Weight Bars
Weight bars are the piece of weight equipment which the weight plates are placed on. In weight training there are two types of bars standard bars and olympic bars. They are similar in many ways but do offer some differences.
Standard bars are produced from a single bar of metal. The length of a standard weight bar is usually around 5ft to 6ft. The bar is usually around one inch in diameter and will hold standard weight plates which have a one-inch hole in the middle.
The standard men's Olympic bar is 2.2m (7.22ft) in length and weighs 20kg (44.1lbs). The outer ends are 50mm (1.9685in) in diameter, while the grip section is 28mm (1.1024in). The bars have grip marks spaced 910mm apart to allow intuitive grip width measurement. Olympic bars have revolving ends, this is were the ends of the bar freely rotate. The ends of an olympic bar are slightly less than two inches in diameter and only Olympic plates can fitted onto it.
A standard women's Olympic bar is similar to the standard olympic men's bar, but is 2.05m (6.7ft) in length and 15kg (33.07lbs) in weight. The women's olympic bar has a thinner grip section then the mens olympic bar, it is usually (25mm).
There is nothing that you can do with a standard bar and bench that you cannot do with an Olympic bar and bench, but there are a few things that you can do with an Olympic bar that you cannot do as easily with a standard bar.
The Olympic bar is the bar used in both the sport of Olympic weightlifting as well as powerlifting. The size and strength of the bar also allow a person to load the bar with much more weight. The best Olympic bars are able to be loaded with more than 1,500 pounds.
Collars are placed on the bar on the outside the plates, this prevents the plates from sliding along the bar when lifting the weight. There are several varieties of collars to fit different varieties of bars, and they differ widely in their weight. Be sure to include the weight of the collars in your training programme - for the heavier varieties.
