground plate also has been designed to cushion the points of contact between the plate and the bands to protect them from excessive wear.
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Warranty: The X3 Bar and ground plate have a 5-year warranty, and the bands a 1-year warranty that covers manufacturing defects. The X3 Bar has a 30-day money back guarantee from the date of delivery.
What Might Deter You From the X3 Bar Elite
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Cost: While the feel of this is very premium, so is the price ($549 + $99 if you want the extra band for 600 lbs of resistance). The initial investment in the X3 Bar Elite is high, especially when you compare it to resistance bands on their own.
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Onboarding: The include guide is helpful to teach you what kinds of exercises you can do. However the X3 Bar Elite is different from traditional resistance training. In the early days, figuring out how to adjust the setup between the bar, base, and bands, or the sweet spot when using just the bar and bands does take some time to learn compared to swinging dumbbells.
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Limited Exercises: Although the X3 Bar Elite provides a full-body workout, some users may feel that the range of exercises it offers is somewhat limited compared to a fully equipped gym.
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Band Length: The resistance bands are all 41 inches long. For most workouts, this is fine, but for certain moves, like squats, you may feel the bands are a bit long, causing you to lose some of the resistance when you’re in the bottom of your squat stance.
The Thought Behind The Product
Dr. John Jaquish, the guy who invented the X3 system says lifting weights is a waste of time if you’re looking to actually improve muscle mass and develop your body.
Of course, the guy who makes a weight lifting alternative product might say something like this. But it’s because of the science behind variable resistance training that John felt strongly enough that people’s gym time was being used inefficiently that he created the X3 system.
Variable resistance training maintains force through the full range of motion
Variable resistance training is based on the idea that your body is naturally stronger at certain points in your range of motion. For example, if you’re doing a bench press, you’ll likely be able to produce more force in the middle or the top of the range of motion (right before you lock out) than you would at the very bottom of the range of motion.
In traditional weightlifting exercises, you might workout to muscle failure. But that failure could be based on the full range of motion, when actually, there’s still a bit of gas in the tank if you were to try and do some half range or even partial range movements.
With variable resistance training, you’re able to challenge the muscles to full fatigue, through your entire lift, and when you can’t complete a full range of motion, you continue with partial range until your muscles are absolutely fatigued. This maximizes hyperplasia in the muscles (the tearing and splitting of muscle cells which support the development of new muscle fibers). And the more completely your muscles are fatigued, the more they adapt to support heavier forces in future workouts.
These workouts maximize muscle growth and minimize workout time
If you’ve ever been sidelined by an injury and had to take a break, you know how frustrating that can be to your workout routine. But when we’re chasing high levels of fatigue with free weights, the risk for injury is always there. Variable resistance training, however, can reduce the risk of injury during exercise.
That’s because this style of exercise puts a high level of tension on your muscle, rather than your joints, through the entire range of motion you’re moving. A problem with working out with weights that longevity Expert Peter Attia identifies in his book Outlive is that “We overload joints and underload muscle,” and this is something that John, the guy who makes the X3 Bar, also feels strongly about.
Prevents unnecessary stress on joints
Combining high-density resistance bands with a quality bar and baseplate, can generate tremendous loads for your training session without unnecessary stress on your wrists, ankles, and other joints involved in the exercise. This allows your joints to support your motion during exercise, and not the force of the weight. The constant tension of the bands throughout the range of motion in your workout allows for more complete muscle fatigue compared to traditional free weights, giving you bigger gains even though you’ll spend less time working out.
There are so many different kinds of exercises you can do with this system (just follow the guide). And once you get familiar with the equipment, if you're noticing any gaps in the official system, you can hack the gear to target specific workouts you want to do. For example, repurposing the bar with an existing squat rack can be amazing for seated rows and tricep pulldowns (triceps setup pics below):
If the goal is to maximize muscle growth and maintenance in a short period of time then variable resistance training is the way to go, and the X3 Bar Elite is a fantastic, compact setup for this type of exercise.
The Bottom Line
If you like the idea of a compact fitness setup based on resistance bands, and have the cash to put toward a premium version of this, then The X3 Bar Elite offers a high quality choice to achieve a very intense workout in a very short period of time.
