Barbell set: would this make sense?

yirara

I'm looking at upping my home gym a bit. At the moment I only have two kettlebells, and severely lack space. I could buy more kettlebells, but then I'd need at least two for each weight to gain more flexibility.

So basically after looking at what's available I'm considering buying this barbell set:
What's your opinion on this?

Some things to note:

• The set consists of a 10kg bar and 40kg of weights.
• I don't have a bench or squatrack, nor place for one. Thus what I can do with this set is somewhat limited
• Not quite happy I can't get the disks with rubber coating, but with the set would be too expensive for me. Or I could go for rubber coated concrete, but they require much more storage space that I don't have, and they come with a rubbish bar.
• If at a later time I have more space I could add weights up to 150kg onto this bar. Disks have 1" holes, making it fairly easy to get more plates if needed.
• I mainly intend to do interval exercises. It's not enough weight for lifting heavy anyway
• I intentionally chose weight plates with holes so I can also use them without bars
• Bar without screw lock is intentional so I can change weights quickly

So that's my thoughts. What do you think? I'm also happy to hear about other options that come to mind. Whatever I chose, this needs to be storable underneath my bed as it's the only storage space I have. Btw, I'm in the UK, thus the latest gadgets from the US might not be available. Max budget about £80.

jemhh

IMO it is fine for what you are doing.

I use a standard bar (the type that take plates with 1" holes as opposed to Olympic bars which take 2" plates) too. I have one that is 7' (19 lbs) and one that is 6' (15 lbs.) I use sets of 1-15 reps so definitely lift heavy with them. I've been using this type of equipment for four years at this point and really don't think I'll need anything heavier. The only lift I might hit 250 lbs with someday is deadlift and I can use my gym membership one day a week if I really want to do that (unlikely.)

steveko89

I think that's probably a good place to start, like you said, you can always get more plates. When I bought my olympic set I assumed I'd never lift myself out of that 300lbs, though I bought a second plate set two years later so I could go heavier and have a second bar.

At least in the states, there is a pretty decent secondary market for fitness items between people either getting out of the habit, moving and not wanting to deal with or being able to transport bigger equipment, or periodic upgrades. If the same is true in the UK that may be a good avenue to explore first to see if you can't find the rubber-coated plates that it seems like you're really looking for or for additional plates on the cheap when the time comes.

lorrpb

I bought a 1” 5 ft bar online, then bought all my plates at Goodwill for s fraction of the price. I can easily find up to 25 lb plates st GW. My plates are a variety of styles and sometimes a tad rough, but it doesn’t bother me once they’re on the bar.

yirara

lorrpb wrote: »

I bought a 1” 5 ft bar online, then bought all my plates at Goodwill for s fraction of the price. I can easily find up to 25 lb plates st GW. My plates are a variety of styles and sometimes a tad rough, but it doesn’t bother me once they’re on the bar.

I've been watching GT for quite a while but nothing comes up. It's not a big thing in the UK it seems. What's available are complete sets with 300lbs of weights and a bench for £300+ or small pink dumbbells. If I see disks then they aren't really much cheaper than what I see in shops for some reason. People buy them, find they don't use them and sell them at shop price again. Meh!

yirara

steveko89 wrote: »

I think that's probably a good place to start, like you said, you can always get more plates. When I bought my olympic set I assumed I'd never lift myself out of that 300lbs, though I bought a second plate set two years later so I could go heavier and have a second bar.

At least in the states, there is a pretty decent secondary market for fitness items between people either getting out of the habit, moving and not wanting to deal with or being able to transport bigger equipment, or periodic upgrades. If the same is true in the UK that may be a good avenue to explore first to see if you can't find the rubber-coated plates that it seems like you're really looking for or for additional plates on the cheap when the time comes.

Unfortunately no proper second-hand market here. But I guess it's a start. With just 110lbs of weight there are things I can't do, like proper deadlifts, or heavier squats but I just read about bear complex. Now that looks more like it! I can do that with this kit. And hip thrusts, bendover rows, all sorts of presses, make my squats heavier in general. I think I'm getting enthusiastic about that!

yirara

jemhh wrote: »

IMO it is fine for what you are doing.

I use a standard bar (the type that take plates with 1" holes as opposed to Olympic bars which take 2" plates) too. I have one that is 7' (19 lbs) and one that is 6' (15 lbs.) I use sets of 1-15 reps so definitely lift heavy with them. I've been using this type of equipment for four years at this point and really don't think I'll need anything heavier. The only lift I might hit 250 lbs with someday is deadlift and I can use my gym membership one day a week if I really want to do that (unlikely.)

