How many bars do you own?

[murphyreedus]

I tried to do the lunch thing for a while, but there were too many days when a lunch meeting came up and messed up my workout.

The secret is to block off your calendar with an important-sounding meeting title.

[Testiclaw]

Power bar

Westside bar

Jesup bar

SSB

Buffalo bar

GCB

Fatbar

Axle

Weightlifting bar...

...men's (3) women's (3) female competition (1)

Small cambered

DL bar

...so 11?

[lonestar777]

I tried to do the lunch thing for a while, but there were too many days when a lunch meeting came up and messed up my workout.

The secret is to block off your calendar with an important-sounding meeting title.

Ha ha! I have tried this, but my boss is the worst offender about scheduling over an already blocked lunch calendar. Especially once COVID hit, and we went to 100% virtual.

I've posted about this before, but for a while I've been doing the Average to Savage 6 day template. That way on the week days I'm able to keep the sessions really short.

[damufunman]

Tensile Strength
Tensile strength is the amount of pressure necessary to pull the steel apart if you pulled the weightlifting bar outward from each sleeve. Although tensile strength tells us a lot about an Olympic bar’s strength, it doesn’t directly tell us about its capacity to retain its straightness under pressure. Yield strength is the measure that tells us the amount of pressure necessary to cause a bar to take on permanent bend. Bar manufacturer’s use tensile strength as an indicator of the quality of steel. Tensile strength highly-corresponds to yield strength. The higher the tensile strength, the less likely the Olympic bar will permanently bend under load. ----
from https://blogs.gopherperformance.com/201 ... s-anatomy/
From what I read, diameter does affect flex, but the alloy is the main factor and the difference between a stiff bar and a flexible one is Yield strength, which nobody wants to tell you.

The yield strength (for a given diameter) will determine when a bar permanently bends. The Young's modulus (for a given diameter and plate COM) will determine how much the bar flexes upon loading.

@AdamSkillin please get some video of that, I want to see it in action so I can wonder wtf is going on and probably never get an answer...

[mbasic]

I also wonder if coating effects bar whip ??? (chemical processes therefrom)

[Oldandfat]

Just the one.

Bare steel OPB

This was my first “real” bar I bought. Everything ya need, nothing ya don’t. Bare steel is the best.

[Hardartery]

Tensile Strength
Tensile strength is the amount of pressure necessary to pull the steel apart if you pulled the weightlifting bar outward from each sleeve. Although tensile strength tells us a lot about an Olympic bar’s strength, it doesn’t directly tell us about its capacity to retain its straightness under pressure. Yield strength is the measure that tells us the amount of pressure necessary to cause a bar to take on permanent bend. Bar manufacturer’s use tensile strength as an indicator of the quality of steel. Tensile strength highly-corresponds to yield strength. The higher the tensile strength, the less likely the Olympic bar will permanently bend under load. ----
from https://blogs.gopherperformance.com/201 ... s-anatomy/
From what I read, diameter does affect flex, but the alloy is the main factor and the difference between a stiff bar and a flexible one is Yield strength, which nobody wants to tell you.

The yield strength (for a given diameter) will determine when a bar permanently bends. The Young's modulus (for a given diameter and plate COM) will determine how much the bar flexes upon loading.

@AdamSkillin please get some video of that, I want to see it in action so I can wonder wtf is going on and probably never get an answer...

My Jesup Gym bar is the squat bar they used to sell. Thicker than standard (I don't remember the thickness and it's not with me), longer than standard, I think rated for 2000 lbs, and it takes a lot of weight to get it to flex. Between myself and a guy that was some kind of NPC competitor (I don't remember if he was pro or not) we bent every single "Power Bar" in a new gym. They sent them all back, we bent the replacements, they changed brands. I have never managed to permanently bend any of my own bars so far. I think that the difference between a Deadlift bar and a non-DL bar by the same company is probably a difference of alloy, seeing as the DL bar would have to meet the same circumference spec as the bar for Bench and Squat. I aso know that the Pendlay bar I have is nicer to DL with than the Ohio (Not the Ohio Power Bar, the other one).

[mbasic]

shit is weird.

At my stupid ass globo gym .... they've ("those people") have managed to bend FOUR Elieko WL bars. FOUR! ...over the last 2-3 years.

