Buying stuff for our home gyms

[Cv215]

The Strongest Barbell Rogue Fitness Makes

The whole barbell strength thing is way over rated. Any decent powerbar is going to be more than strong enough. We as lifters mainly care about specific traits.

Squat bars are thicker, stiffer, the sleeves go out further so you don't have to worry about clipping the rack when you take your first step back. They have a much wider and more aggressive center knurling for more surface area on your upper back. They are 55lbs so that they can accommodate these features.

Deadlift bars are quite a bit longer, they are NOT stiff, they are meant to provide whip, they are slightly thinner than a standard power bar, and they have extremely aggressive knurling for maximum grip (it will literally rip your hand open). Some are made specifically for the sumo deadlift.

Bench bars are basically a lot like squat bars. 55lbs. Knurling is a bit different. Extremely stiff. Made for 700-1000lb benchers.

Powerbars are a jack of all trades. In most federations we use a good power bar (texas power bar) to bench press with, and not an actual bench press bar. They are more obscure and mostly for equipped lifters putting up outrageous numbers.

Olympic bars are the most expensive because they use needle bearings and most of them are either stainless or hard chrome. Knurling is less aggressive then basically all the bars i listed up above. The bearings and finish are where the price tag comes from.

All of them from any quality manufacturer have a higher strength rating then anyone of us ever need.

Just thought yall might find some of this interesting because i know a lot of yall are used to commercial gym equipment. Whats funny is most of the big name commercial gym manufacturers make good products, really expensive stuff, but they make less than decent barbells.

 

[maldorf]

The whole barbell strength thing is way over rated. Any decent powerbar is going to be more than strong enough. We as lifters mainly care about specific traits.

Squat bars are thicker, stiffer, the sleeves go out further so you don't have to worry about clipping the rack when you take your first step back. They have a much wider and more aggressive center knurling for more surface area on your upper back. They are 55lbs so that they can accommodate these features.

Deadlift bars are quite a bit longer, they are NOT stiff, they are meant to provide whip, they are slightly thinner than a standard power bar, and they have extremely aggressive knurling for maximum grip (it will literally rip your hand open). Some are made specifically for the sumo deadlift.

Bench bars are basically a lot like squat bars. 55lbs. Knurling is a bit different. Extremely stiff. Made for 700-1000lb benchers.

Powerbars are a jack of all trades. In most federations we use a good power bar (texas power bar) to bench press with, and not an actual bench press bar. They are more obscure and mostly for equipped lifters putting up outrageous numbers.

Olympic bars are the most expensive because they use needle bearings and most of them are either stainless or hard chrome. Knurling is less aggressive then basically all the bars i listed up above. The bearings and finish are where the price tag comes from.

All of them from any quality manufacturer have a higher strength rating then anyone of us ever need.

Just thought yall might find some of this interesting because i know a lot of yall are used to commercial gym equipment. Whats funny is most of the big name commercial gym manufacturers make good products, really expensive stuff, but they make less than decent barbells.

I bent a bar at a Golds gym. Was surprised it bent so easily. I only had about 545 lbs on it. Very slight bend when it was done, someone watching said it was bent a lot during the lift but I didn't notice. I guess the average bar out there is crap. I never used a proper squat bar.

 

[Cv215]

I bent a bar at a Golds gym. Was surprised it bent so easily. I only had about 545 lbs on it. Very slight bend when it was done, someone watching said it was bent a lot during the lift but I didn't notice. I guess the average bar out there is crap. I never used a proper squat bar.

Yah, bars you find at golds, la fitness, planet fitness, basically any bar you find in a commercial gym is pretty much going to be a bobo even if it looks nice and shiny. They're just made for the average joe.
Theres a whole world of elite level equipment out there that most people don't know about simply because commercial gyms don't buy it. Texas power bars, EliteFts, texas strength systems, Legend, rep fitness, Vulcan, Rogue.. Etc. These companies make literally the best equipment you can buy yet you mainly only find it in serious gyms that are privately owned, gyms geared towards competition, home gyms, some colleges..

 

[Cv215]

I bent a bar at a Golds gym. Was surprised it bent so easily. I only had about 545 lbs on it. Very slight bend when it was done, someone watching said it was bent a lot during the lift but I didn't notice. I guess the average bar out there is crap. I never used a proper squat bar.

Using a proper bar for the lifts, especially when you're trying to put up serious weight, will almost spoil you lol. Its hard to get used to anything else. Bodybuilding is a bit different though, it might not be as necessary, but still for really strong bodybuilders and simply for the enjoyment of lifting it really does make the experience better.

 

[maldorf]

Using a proper bar for the lifts, especially when you're trying to put up serious weight, will almost spoil you lol. Its hard to get used to anything else. Bodybuilding is a bit different though, it might not be as necessary, but still for really strong bodybuilders and simply for the enjoyment of lifting it really does make the experience better.

Wish I could have used some. It would have been nice to experience. I can't lift heavy anymore, so the crappy bars are fine for me.

 

[xpoc]

My workout consists of squats, deadlifts, overhead press, bench press, dips, pull ups, bent rows, curls, hang cleans, standing calf raise, walking lunges, and farmer walks using the trap bar. That is 12 exercises. I do 6 exercises one day, then the other 6 the next day.

