cant decided on barbell?

erin1621

Cathlete
So i have been debating on buying the barbell. I have db up to 10lbs but i am doing 4day split. She uses a lot of the barbell in these exercises. I also need heaver dumbbells. Does the barbell really up the intensity? is it worth the purchase? I dont have a lot of room...i live in a small apt. Thats why i have been hesitant on buying equipment. But on the other hand i am using every purchase i ha
ve made lol. So far i have a ball, step, high step and db 3,5,8,10lbs and a stretch band. I find i could go heavier on the weights and not sure what increase i should buy? 12, 15, 20 and 25? So is the barbell worth the space? ok any suggestions, input adv is welcomed!
 
I really like having a barbell and with it also bought a plate tree to hold my barbell plates. Theoretically, any exercise you do with a barbell can be done with dumbbells; so getting more dumbbells would be ok. That being said, as you are able to lift heavier, I think certain exercises become more comfortable to do with a barbell than dumbbells (squats for example).

Currently my living room doubles as my workout room and bedroom; so, I completely understand the space issue. I have an entire corner of that room devoted to my workout gear which includes the barbell (standing up against the wall), the plate tree, a dumbbell rack, my Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells, my step and risers, and the collapsed STS Tower. It is crowded in that corner but I just pull only the things I need out when needed.

Hope that helped!
 
I love my barbell and think anyone who works out with Cathe would benefit from having one. It really improves and enhances her workouts. You don't have to spend a fortune and, with a little creativity, you can easily store it in a small space. I got mine at Walmart......it's the Gold's Gym 100 pound set. Then I went back and got some additional plates.......it all ended up costing around 65 bucks. If you do decide to get one, a bar pad is a really good idea. They have 'em on Amazon for under 10 bucks.
As far as adding to your dumbbell collection, why not start with 12's and 15's and then move up from there? Pace Weights are a wonderful way to add weight to your dumbbells if they are not coated in neoprene. And I can't say enough about Cathe's weighted vest......from pushups to squats and lunges, it's a great way to add to your load.
I just think that the more options you have with your workout equipment, the better and more well-rounded your workouts will become. It's so important to keep them fresh, fun and moving forward. I really think you would be happy with a barbell in your home gym.
All the best,
Marianne
 
I love my barbell. I'm doing STS now and find it to be very useful and I'm assuming it works the muscles in a different way than DB's. I got mine at Sports Authority for like $100.00. It can hold up to I think 200#'s. It also has easy clips to make for quicker weight changes AND it included two smaller bars for dumbells. I'm really happy with it. Oh- and the bar itself is more suited to the female frame- not as long and awkward to use for smaller women (I'm 5'0).

Happy shopping!
Pam
 
I completely vote yes for the barbell, it does allow me to lift heavier on certain exercises than I could with dumbbells, and it just adds so much more variety to change things up.

A barbell with a set of plates can be stored in a pretty small space by stacking the plates in a corner.

I agree, 12's, 15's and 20's for dumbbells will give you a really good range of weights, then from there, you can feel it out if you want to add on. During my first round of STS, I really did get stronger, and bought up to 35's, but honestly, I rarely use the 30's and 35's and would be fine if I stopped at 25. Most times if I were to go as heavy as needing a 30 or 35, I would be using the barbell anyway.
 
For what it's worth, I also have been accumulating all kinds of equipment, and here's what gets the most use ...

I am always using my individual dumbbells up to 25 pounds; the 30-35 pounders not as much. That's about the time the adjustable dumbbells become useful. I bought the adjustables to save floor space, for 35+ situations. By the way, pace mates are great for tweaking metal dumbbells by 1-3 pounds; that plus weighted gloves will get you any increment you like. If I had it to do again, I'd buy only metal dumbbells.

The barbell plus squat rack comes out all the time since I bought it. I love it especially for Meso 3squat rack legs. Regardless of DVD, though, the bar is far more comfortable for me than heavy dumbbells when doing lunges and squats. My arms were getting overstressed from holding weights during squats; that's because I often need to do Legs/upper body back to back on the weekends to fit them in between travels. Also, when doing a full body workout that combines upper/lower, the bar gives my arms a bit of a break when working legs. The squat rack plus bar eliminated that problem. It is also fun to 'clean and press' with a barbell - more satisfying somehow than dumbbells! Before getting squat racks, I went with the barbell plus a heavy vest, which also worked well. Deadlifts go better for me with the bar than dumbbells, too, though partly that's because my adjustables are so wide. It isn't a bad idea to go back and forth between dumbbells and bars, to avoid having one arm take over for the other. I really noticed I'd been neglecting that advice when I started with kettlebells.

BTW, I absolutely love my Manta and Sting Ray for bar comfort in back squats and front squats. Much nicer even than a bar pad in my opinion, though far more expensive. The Lockjaw weight clip is wonderful for quick changes and fits nice and snug on the bar - another expensive but worth it purchase. VersaGripps are nice for deadlifts that get heavy.

I've actually got two bars now. My walmart bar was great for a year after I bought it: smaller, inexpensive, and vinyl so it could rest on my floor. It was four pounds plus a set of 100 pounds of weight. After the first year, it began to bend slightly. That's probalby because my deadlifts were getting towards the upper limit what the bar could handle (140 pounds is the rated max for that particular bar; it gave me trouble around 130 pounds). I shifted my original bar to upper body only, and bought a Cap, which is longer/heavier/more awkward to store, but is rated to 250 pounds. My back squats with using rack just hit 170 and my goal is to get to 200 pounds by the end of the year, so this should last me awhile. I have not regretted going with the universal rather than olympic size plates, at least not yet.

For wrist comfort on other upper body lifts, I prefer dumbbells, and I usually use them for bicep curls and the like. My wrists are happier when I vary the angle. The adjustables are a little large, but usable.

All of that equipment does take up a lot of storage space! It would also have been prohibatively expensive to acquire all at once - I bought it over course of several years, with an eye out for sales. You can do quite a bit with a weighted vest plus dumbbells up to 25-ish pounds, and a good set of adjustables. Also, if you get a barbell, you might also want the bar-style hand weight instead of adjustables. That would let you use the same plates on each. The bar-style hand weights seemed to rattle a bit when I tried them in the store, but it was probably because I didn't have the weight clamp on tight enough.
 
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