Thanks a lot! Yes, these bars fit disks with 1" holes. At least it's not something exotic. I'm looking at a 5" bar. That is hopefully not too long for my livingroom I should just not drop it as my lower neighbours might not be amused about the noise and cracks in the ceiling It's a lot of money for me at this moment, but I think I will do this. At least I know how to do lifts properly. Thus that helps.

BEASTFIELD314

@yirara - where did you find this set? I am in a similar situation!

yirara

A_New_Chapter wrote: »

@yirara - where did you find this set? I am in a similar situation!

It's in the UK. Fitness-superstore.co.uk. If I apply a voucher code and cashback I stay at just around £80. Phew. Btw, if this might be something for you then avoid the cheaper sets with the rubber coated concrete weights. The bar can only hold 50kg max. It's rather rubbish.

stanmann571

Are the dumbbell bars 2 or 5 kilo? they don't look large enough to be 5 kilo.

The price seems reasonable(based on the US rule of $1 per lb) I didn't actually do the math, but 40 kilos+10 Kilo bar+2 dumbbell bars.

yirara

stanmann571 wrote: »

Are the dumbbell bars 2 or 5 kilo? they don't look large enough to be 5 kilo.

I've not looked into those to be honest. The bar is the most important thing for me. Not sure I'd use the dumbbell bars to be honest. But buying everything separately would be more expensive.

stanmann571

I understand. I went to the site, they actually don't mention the weight on the dumbbell bars. And given the price difference to go with an oly set, You're probably right to stick with the standard.

Also, Kudos for getting the spring lock.

yirara

stanmann571 wrote: »

I understand. I went to the site, they actually don't mention the weight on the dumbbell bars. And given the price difference to go with an oly set, You're probably right to stick with the standard.

Also, Kudos for getting the spring lock.

Ha! Note, I have no idea what the quality of this stuff is. But I've trained with completely rubbish equipment before. Like a barbell where the screw lock would fall off, the rack half collapse above me and other weird stuff. And I'm a fairly small girl (thus not a sheep in reality), thus this might be enough for me. You need to evaluate if this is enough for you.

lorrpb

I ordered my 5 ft 1"bar from CAP. It weighs 14 lbs. I don't recall how much it hold, but more than I'll need for quite awhile. They also have plates and sets.
I've had a few different DB bars. some of the knurled ones can be rough on the hands, so I prefer ones I found with a rubberized grip. again, a Goodwill find, weigh about 2 lbs each I think.

jemhh

I have 3 sets of dumbbell handles. One set looks like the ones in the picture. They are 5 lbs and the spin locks are 8 oz each so I've used those as microplates in the past. I like that set of handles though I do need to tighten the locks every few sets. The second set of handles is lightweight metal with clips and the third is plastic with spin locks. Both work fine and it's nice to have multiple handles on hand when I want to superset exercises.

sijomial

Looks like a good choice for your needs and shortage of space. Concrete ones are pretty nasty to use.

I prefer "Body Power Olympic Quick Lock Collars" to clips, Fitness Superstore also sell them.
Bit of an unnecessary gadget but much nicer to use.

https://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk/body-power-olympic-quick-lock-collars-pr.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwsdfZBRAkEiwAh2z65tfIgveu2YabLabhoFj35UBJyH1Sm4jWgR1W-q8vCoZUCsNR1sIabBoCCIsQAvD_BwE

yirara

sijomial wrote: »

Looks like a good choice for your needs and shortage of space. Concrete ones are pretty nasty to use.

I prefer "Body Power Olympic Quick Lock Collars" to clips, Fitness Superstore also sell them.
Bit of an unnecessary gadget but much nicer to use.

https://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk/body-power-olympic-quick-lock-collars-pr.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwsdfZBRAkEiwAh2z65tfIgveu2YabLabhoFj35UBJyH1Sm4jWgR1W-q8vCoZUCsNR1sIabBoCCIsQAvD_BwE

Thanks. Yes, I thought of getting a better quick lock as the one the set comes with doesn't really look very convincing. Or I could try what I have first, and buy a better pair later on.

Phew.. annoyed that I need to spend money that I had budgeted on that set on a sports massage tomorrow. Tried black rolling, hot towels, everything but doesn't work. It just happens sometimes. Ugh.