We have another off brand OWL bars (IronGrip or some suck shit) that have been in service for 5+ years now..... those have all remain unscathed to the best of my knowledge.

[gtl]

The thing I'm increasingly wondering about some home gyms is how anyone has time to use all that stuff. I'm having trouble getting time to just hit squat+bench+some accessories, and I see people with stuff for 100 different exercises... I just don't have the time for more than maybe 15 different exercises in a week...

Some of us like toys, some cycle through different accessory (or even main) lifts throughout or across training cycles, some of us have other family members who lift and/or clients that we coach in our home gyms. But definitely some of us like toys. It's definitely the case that not all of my equipment is "in rotation" at any given time.

I like options.

And a couple people use the gym besides me, so let's them get some variety in.

Last summer, I was talking to someone who was talking about getting a home gym who said they would probably never use it. I responded saying that you have to equip the gym in a way that makes them not need to or want to go to a commercial gym. For me, that was having some things for a variety sake. Also, leg press and chest supported row can't be beat

[gtl]

Also, I voted 7

Rogue OPB
Rogue Ohio DL
Cap 086B "Beast"
Edge SSB
Rogue Fat Bar
Troy Rackable Curl Bar
Hex Bar

[Skander]

chest supported row can't be beat

Just curious- if one has DBs, why would people prefer BB rows, including chest supported? I was looking at some crazy DIY seal row setups and realized I could get a better ROM just doing one armed rows... Or even maybe cable rows, though my short rack kind of limits ROM.

[gtl]

chest supported row can't be beat

Just curious- if one has DBs, why would people prefer BB rows, including chest supported? I was looking at some crazy DIY seal row setups and realized I could get a better ROM just doing one armed rows... Or even maybe cable rows, though my short rack kind of limits ROM.

I'm referring to a chest supported lever row.

Personally, machine rows and cable rows, followed by landmine rows, are better than bent over DB or BB rows.

BB rows have always taxed my lower back and DB rows have never felt like they hit my lats.

[damufunman]

Tensile Strength
Tensile strength is the amount of pressure necessary to pull the steel apart if you pulled the weightlifting bar outward from each sleeve. Although tensile strength tells us a lot about an Olympic bar’s strength, it doesn’t directly tell us about its capacity to retain its straightness under pressure. Yield strength is the measure that tells us the amount of pressure necessary to cause a bar to take on permanent bend. Bar manufacturer’s use tensile strength as an indicator of the quality of steel. Tensile strength highly-corresponds to yield strength. The higher the tensile strength, the less likely the Olympic bar will permanently bend under load. ----
from https://blogs.gopherperformance.com/201 ... s-anatomy/
From what I read, diameter does affect flex, but the alloy is the main factor and the difference between a stiff bar and a flexible one is Yield strength, which nobody wants to tell you.

The yield strength (for a given diameter) will determine when a bar permanently bends. The Young's modulus (for a given diameter and plate COM) will determine how much the bar flexes upon loading.

@AdamSkillin please get some video of that, I want to see it in action so I can wonder wtf is going on and probably never get an answer...

My Jesup Gym bar is the squat bar they used to sell. Thicker than standard (I don't remember the thickness and it's not with me), longer than standard, I think rated for 2000 lbs, and it takes a lot of weight to get it to flex. Between myself and a guy that was some kind of NPC competitor (I don't remember if he was pro or not) we bent every single "Power Bar" in a new gym. They sent them all back, we bent the replacements, they changed brands. I have never managed to permanently bend any of my own bars so far. I think that the difference between a Deadlift bar and a non-DL bar by the same company is probably a difference of alloy, seeing as the DL bar would have to meet the same circumference spec as the bar for Bench and Squat. I aso know that the Pendlay bar I have is nicer to DL with than the Ohio (Not the Ohio Power Bar, the other one).

Bending the bar permanently is indeed dependent on the alloy. Were you two the only ones using those bars? I think a common reason for bending bars in commercial gyms is using them for rack pulls and such, or dropping on a bench. Often deadlift bars are smaller in diameter and often longer with more distance between collars (at least this is my understanding of calling a bar a "deadlift bar"), and will allow it to flex more for the same weight. Pendlay bars AFAIK are all 28mm diameter, vs 28.5mm for the Ohio bar, so that may explain, along with knurling, coating, etc.

