new olympic bar and plates

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Jennloella
Jennloella Posts: 2,287 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm wanting to upgrade my bar and plates, I need more weight, plus mine are just old and came as a set. I have a squat rack, and work out at home mainly focusing on the 5x5 lifts. I began looking this morning at bars and realized.....I don't know what is considered a good brand or not? There's dozens on sports authority, and hundreds on amazon...any thoughts on this? Brands I should stay away from? How much attention should I pay to load limit? I can't see me ever loading more than 300 on it, but i'm also hoping my husband will begin to lift with me again. What I have now is a bar and set from "gold's gym" I believe, it was like a bar, plate, bench package. I don't ever "drop" my weights, are there any other benefits to the rubber type ones?
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  • martyqueen52
    martyqueen52 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    At my gym we have some really strong mofo's who compete in a local strongman. They dead-lift 700+ and when they were dropping the bar, the standard metal plates were breaking and cracking the floor even with mats and padding.

    So.... the owners switched over to rubber plates and it hasn't been an issue since. My guess as to it's only advantage.

    As to your other questions.... I have no idea what's good / bad since I don't have my own home gym.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,287 Member
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    that's kind of all I figured they were good for. But my local sporting goods store had more options in them than just standard steel....of course the kid working the department didn't know......
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    I'd pick up plates/bar/etc from Rogue.

    If you have any plans of trying the more dynamic lifts or dropping the bar, save the multiple sessions of tears, tear up once and get the rubber bumpers.

    Rogue had a good deal going a few weeks ago, a bar, and 500 or 600 pounds of rubber bumpers for like $1100, shipping free.
  • natecooper75
    natecooper75 Posts: 72 Member
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    Rouge does have good quality equipment, but you will pay for it. Another place to check out that I don't see mentioned very often is repfitness.com . I just bought a power rack from there an I have no complaints so far as to the quality of their products. They have several bar and plate options as well that I would think are up to the same quality standards.

    As for rubber bumper plates, I would say that they are more for olympic lifting as opposed to less destructive powerlifting. I'm only a fan of rubber plates or bumper plates for olympic lifting which I barely ever attempt to do.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,287 Member
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    I did check out Rogue a little bit, I was also looking at Ivanko. I didn't want to have to order at first but it's looking like I'll have to.....
  • natecooper75
    natecooper75 Posts: 72 Member
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    I forgot to add that you may have some luck at a place like Play It Again Sports. But from what you have been looking at, it doesn't sound like money is a big factor in your decision.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Cheapest place to get new plates is Walmart I've found. They have CAP olympic plates for just under $1/lb AND will ship any order for free more than $75. So you can have hundreds of pounds of plates delivered to your doorstep for free. It's very handy.

    If your bar works then I wouldn't sweat it too much. York, Ivanko, Eleiko, Rogue etc are all good brands that come to mind.
  • Travis_2
    Travis_2 Posts: 1,445 Member
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    I picked up a set from Dicks Oly 300# for ~200. It's not the same quality as you would find in a gym, but the price was right.
  • a_stronger_me13
    a_stronger_me13 Posts: 812 Member
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    Craigslist. Plates are pretty standard and can be really cheap secondhand. Bumper plates are nice, but unless you are doing Olympic lifts regularly, they're not really a necessity. If you're going to invest money in any of it, I would invest in a good bar. Rogue makes some excellent bars.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,287 Member
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    natecooper75 wrote: »
    I forgot to add that you may have some luck at a place like Play It Again Sports. But from what you have been looking at, it doesn't sound like money is a big factor in your decision.

    we do have one of those a couple towns over, good idea if they have something worth driving over there for, but for the most part - no I'm not looking to go cheap, price isn't really a factor since I'm looking for something to last quite a while.

  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Most plates will be fine. Get bumper plates if you plan on dropping them a lot, otherwise most any olympic plate will probably be ok. Bars I don't trust quite as much... but even those are largely decent. A true olympic bar that weighs 45lbs and is meant to be used with 2" olympic plates will probably be fine for most home gyms.

    I agree that Rogue stuff is top quality, but it's also top dollar. I've got body solid stuff (it's what my local barbell shop sells, and I try to support them whenever possible) for half the price of rogue gear and it's plenty good for me.

    As someone else mentioned... criagslist is also a good option. Even in my small town, there's always good deals floating around.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    I envy you folks who can do CL. There's a military base near here, so lifting equipment on CL is generally at retail or higher, even if in crappy shape.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,287 Member
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    dbmata wrote: »
    I envy you folks who can do CL. There's a military base near here, so lifting equipment on CL is generally at retail or higher, even if in crappy shape.

