Author Topic: Please tell me about your home gym setups  (Read 7245 times)

GuitarStv

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Re: Please tell me about your home gym setups
« Reply #50 on: March 14, 2019, 08:46:13 AM »
I don't think that the bar matters too much to be honest unless you're regularly moving huge quantities of weight or are competing.

I consider myself reasonably strong and I've been fine for the past 15 years with a 15$ 7 ft spinlock 1" bar that I bought used.  Yes, it bent a bit when I dropped a 400lb deadlift a couple years ago, no it's not ideal when doing Olympic lifts because the plates don't spin as freely as I'd like . . . but I've cleaned 240 lbs with it with no problems.

More important than knurling is using a hook grip with your thumb tucked under and chalk.  More important than getting an expensive bar is simply not dropping your weight.

fattest_foot

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Re: Please tell me about your home gym setups
« Reply #51 on: March 14, 2019, 09:41:10 AM »
I went with an expensive bar because it's one of those things where if there's a failure, it's really bad. A barbell that breaks will mess you up.

That and a power rack I was confident in are the areas where I was fine spending extra money.

Slow2FIRE

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Re: Please tell me about your home gym setups
« Reply #52 on: March 14, 2019, 10:00:03 AM »
Cheap barbells are not only more likely to bend (and you should be wary of any barbell that you dropped on your safety bars from a good distance with any amount of weight), they are also more likely to have manufacturing defects such as the bearings seizing or end caps coming off.

If you just bench, squat, deadlift, overhead press -> you are probably fine with a modestly priced barbell.  I would still avoid anything with a bad rep for mechanical failures like the plague.  Is your health and well being worth saving $50 to $100?  Mine isn't.

If you do any type of olympic lifting such as clean or snatch -> you want to get a decent bar.

Knurling will be a matter of personal preference.

I picked up my bar from Rep Fitness and paid a bit more than the cheapo bars because I do incorporate some oly lifts.

NextTime

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Re: Please tell me about your home gym setups
« Reply #53 on: March 14, 2019, 12:55:13 PM »
Gotcha. Thanks.

I don't plan on doing any Olympic lifts in the forseeable future. So I'll just keep the cheap bar I have until I either change my mind, or hit the 300# limit. Which may never happen.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!