# Olympic bar with bearings-worth the extra £££?



## 66983 (May 30, 2016)

As in the title is an olympic bar with bearings worth the extra dollar?

Would only be using it for benching,rowing, shrugs and not olympic type movements.

Also a 6' bar is probably the largest I can go to because of space, will this have a negative impact over say a 7' bar?


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## superdrol (Aug 9, 2012)

Only downside to a 6ft bar is getting racks to fit? Other than that I can't see any issues if I'm honest but someone will no doubt come up with some huge reason I've missed


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## 66983 (May 30, 2016)

superdrol said:


> Only downside to a 6ft bar is getting racks to fit? Other than that I can't see any issues if I'm honest but someone will no doubt come up with some huge reason I've missed


 I use stands as a pose to a rack so no problem there.


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## superdrol (Aug 9, 2012)

Sparkey said:


> I use stands as a pose to a rack so no problem there.


 Even if you used a rack a decent engineering place would be able to shorten the cross members (I could help with this if you wanted them shortening - I'm no engineer but it's only a tape measure and welding job!)

actually if you want a rack I have my home grown half rack that will be replaced soon and could easily be modified for a shorter bar if you fancied it?


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## monkeybiker (Jul 21, 2010)

superdrol said:


> Even if you used a rack a decent engineering place would be able to shorten the cross members (I could help with this if you wanted them shortening - I'm no engineer but it's only a tape measure and welding job!)


 You can get 6ft bars designed to fit in a normal rack. They make the loading part of the bar shorter.

I can't see much benefit to an expensive bar unless your doing olympic lifts. A cheap barbell will be fine.


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

Don't some/most powerlifting bars have fixed ends? Can't see why you'd need bearings. If you did barbell curls perhaps, but then you could probably just keep the collars slightly loose.


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## 66983 (May 30, 2016)

superdrol said:


> Even if you used a rack a decent engineering place would be able to shorten the cross members (I could help with this if you wanted them shortening - I'm no engineer but it's only a tape measure and welding job!)
> 
> actually if you want a rack I have my home grown half rack that will be replaced soon and could easily be modified for a shorter bar if you fancied it?


 I just don't have the room or the need for a rack bud, but thanks anyway.


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## monkeybiker (Jul 21, 2010)

Ultrasonic said:


> Don't some/most powerlifting bars have fixed ends? Can't see why you'd need bearings. If you did barbell curls perhaps, but then you could just keep the collars rightly loose.


 I don't think they have fixed ends but could be wrong. Can't see any benefit to fixed ends. Anyway you wouldn't need bearings for barbell curls as you can you can do them with fixed dumbbells without issues.


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

monkeybiker said:


> I don't think they have fixed ends but could be wrong. Can't see any benefit to fixed ends. Anyway you wouldn't need bearings for barbell curls as you can you can do them with fixed dumbbells without issues.


 Think you may be right and I was confusing the bushing vs bearing difference:

http://www.garage-gyms.com/powerlifting-barbell-vs-olympic/

Edit: I was only thinking of a fixed end type being cheaper and this was how I'd read the OP, probably in error.


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## BestBefore1989 (Oct 21, 2008)

I upgraded about a year ago from a cheap bar to what I would call a mid price bar.

I went for the

Wolverson Olympic/powerlifting Bar



28.4mm diameter (Halfway between an elite [28mm] and power bar [29mm])


7ft Length


20kg in weight


Two needle bearings per sleeve, give a smooth rolling action


Standard olympic size sleeve (16" long)


Black zinc oxide finished shaft and hardened chrome sleeves


Non-agreessive olympic and powerlifting knurling for comfortable lifting and high reps


No centre knurling


Rates to 680kg


At less than £200 it is IMO not expensive and is SO much better a bar than my cheap ones.

With a slightly thinner bar it fits the hand better and Its knurling feels like it is gripping your hand compared to the cheap bars.

I planned to use my cheap bars for landmine work ( not wanting to damage the sleeves in the landmine) but that quickly went out of the window and I use this bar for everything. I love it.