My gym is reopening. As a matter of fact, the past 2 days I have trained at local gyms and it is good to be back. I did want to write a follow-up review (results) of my "pandemic" garage workouts. When the pandemic first started, I was trying to do one exercise per bodypart, 1 set to failure. That lasted only a short time before I switched to the above split. I trained 6x per week.

Size: I was able to maintain overall mass. I might have lost 1-2 lbs tops.

Arms: Shrank a bit. Could be anecdotal evidence that isolation work for arms is needed. My only single joint arm movement was barbell curls. Tris in particular took a hit.

Legs: Grew!!! (keep in mind, I was doing squats 3x per week MWF, and RDL & lunges 3x per week T-TH-SA) this could be anecdotal proof that training legs more frequently works. Previously I trained legs 2x per week.

Chest: Upper chest lost some pop, but overall it remained unchanged.

Delts: Rear and side delts suffered a bit.

Traps: GREW!!! Traps and legs by far benefitted from this split. I directly attribute this to the farmer walks. My traps would BURN and I also felt these in the calves.

Lats/upper back: Meh... at best they maintained.

Abs: Improved. Strict overhead military press with the fat bar 3x per week really taxed my abs...as did the farmer walk.

Calves: Status quo

Overall I got harder through the legs and torso. I definitely had some muscle migration going on because my weight stayed about the same but some areas shrank while others grew.

NOW I am back to my bread and butter PUSH-PULL-LEGS split, 6 on, 1 off. 2 days logged and I am sore as a muddaphucka. Good to be back.

 

[Wynn]

This company mostly equips universities but does provide home equipment. Their trap bars looks expensive and there are no prices to be seen.

Williams Strength

Total Strength and Speed | West Columbia SC

Total Strength and Speed, West Columbia, South Carolina. 9,959 likes · 1 talking about this. Speed Force Max is the method behind the Williams Strength and Tsunami Bar Training facility.

www.facebook.com

 

[Cv215]

This company mostly equips universities but does provide home equipment. Their trap bars looks expensive and there are no prices to be seen.

Williams Strength

Total Strength and Speed | West Columbia SC

Total Strength and Speed, West Columbia, South Carolina. 9,959 likes · 1 talking about this. Speed Force Max is the method behind the Williams Strength and Tsunami Bar Training facility.

www.facebook.com

Never heard of them, but from looking at some of the pics their quality looks really really nice. I'd really like to see a list of what all they carry.

 

[Wynn]

MARRS BAR

The Weirdest Squat Bar I've Ever Used...

 

[Cognomen]

@Wynn, Very interesting, did you like it? Looks like it's brutal on the back, and lifting anything heavy would make me nervous as hell.

 

[Dens228]

Now that the prices have gone done I purchased a set of adjustable dumbbells from Core Fitness. So far I like them quite a bit.

 

[Wynn]

@Wynn, Very interesting, did you like it? Looks like it's brutal on the back, and lifting anything heavy would make me nervous as hell.

I have not used it.

 

[UCP]

Over the past few months I’ve purchased a trap bar and a front squat harness. Both have been fantastic to use.

The front squat harness especially, I can’t say enough good things about. I could never front squat heavy due to being unable to support the weight but it makes it easy. The front squat is a much more efficient exercise for leg growth for me too which is a plus.

 

[Cognomen]

I have not used it.

Ooof yep, that went over my head. I wasn't sure if you were joking and I'll admit my curiosity got the better of me.

 

[cage99]

I just bought the bowflex dumbell set. You can adjust it up to 52.5lbs. I thunk they are pretty cool haha

Just an fyi, those are trash... I know this because I own the 1090’s set. The slightest bump or god forbid they get dropped the selecter disc crack. And they cost $40 to replace on EBay. Or like me you’ll have to buy a whole new handle with discs from Bowflex themselves for $160... I bought 4 handles due to broken discs.

The bright side to this is someone on YouTube engineered 1061 aluminum discs to replace the shitty fragile plastic crap that come on the 1050’s and the 1090’s. I found him by chance and bought his kits. Google average joe permanent fix for Bowflex dumbbells. I believe I paid $380 for the kit. But now the Bowflex DB’s are solid. So definitely upgrade to the aluminum discs.

Cage

 

[tkav1980]

The discord r/Homegym has a way to set up alerts from rep fitness, rogue and a few other companies when they restock. you have to be quick on the trigger because inventory sells out super fast.

 

[Millineum Man]

Over the past few months I’ve purchased a trap bar and a front squat harness. Both have been fantastic to use.

The front squat harness especially, I can’t say enough good things about. I could never front squat heavy due to being unable to support the weight but it makes it easy. The front squat is a much more efficient exercise for leg growth for me too which is a plus.

What brand of front squat harness are you using?

 

[UCP]

What brand of front squat harness are you using?

Titan Fitness brand. It’s only $75 but just a heads up the weight capacity is 325 if you’re looking to go heavier.

 

[benchmstr]

Bar
Rack
Dumbbell bench(for inside the rack)
A shit load of different resistance bands.

you can flourish with just the above really easily

 

[madg]

I train at home since corona started

I miss the gym , its been a whole year since i was there

Fucking hell man