An important piece of equipment for a home gym is a straight barbell that can accommodate Olympic-sized weight plates. Most barbells like this are seven feet long and weigh either 20 kilograms or 45 pounds. Now, you can purchase lighter barbells that can accommodate Olympic-sized weight plates but understand that these barbells aren’t made to hold very much weight. Most seven foot long barbells are made to hold somewhere between 700 and 1500 pounds, so you’d select the one that you think you’re going to need.
A simple straight barbell (and a good rack) allow you to perform a huge number of exercises in your home gym. These include:
- Squats: back squat, front squats, overhead squats, and split squats can all be done with this bar
- Deadlifts: conventional deadlifts, Sumo deadlifts, partial deadlifts, and deficit deadlifts can be done using this type of bar
- Hip hinges: you can use this bar for Romanian deadlifts, standing good mornings, and seated good mornings
- Lower body exercises: lunges, step ups, standing calf raises and seated calf raises can be done with a straight bar
- Presses: depending on your set up you can do bench presses, incline presses, decline presses, and military presses with this bar
- Rows: you can use the bar for bent-over rows with either a pronated or supinated grip
- Core work: you can put 25 pound plates on the bar and use it for ab rolls
- Olympic lifts: if you have a bar with sleeves that rotate, you can perform the Olympic lifts with a straight bar
It’s important to take care of a barbell. In a home gym setting you are probably the only person using the bar, so you don’t have to do this maintenance as frequently as a strength and conditioning facility, but it still needs to be done monthly. Things you need include: a wire brush, 3-in-1 oil, WD-40, and rags.
The wire brush is for the knurling of the bar, over time your dead skin accumulates inside making the bar “smooth” and more difficult to grip, the wire brush helps. Coat the bar with 3-in-1 oil, this helps prevent rust. The longer you can leave it on the bar the better, make sure to wipe it down with a rag before using it. The WD-40 is for the sleeves of the bar.
For my home gym I bought the CAP 300 pound set and then added weight to it over time. It’s proved to be a very durable barbell.
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