Link to a thread I made at the time of purchase

https://www.uk-muscle.co.uk/topic/263049-wolverson-olympicpowerlifting-bar/?do=embed


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## Fadi (Dec 14, 2010)

Sparkey said:


> As in the title is an olympic bar with bearings worth the extra dollar?
> 
> Would only be using it for benching,rowing, shrugs and not olympic type movements.


 In a word: no.

Why not?

Because as you've stated in your second sentence, you won't be using it for Olympic weightlifting type movements. So what, what does that mean exactly? Olympic lifts need what we call a smooth rotation of the bar. This smoothness manifests itself in the way the bar spins..., freely. Good bearings make for an ultra smooth spinning sleeve to the bar. OK, great, isn't that what's needed here then? The answer is a definite no, as the opposite is true. The aspects that go to make an Olympic weightlifting bar great, are the same aspects that go to make that same bar terrible for the sport of powerlifting. Here (in powerlifting), I'm looking for a solid bar, a bar that does not "play", a bar that does not spin so freely.

So instead of opting for a bar with a ball; thrust, or needle bearings, I'd go for a bar that has bushings instead..., it'd be cheaper here because it would lack the sophistication of an OW bar, yet if you are truly serious about lifting the heavies, then what you'd save in the omission of bearings, you'd need to pay for in the load tolerance of that PL bar.

Alive, or a lively kind of a bar (due to the effect needle bearings have on its sleeves), is great for OW. A "dead" or deadish type of a bar (yet very solid and strong as measured by its PSI tensile strength value number), is what's really needed here.

So for squats, bench, and deadlifts, a bar that has bearings (the better quality these bearings are, the worse it is for you)..., because they are usually included with a bar that also has a tremendous ability to oscillate, or in layman's term, the ability to whip. All these great features are great yes, but only when used for the sport and/or lifts these fabulous features were designed to serve, instead of hinder, or worse, make dangerous, for a sport (like powerlifting), that is better served with a bar that is very stiff, causing no surprises or major fluctuations during your big lifts. I mean seriously, the last thing a bench presser wants of a bar, is for it to swing in his hands, or for the load to suddenly start spinning around. What is needed here is a heavy duty bar that is rock solid, in every sense of the word.

Bushings and not bearings is what you need to serve your purpose.

Cheers.

Fadi.


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

Fadi65 said:


> In a word: no.
> 
> Why not?
> 
> ...


 Are there any particular bars you would recommend?


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## Fadi (Dec 14, 2010)

Ultrasonic said:


> Are there any particular bars you would recommend?


 Frankly, the cheapest one you can afford.

I need to clarify a bit here.

After establishing the purpose this bar would serve (lifts done using that bar), we only have one more criteria to meet, and that is the load this bar would be asked to handle. Again, this factor is determined by you, the lifter, for only you..., know what loads would be placed onto that bar. So why pay more for a bar (say), that presents itself with a super-duper PSI tolerance factor (to show you how tough it is), when a much lower PSI value number would serve your particular and individual need just fine!

I currently train on a rusty bar that has 100% zero spin on both sides of its sleeves, and I use it for my favourite movement of all: the power clean. I will upload a video performing this particular lift just to prove a point, and that is, most often it's not really the bar that is holding the lifter back, but his skills and the proper technique needed to execute a particular lift.

I've lifted on bent bars; rusty bars, and totally dead bars. It made no difference to my lifting at the time..., I was too busy lifting.

As you can see based on the above, I would not make the most popular salesperson for a company whose purpose is to convince you that you really *need* to purchase bar X, Y, or Z, lest your lifting suffer terribly.

Cheers.

Fadi.


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## swole troll (Apr 15, 2015)

For home gym on a budget get a bastard bar for all bb lifts

If you want spend a bit extra then a texas power bar and a texas deadlift bar


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## monkeybiker (Jul 21, 2010)




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## Mingster (Mar 25, 2011)

It's not so much the weight on one lift, but the combination of weights from hundreds of lifts per week.


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