[Hardartery]

Bending the bar permanently is indeed dependent on the alloy. Were you two the only ones using those bars? I think a common reason for bending bars in commercial gyms is using them for rack pulls and such, or dropping on a bench. Often deadlift bars are smaller in diameter and often longer with more distance between collars (at least this is my understanding of calling a bar a "deadlift bar"), and will allow it to flex more for the same weight. Pendlay bars AFAIK are all 28mm diameter, vs 28.5mm for the Ohio bar, so that may explain, along with knurling, coating, etc.

We were the only guys going over 4 plates in the gym. It was attached to a rehab center and a hospital. I know that some of those bars were straight at the beginning of the workout, and very much not at the end after being unloaded. It is possible that other people were involved, but I drew a crowd benching 385 for reps, so it wasn't exactly teeming with hardcore lifters. The Ohio bar I have is not the Power bar, it's the other Ohio with the weird double set of rings and it seems quite springy. I like it for Cleans, but the Pendlay just pulls nicer. It may be that I don't like DL bar flex, or am not used to it. I will not get used to it for a while, because I'm back in Central America for now using cheap junk to lift.

[macmadnz]

Rogue stainless steel power bar. Better than Eleiko I sold after knurling wore down. Hardly needs chalk

Cluster buffalo bar. I think similar to Titan Yukon.
Bar is good, except for poor knurling that I’ve covered with masking tape currently and rings marked at 100cm so I added extra with dremel.

Cluster safety squat bar. Identical to Titan SSB v2.
This is excellent

Cluster open trap bar. Eleiko clone with extra handles
Only just received, and used once. Time will tell but seems like a good purchase.

Cluster technique bar (7kg ) bought for my daughter
And barely used

[5hout]

Voted for 3, but just ordered a 4th. Rogue Boneyard Training bar, 28mm/M version. Pulling my DLs on a 32mm piece of crap bar with a sleeve that slides off if not tightened every workout. Excited for this.

Crap 32mm bar.

Unknown decent bar, black oxide coating not too aggressive knurl. Lives in rack for squats/OHP. Flex when you have 405ish on it, but I really like this bar.

Unknown bar that I think is a cheapo-Weider-Bench-Set bar, loaned out to friend for the duration of Rona.

[Skander]

Rogue stainless steel power bar. Better than Eleiko I sold after knurling wore down. Hardly needs chalk

I hadn't used eleiko in a long while until my last WLing meet, and I had forgotten how slick they are without chalk. Once you've got chalk they're more or less fine, but bare skin on bar really sucks. If I ever have to replace my pendlay bar which is basically bare steel at this point, I'd rather get an AB or Rogue SS bar over an eleiko. Whip is the same for all 28mm, any good needle bar spins well enough at this point. SS has become so much more available, I just don't see a need for chrome anymore for personal use. The real difference is in the knurling and sometimes the coating (I used a werksan once that was just legitimately terrible chrome and sleeves super loose, like a CAP).

[damufunman]

Rogue stainless steel power bar. Better than Eleiko I sold after knurling wore down. Hardly needs chalk

I hadn't used eleiko in a long while until my last WLing meet, and I had forgotten how slick they are without chalk. Once you've got chalk they're more or less fine, but bare skin on bar really sucks. If I ever have to replace my pendlay bar which is basically bare steel at this point, I'd rather get an AB or Rogue SS bar over an eleiko. Whip is the same for all 28mm, any good needle bar spins well enough at this point. SS has become so much more available, I just don't see a need for chrome anymore for personal use. The real difference is in the knurling and sometimes the coating (I used a werksan once that was just legitimately terrible chrome and sleeves super loose, like a CAP).

+1 I love stainless, and honestly don't find Eleiko's to be particularly special and yeah chrome sucks.

[mbasic]

So I am told ....

Elileiko has three(?) several* different grades of knurl.
Their highest "grade" of bar is for comps, and the knurling is supposed to more grabby/cheese grater....and therefore not really suitable for daily training. The lower grades are training bars, and knurling get progressively more smooth.

Our gym has a lower grade Elieko. IMO, they are just about right. It wouldnt take much wear and/or plastic j-cup material mashed in to duck them up ...I'd imagine....

*
https://www.garage-gyms.com/comprehensi ... f-comp-bar

[TimK]

I don't know how it compares to their weightlifting or power bars, but the knurl on the Oppen bar handles is fairly underwhelming. Definitely feels slippery without chalk.