What should I look for in a barbell..

Traildoggie

Cathlete
We have 2 easy curl bars, one threaded, one not, and a bunch of Ivanco plates. The stores where I got them are long gone and I'm not seeing the plates anywhere.

Are different brands of plates and bars interchangeable if the diameter is the same? am I best off adding plates or buying a new set? I know lots of you have the Troy Lite set Cathe uses. I doubt we'd ( DH & myself) ever go over 100 lbs. Could I use the plates I have along with the plates on that set?
 
I use the Troy Lite, but also have a wide collection of plates (gathered over years). As long as the diameter fits, I would think you could mix and match.

However, I don't know about threadable bars -- I've never used one. I like the quick release collars better.
 
The threaded ones were mistakes, a PITA to use. the collars unscrew themselves and rattle, plus it takes a looooong time to change. we have two threaded dumbell handles and leave those at a set weight.
DH and I are into meso 3 and need more weight and we'd like to get something that will work with what we have but add additional weight, especially for DH.
 
Thank you for the pointer to the quick release collars! That is exactly what I need and I just ordered a pair. I get so frustrated trying to get my weights changed.

Pam
 
I really like my Cap. It can go over 200 pounds. My first barbell was from Walmart, and was able to go to 140, but by the time I finished Meso 3, I was lifting more than that in deadlifts. The Cap is heavier and the bar was more expensive, but it has a nice feel and I don't mind the extra weight.

Lots of people like the Troy Lite. I rejected it because it would not hold enough weight, and I'm beginning to enjoy low reps/heavy weights. The Troy lite would have been fine when I was doing higher reps/lower weight..

What I was looking for when I purchased my second bar, the Cap:
* standard size so I could reuse my plates
* capacity of the bar - I wanted one well over my 1RM for squats and lifts
* no threads, thank you very much!
* weight of the bar - I went with one about 16 pounds
* length of the bar (this is the only thing I don't like about my Cap, very long)
* where the 'collars' are if any - seems to be especially important if you plan to put it on a rack of any kind. Also where they fit relative to your hand. I read quite a few complaints about various bars that said the collars were exactly where the person wanted to put their hands, or that they were right over the top of where the squat rack was supposed to go.
* durability and price. My first bar was hollow (and light, and inexpensive) and it bent after a year when I began using it by max capacity

Hope that helps - let us know what you pick and why. I'm really curious about what people think about :)
 
we have a set of quick release ones like that for one bar and love them. but they won't fit on the threaded bar.

I have a threaded bar, and I use quick release collars on it. Man, I hated that threaded bar before I got the quick release collars! Now I use another bar without the threads most often, but you can use quick release collars on threaded bars.
 
I have a threaded barbell and I hate it for the same reason as above! I also hate the so-called "quick release" collars! Mine get stuck and I end up having to pause my workout while I struggle to get the darn thing to release and slide off! I'd rather use the spring collars! I do want to replace my threaded bar, though! That thing is such a pain in the you-know-what!

When I can, I will either get a set from Sports Authority (pretty inexpensive) or get the Troy Lite set. I need more plates though, because, at least for legs, I know I could go to 100 lbs. or more.

I have the cast iron plates, which I like because they're more compact, but I'd use any other plates along with those as it doesn't really matter what type they are as long as the diameter matches your bar.
 
I have a threaded barbell and I hate it for the same reason as above! I also hate the so-called "quick release" collars! Mine get stuck and I end up having to pause my workout while I struggle to get the darn thing to release and slide off! I'd rather use the spring collars! I do want to replace my threaded bar, though! That thing is such a pain in the you-know-what!

When I can, I will either get a set from Sports Authority (pretty inexpensive) or get the Troy Lite set. I need more plates though, because, at least for legs, I know I could go to 100 lbs. or more.

I have the cast iron plates, which I like because they're more compact, but I'd use any other plates along with those as it doesn't really matter what type they are as long as the diameter matches your bar.

