bars

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scientific muscle

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My next purchase will be a high-quality competitive standard olympic bar.  The majority of 'olympic' bars sold in stores are pieces of junk!  They wouldn't last a day in a real powerlift meet.  I have been annoyed with my junk bar for awhile now, although I am not strong enough to bend it yet.

Quote from "starting strength" by Rippetoe and Kilgore:
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Bars are the place to spend money, if you have it.  If you don't, raise it somehow, because cheap bars are dangerous, unpleasant to use, and a bad investment.  Cheap bars will bend, even under normal use....Expect to pay $250 or more for a good bar.  There are lots of cheap imported bars available for under $100.  They are junk.  Do not buy them.
</div>

Update: just ordered a &quot;texas power bar&quot;.  IPF approved, 1500 lb.s static test.  Designed for all around powerlifting.  Around $250 with shipping.  I found out that Eleiko are considered the elite but it will cost you over $700 american!

My old bar cost about $20 used and the hex-bolts on the end are constantly loosening.  I can't wait to chuck it.
 
My oly bar cost me about $50. used at Play it Again Sports. It has scratches on the weight collars, but a quick silicone spray and the weights slide very easily. With over 400 lbs. on it it doesn't bend much at all. Heh, it even came with grip tape right where I pull on Sumo Deads! I suppose it's a real bar since it has bearing collars instead of bushings. Rotates well with a load on it.
But if you fancy pants are addicted to gleaming chrome, well....
 
Its not about appearance quad, but function. One reason Eleiko's and other top olympic brands are so much money is because they are designed for olympic lifting. Picture elite, international olympic weightlifters doing daily cleans/jerks/snatches with over 200 KG. These guys are literally throwing the bars up in the air and dropping them on the floor. These bars take serious dynamic abuse daily. Your play-it again-$50 bar would be destroyed in one such workout, although it will suffice for a normal fitness routine.

Here is a nice video demonstrating elite olympic bars getting 'used'.
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1980 olympic weightlifting

Powerlifting bars are not as expensive. They are designed to be super-stiff in order to load the enormous weights of 1000+ lb.s used in powerlifts. These bars are designed not to bend, but they don't need to be as flexible and dynamic since they are not being dropped on the floor dialy like olympic bars.
 
Yeah, my bar was part of a set, but the bar alone is around 50 bucks.

I have not started the Olympic lifts yet although I will soon. However, the bolts on mine not only become a little loose every workout, but they flew off once after finishing a deadlift set!!!!

Anybody know if there are any decent bars/bar makers here in Japan?
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Powerlifting bars are not as expensive. They are designed to be super-stiff in order to load the enormous weights of 1000+ lb.s used in powerlifts. These bars are designed not to bend, but they don't need to be as flexible and dynamic since they are not being dropped on the floor dialy like olympic bars. </div>
I don't know how to tell the difference, but that was educational. Mine has the bar going all the way out to the end, and a heavy 3/4&quot; ring the same size as the collar on it with an allen screw in the face of it holding it on, rather than a big allen in the end like the cheapo's. All I know is it only bends a little and I probably won't break it this year!
If I dropped it on my floor with 400 on it, I'd be fixing a floor!
 
<div>
(nipponbiki @ Feb. 18 2007,01:29)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Yeah, my bar was part of a set, but the bar alone is around 50 bucks.

I have not started the Olympic lifts yet although I will soon. However, the bolts on mine not only become a little loose every workout, but they flew off once after finishing a deadlift set!!!!

Anybody know if there are any decent bars/bar makers here in Japan?</div>
Uesaka (Japan) makes some premium bars. They are considered top-quality up there with Eleiko (Sweden) and Irongrip and others (USA). From what I have read quality bars only come from the US, Europe and Japan. (kind of like cars!)
 
The majority of brands at the store (the cheap crap) are made in china. I like Rippetoe's advice, just avoid any bars that are under $100 new, because that means they were probably made in China and are made of sh-tty steel.
 
Proper olympic bars are different to a powerlifting bar.