    I'm honestly too lazy for CL - emailing or texting people then going to check it out to find out it's junk..... I dunno.....

    I think I've narrowed it down to Rogue or Ivanko, Rogue got a lot of votes here which is nice to see because I'd never heard of them until I started researching this! I'm drawn to the look of these: http://ivankobarbell.com/products/ob20kg/

    Thanks everyone for your opinions! I went cheapish with my starter set, and now that I've outgrown it am really ready to invest in the upgrade.
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,662 Member
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    they make those super expensive bars for gyms or sporting events.

    THE cheapest standard bar (by standard I just mean one that is 45 lbs and solid metal) isn't going to let down the average lifter for the lifetime of their lifting career.

    That being said, i'll be getting the Rogue bar (the cheaper one).

    Can't figure out if the bumpers would be a waste of money for me or not. I DEFINETLY don't think I need a full set of them. If your going to be doing Olympic lifts and dropping the bar, you want a full set of bumpers. If its just to save the floor/bar from the occasion drop, or not so well performed negative... then just having 45 bumpers on both sides and a thick rubber floor matt should be more then adequate. you can put 35 plates (or 25 etc) on with the bumpers and they will not touch the floor. Still bad for the bar then, but if its only really a precaution, your not going to hurt the bar, especially if its a rouge.

    If I ever get to the point where I need two 45s on each side of the bar for the type of lift I'd want bumpers for, then i'll get another set of 45s.

    if your mostly doing squats, you don't need bumpers.
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,662 Member
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    Jennloella wrote: »
    dbmata wrote: »
    I envy you folks who can do CL. There's a military base near here, so lifting equipment on CL is generally at retail or higher, even if in crappy shape.

    I'm honestly too lazy for CL - emailing or texting people then going to check it out to find out it's junk..... I dunno.....

    I think I've narrowed it down to Rogue or Ivanko, Rogue got a lot of votes here which is nice to see because I'd never heard of them until I started researching this! I'm drawn to the look of these: http://ivankobarbell.com/products/ob20kg/

    Thanks everyone for your opinions! I went cheapish with my starter set, and now that I've outgrown it am really ready to invest in the upgrade.

    rogue is just a cool company. I always get my stuff just a few days with standard shipping. get tons of training ideas from visiting their site. consider a power rack too
  • strong_er
    strong_er Posts: 109 Member
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    If you don't mind the money, go for the Ivanko in a heartbeat. That is one of the best bars you'll ever find. The OB-20KG (no center knurling) or OBX-20KG (has center knurling which some prefer for squatting) are great choices. Rogue carries some nice bars, but I'd buy elsewhere.

    Also if you just want a step up from your current bar but don't want to spend so much the CAP OB-86B is a really good bar for the price (sub $130). It's not in the same league as the Ivanko but most will prefer it over any bar under $300. I'd normally stay away from CAP but this bar is great.

    For plates, there are rubber coated plates and bumper plates. You'll pay a premium for both. Rubber coated are quieter but don't have too much benefit over that. The bumper plates are great if you are dropping weights and/or benefit from having plates the same diameter....otherwise, I wouldn't go for rubber.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,287 Member
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    thanks for clearing that up, I don't plan on dropping the weights, I have a rack and I don't think the noise reduction in general is worth it, just wasn't sure if I was missing some other benefit from them, but it doesn't sound like it! I'm going to go back and compare the OB and OBX now.......thanks for pointing that difference out....
  • strong_er
    strong_er Posts: 109 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Just to add a bit more about plates... the primary benefit to getting nicer plates is that their weight is more accurate. The tolerance on the cheaply cast plates is generally quite poor so some plates may be off by 5 pounds or so. The hole diameter can also be off and they may not actually fit the Ivanko barbell. This is uncommon but does happen.

    I know you don't like CL, but you can generally find higher quality plates at half the retail price on there. My favorite are Ivanko OMEZH (revolvers). If you can find some of them used you can be assured they will not be junk once you see them.

    Really though, nicer plates are generally just a nice to have, not necessary, if you don't mind the extra cost.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    herrspoons wrote: »
    Bumper plates are fine, but you'll only ever need two Oly diameter (45cm) disks. Unless you do a lot of Olympic lifting don't bother.
    Unless of course you can deadlift more than a 2 plate deadlift and intend to drop the bar.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    dbmata wrote: »
    herrspoons wrote: »
    Bumper plates are fine, but you'll only ever need two Oly diameter (45cm) disks. Unless you do a lot of Olympic lifting don't bother.
    Unless of course you can deadlift more than a 2 plate deadlift and intend to drop the bar.

    Deadlift platform is cheap and easy to make. Really no point in using bumpers for that one, you run out of space on the collars fast. Just IMO.

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