Whoops! It's the spring collars I have, not quick release! Okay, ignore everything I said above for quick release and substitute spring collars!
 
I have spring collars too, and really like them. Most have held up fine; one set that came free with another purchase became too loose after a few months. But they are not costly.

Has anyone tried the lock jaws? or are they only for olympic bars.

For plates, I went with one set of vinyls, and the rest are metal. The vinyls are much bigger for the weight, and I mix and match them. This works out very nicely because the vinyl is normally the widest plate on the bar, and so when I roll the bar or place it on the floor, my floor is protected since only the vinyl plate is actually touching :) That's a happy accident and not planning on my part :rolleyes:
 
Okay, erased!

I do hate those quick release things, though. They really are not all that "quick!" :mad:

I tried to pick up a set of spring collars for my 1" bar and they did not fit! I couldn't get those darn things on to save my life! I even got my DH to try and HE couldn't get enough "spring" out of them to slide them on! Either my bar is 1.0125" or the collar was .9995"! LOL!

Whoops! It's the spring collars I have, not quick release! Okay, ignore everything I said above for quick release and substitute spring collars!
 
very informative

I'm gearing up to do STS for the first time next week. I just today went and weighed my barbell. I think it weighs about 12 pounds with no weights on it! I came real close to buying a gold's gym threaded barbell with some weights at Walmart the other day, but after hearing about the pain of the unthreading/threading, I'm glad I put it back (I was looking because my spring clips are jacked up and it takes me forever to get them off! :mad:).
I guess I didn't realize that my bar was that heavy on it's own!!
How does this effect my 1RM? Should I go back and recheck, or just stick with what I've planned on using? I'm a little surprised that the bar is that heavy.
 
Veronica, if you kept the reps/weights you used in entering the 1RMs, you could just add 12 pounds to the weight and re-compute. That will give you the most accurate results.

I ran a test to see how much difference it would make in a situation where you thought you were lifting 100 pounds for 8 reps, but you were actually lifting 112 pounds for 8 reps, to see how that affected your 1RM. And better check my math, because I haven't had my coffee this morning and that can be dangerous!!!

But this is what I think would happen, using a 1RM calculator I have in a strength recording program:

Predicted1RM = 124.6 (based on lifting 100 pounds 8 reps)
Actual1RM = 139.5 (based on lifting 112 pounds 8 reps)

In Meso1 we do 60 percent of our 1RMs, and you'd end up doing this if you just went with your original estimates and ignored the weight of the bar:

lift = 0.6* 124.6 + 12 = 86.8

But what you want is this:

lift = 0.6*139.5 = 83.8

So, you'd tend to start out a little heavy on all of your barbell lifts because you are adding in the 12 pounds without it being adjusted downward by the rep percentage, and also, you would not realize how strong you actually are. You could just drop off a few pounds when you try the lift, and adjust the workout card after the first week. Most of us end up tweaking our numbers a little anyway. And you might find that it is a nice challenge to have the weights juuussst a little heavier :) But personally I find the larger 1RMs to be very motivating and so I'd be one who would go back and re-enter all of the scores with barbells. More fun to think you can lift almost 140 pounds and to make the meso 1 lift, than to think you can lift almost 125 pounds and perhaps not make the meso 1 lift!

Edited to add: I assumed that the workout manager is really doing a 60 percent computation as it says on the sheets and not computing a 15RM; the numbers are a little different.
 
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I called a couple fitness shops (haven't been shopping yet) and both said to bring my existing threaded bar along if since not new because there might have been some variation in circumference over the years. It would be much more usable with spring clips if they fit. Nothing wrong with the bar itself, just the annoying rattling and taking so long to change weight.

I've never weighed either bar and just assumed they weigh 5 lbs for ease of calculation. I may need to weigh them anyway. they also told me that all plates should be OK as long as the hole is the right size.
 
One of my bars weighs 4 pounds, the other 15 ... but that's enough of a difference that you'd probably notice, if there was so much of a chance between yours.
 

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