Size, lenght, flexibility, sleeve length etc.

Something like a Texas powerbar will not be good for olympic lifts, and using an eleiko oly bar for powerlifts makes them entertaining as well.
 
and the ability of the sleeves to spin freely. Something like an eleiko oly bar will spin far faster than an Eleiko PL bar.
 
I guess mine is a powerbar then.
Sci, remember I said I PAID $50 for it, USED. I've seen the cheapo bars, and this isn't like the ones I've seen, it's identical to the ones at our local gym, where they have a competition team. I was just trying to stress that you can occasionally find one used that isn't crap. Still, I didn't know about the &quot;whip&quot; effect for oly bars and such.
 
It sounds like it, quad. Whatever it is, it sounds much better than the piece o' junk I own. And unless you plan on loading it with 600 lb.s or more, it won't matter that much. ( I have recently set some really lofty goals for myself!)
 
Hey Sci,

WOW! I wasn't actually expecting anybody to acutally reply to my question. Tell me man, how did you know about a Japanese company with you being in the US! Great stuff!
 
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(scientific muscle @ Feb. 17 2007,18:13)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">My next purchase will be a high-quality competitive standard olympic bar.  The majority of 'olympic' bars sold in stores are pieces of junk!  They wouldn't last a day in a real powerlift meet.  I have been annoyed with my junk bar for awhile now, although I am not strong enough to bend it yet.

Quote from &quot;starting strength&quot; by Rippetoe and Kilgore:
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">
Bars are the place to spend money, if you have it.  If you don't, raise it somehow, because cheap bars are dangerous, unpleasant to use, and a bad investment.  Cheap bars will bend, even under normal use....Expect to pay $250 or more for a good bar.  There are lots of cheap imported bars available for under $100.  They are junk.  Do not buy them.
</div>

Update: just ordered a &quot;texas power bar&quot;.  IPF approved, 1500 lb.s static test.  Designed for all around powerlifting.  Around $250 with shipping.  I found out that Eleiko are considered the elite but it will cost you over $700 american!

My old bar cost about $20 used and the hex-bolts on the end are constantly loosening.  I can't wait to chuck it.</div>
Well, that's cool if it's what makes you comfortable. I have 5 bars and they're all pieces of crap. They all bend slightly under heavy weight, so I just rotate them around. No biggie

If I was going to do olympic lifts I'd spend the money to get rubber olympic plates and an olympic bar, although I don't see why you would want to do those unless you're going to compete in something. I don't have the guts to do olympic moves alone in a gym anyway.
 
For the way I train in my gym, I would rather have one good, reliable power bar than 5 crap bars. I am also trading in my adjustable incline bench for a super-solid flat bench for my rack. My adjustable bench is bolted together, wobbles a bit and is too high off the floor for a power-bench. I always wondered why I couldn't get firm footing with this bench, now I see that a standard power bench is 17&quot; off the floor or so, not 21&quot;!
 
Well, I checked that Uesaka website.

After looking at it, I remembered that I had found it before, then immediately remembered why I erased it from my memory: The cheapest bar is 1000 dollars. No thanks

But thanks for the info Sci!
 
Mabe you could get a used one Nipponbiki. If you are going to train olympic lifts, you need a decent bar and bumper plates...both of which are very expensive items! You are better off just finding an olympic weightlifting gym, they will have platforms, bars, bumper plates, chalk! etc. Plus you can get help on your form.

My powerbench came in today, before the bar. It is awesome, solid welded steel. Absolutely no wobble. Will be giving it to my future grandkids someday!
Usually the bench takes 4-6 weeks to ship and the bar only 7-10 days. But the bench is manufactured byWilliams Strength Products and their factory is in South Carolina, across the border from me. I was amazed that it only took 5 days to arrive! Still waiting on the bar, I am not sure who manufactures the power bars at Elitefitness. But it is a great site, recommended. Elitefts.com
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">But the bench is manufactured byWilliams Strength Products</div>
I love their car squat and dead lift racks!  
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Strongman
 
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