Barbells

This will depend on the type of barbell. A typical 7ft Olympic barbell weighs 20kg. Powerlifting Barbell or Olympic Weightlifting Barbells used in competitions are 20kgs. Women’s bars are 15 kgs. These are two generally accepted standards.

However, there are many other varieties of barbells. Some are shorter, some are longer, and some come in different designs. The weight of these barbells is different. Unlike the competition barbells, there is no universally accepted specification for say an Olympic EZ curl bar.

The type and brands of barbells grow each day. So, when we talk specifications, we need to pinpoint what type of barbell we are talking about.

Barbells that are used for Powerlifting and Olympic Weightlifting are 220cm. Women use a 200cm barbell. Generally, if someone says an “Olympic barbell” they are referring to 220cm (7ft) bar.

However there so many types of barbells. The lengths can vary widely.

While there are barbells which are built to a certain specification, majority of the barbells available on the market feature different grip diameter.

Most common barbell diameters are:

1. Powerlifting Barbell – 29 mm grip diameter.
2. Olympic Weightlifting Barbell – 28 mm grip diameter.
3. Hybrid barbells – 28.5 mm grip diameter.
4. General Strength Training barbells – 30-32mm grip diameter.
5. Women’s Bars – 25 mm grip diameter.
6. Strongman/Fat Grip Barbells – 50 mm grip diameter.
7. Specialty Deadlift Barbell – 27 mm grip diameter.
8. Specialty Squat Barbell – 32 mm grip diameter

Specialty Barbell Grip Diameter (EZ Curl, Super Curl, Triceps Bar, Multi-Grip Bar) – grip diameter can range from 25 mm all the way up to 32 mm.

For powerlifting, bodybuilding, and general strength training, I would recommend choosing a barbell which has a diameter of 29-30 mm. Barbells with thinner grips will be whippier (has more flex). While barbells with THICKER SHAFTS can be more difficult to hold on to.

There are hundreds of types of different weight plates and barbells. While some of them must conform to specific standards others are made for ease of use or looks.

The sleeve length of a 7ft Olympic Barbell can vary from 390 mm all the way up to 433 mm. Most people stack 20 kgs Olympic Weights on their barbell. This is how many weight plates you can fit on your barbell with an average sleeve length of 415 mm.

1. Cast Iron/Rubber Coated Plates – Our 20 kgs weight plates are 45 mm thick, which means that you can stack up to 9 x 20 kgs plates per side. This would equate to 380 kgs including the bar.
2. Bumper Plates – Our standard 20 kgs Bumper Plates are 80 mm thick, meaning that you can stack 5 x 20 kgs Bumper Plates on each site. This would equate to 220 kgs including the bar.
3. Competition Bumper Plates – Our competition bumper plates are 43 mm thick, meaning that you can stack up to 9 x 20 kgs plates either side. This would equate to 380 kgs including the bar.
4. IPF Powerlifting Weight Plates – Our thinnest 20 kgs Powerlifting Plates are 19.2 mm thick. Meaning that you can stack up to 21 x 20 kgs plates per side. This would equate to 860 kgs on the barbell. Or 920 kgs if you used 25 kgs weight plates on a barbell with 433 mm sleeves.

Sadly, outside of the standard bumper plates, these loaded weights will remain theoretical for most of us. Only people who write negative comments on fitness content on social media can handle these types of lifts.

It is important to note, that not every barbell is designed to handle that much weight. Some will deform and remain bent after loading them up with half of the weight. While others will start “vibrating” aka flexing making them too difficult to stabilize and use.

During training, your skin particles and chalk get stuck in the knurling. This affects the grip as the particles fill valleys that create the friction for grip. The material also attributes to rust. The mixture of skin particles and chalk attract moisture which will deteriorate the bars knurling if left uncleaned.

Keeping a barbell fresh and clean does not take much effort. You can do that just by using a soft nylon bristle brush. Just brush the chalk/skin mix out of the bar after every single workout. If that is not adequate, then perform a deeper clean with barbell cleaning oil once every few weeks.

Why a soft nylon bristle? While steel bristles would clean the knurling up significantly faster, they would also take the barbells coating with the chalk. The last thing you want is to have your raw shaft exposed.

Regardless of what sort of coating your barbell has, eventually it will start to develop surface rust. Some coatings do a better job than others, but eventually all of them fail if you drop the ball with maintenance.

To get rid of the surface rust, I would recommend using a soft nylon bristle brush and some barbell cleaning oil (you could also use WD-40 or a specialty rust removing solution from your local hardware store).

Avoid strong rust removing products like CLR as they can remove certain barbell coatings completely. These harsher agents will just expose more steel. This will end up making the rust return quicker than before.

The cleaning process itself is rather easy, apply some oil onto the barbell and use the brush to get rid of the rust. I’d recommend first putting the oil onto a piece of paper towel and then dabbing the areas you want to clean.

This way you will spilling the oil all over the floor.

If the rust is more advanced, I would recommend getting a new bar. Deep pits of rust will not only compromise the structural integrity of the barbell but can also lead to infections. It is simply not worth trying to squeeze out a few extra months of use from a barbell which is destined for the scrapyard.