The importance of a good bar

All right, so no post on Monday, sorry about that. I have been down with a tummy flu and a chest/head cold the last couple days.

However, I wanted to jump into an important topic. When we talk about equipment a lot of people want to ensure their wallet doesn't take a huge blow buying expensive equipment for a home gym. While this is important... it isn't everything you should consider.

When I first set up my home gym, I bought a CAP barbell set at my local retailer. At the time I wasn't as strong as I am now, so it worked fine. However, this past year as I have become vastly stronger, the bar has been unable to keep up. I started noticing a slight bend in the bar. Then, as I got up around 450 for some of my squat sets, that bend became worse.

When I did my first max attempt with 495, the bend became permanent, meaning the bar is unusable now. Here is a short video of the CAP barbell rolled across the catching pins on my rack.

However, I am lucky that it bent. Check out what happens when this guy loads 675 on the bar...







If you are just starting out, and you think it will be a while before you are working with 300-400 pounds, you might be able to get by with a "Chain store" barbell. However, in my opinion, it is definitely worth saving up for a really good bar. Personally I use a Rogue Ohio bar for my bench and squat needs. I also used it for a while for deadlifts until I saved up for Rogue's deadlift bar (no center knurling and slightly thinner bar but still tough as nails!) There are other good companies out there, but Rogue had the best guarantees. Also, I have put it through some heavy tests. Check out these two videos and see for yourself.

This first video is a partial squat (just about 8 inches ROM) with 835 pounds on the bar. Honestly it was partly an ego test, but I really did want to check and see that the bar would last me a lifetime.

As you can see, the bar does flex a little bit, but not overly so. However, the big difference is that this barbell was made for heavy lifting. Check out the next video and you will see what I mean. I roll it across the same catching pins in my rack as I did with the CAP bar.

Another nice feature is how the bar is designed. The CAP bar had an internal bolt, which meant I often had to re-tighten the thing between sets. The Rogue Ohio bar uses bronze bushings and a snap ring, which allow the loading sleeves to roll and turn without needing to re-tighten anything.

Also, before you go there, no, Rogue does not pay me for the review. I just believe that when I see a good thing, I should pass it along. The Ohio bar is about $250 on Rogue's site. So it is more expensive than the CAP version for sure, but really in terms of quality there is no comparison. Also, The Ohio bar is not the most expensive one out there. So definitely check it out if you are serious about building a good home gym.

On a final note, since I am catching up with work after being sick I am not sure I will post again this week. So let me leave this last video... I should have put it into my previous post, but it fits well with a discussion about quality barbells too...

Happy Holidays and Happy Lifting!