My gym only has EZ curls barbells

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alondrakayy
alondrakayy Posts: 304 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Besides the one single straight barbell that is solely for the squat rack, my gym only has the EZ curl barbells. How effective will it be to use them for bench press, deadlifts, military press, etc. ? Will my wrists give out eventually once I go heavy?

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  • Thick_n_Fit_Mom
    Thick_n_Fit_Mom Posts: 89 Member
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    alondrakayy wrote: »
    Besides the one single straight barbell that is solely for the squat rack, my gym only has the EZ curl barbells. How effective will it be to use them for bench press, deadlifts, military press, etc. ? Will my wrists give out eventually once I go heavy?

    I utilize the EZ bar for warm up Romanian Deads, military presses, 21's( biceps). As far as bench pressing, I think it would be difficult considering the curvature ( well the one I utilize has curvature) you can also use wrists wraps/straps. If anything, go steal the BB from the squat rack, when no one is looking! Good luck!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    I'd go ask where the other bars are.

    I'd find it hard to believe they only ever had 1 if they have squat racks. At some point they were willing to spend some bucks on that for a specific purpose.

    I'll bet 1 or 2 got beat up, rusty and stopped spinning, put somewhere and forgotten - and they weren't going to buy another one until they really felt like they needed it.

    If that latter point - get a few others to go ask at different times too - once they see a need - perhaps then.
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
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    They have multiple EZ bars and just a single barbell? That's.. odd....
    Cue the annoying *find a new gym!* comment.. but yeah. :|

    The EZ bar hurts my back doing lunges, I perosnally would not even attempt squatting with it. I don't think the width of my deadlift grip would agree with it very well either.
    As far as pressing, I've done an overhead tricep extension into a close grip press superset, and I'm not a fan of trying to press with that bar either.
  • shor0814
    shor0814 Posts: 559 Member
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    alondrakayy wrote: »
    Besides the one single straight barbell that is solely for the squat rack, my gym only has the EZ curl barbells. How effective will it be to use them for bench press, deadlifts, military press, etc. ? Will my wrists give out eventually once I go heavy?

    Are you talking about a squat rack or Smith machine? I would just deadlift or bench in the squat rack if it is a true squat rack. If it is a Smith them I won't comment and fully understand why there are no barbells.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    very odd...unless like shor0814 says, and it's actually a smith machine...in that case it would make possible sense that there weren't any other barbells.
    not_a_runner wrote: »
    They have multiple EZ bars and just a single barbell? That's.. odd....
    Cue the annoying *find a new gym!* comment.. but yeah. :|

    The EZ bar hurts my back doing lunges, I perosnally would not even attempt squatting with it. I don't think the width of my deadlift grip would agree with it very well either.
    As far as pressing, I've done an overhead tricep extension into a close grip press superset, and I'm not a fan of trying to press with that bar either.

    Pretty much...
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
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    Ah, perhaps it is a smith machine. Or maybe the demographic is curl bros who won't squat any way. ;)


    In all seriousness, if barbell training is something you want to do, it's imperative to find a gym that has the proper equipment. Curl bars are for curls.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    i agree to find a gym with more equip, but don't be afraid to use the curl bar for anything you want, its just a bar to hold weights. Sometimes different wrist positions can be beneficial. A lot of people prefer the specialty bars over straight bars because they feel better on their wrists. Just because its called a curl bar doesn't mean its only for curls.
  • alondrakayy
    alondrakayy Posts: 304 Member
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    Thanks y'all! I already emailed the gym to ask if they had straight barbells besides the one on the squat rack and they said they didn't. They only have the EZ barbells (they also have a smith machine but that's not what I meant - sorry for the confusion). It's just chest exercise where I wish I did have the straight barbells but I think I can substitute with something else. This is actually one of my favorite gyms I've ever been to after trying at least 10 different ones. They can't all be perfect, right??
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,982 Member
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    Sounds like you need to find another gym that has the equipment you need. Hopefully, you can.
  • distinctlybeautiful
    distinctlybeautiful Posts: 1,041 Member
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    Is it gym policy that you can't take the barbell out of the squat rack?
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    maybe you can drag a bench into the squat rack.
  • giantrobot_powerlifting
    giantrobot_powerlifting Posts: 2,598 Member
    edited August 2017
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    Somebody tell Dom Mazzetti stat!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Some curl bars might have the bend at the correct place for your hands when doing bench, in which case it's merely between a barbell hand grip and a dumbbell hand grip that many do.

    So it may not be a bad thing, but the angles must be going toe to head as you lie there, not up and down away from you, if that makes sense. That may mean it doesn't fit in the bench bar holders well either.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited August 2017
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    Can be quite good for light weight deadlifts - you can use the curves to keep the bar close without scraping all the skin off your shins. :)

    Have they got a good selection of dumbbells as an alternative for bench and OHP?

    But really it comes back to the fact that if the gym has free weights they should also have a proper selection of barbells to put them on. Keep pressing (no pun intended) the Management to get some.

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