Grow in, Not out. Barbell part II

Growing up I was the poster child for the “Hand-Me-Down Kid.”

 When I got new clothes, they were always too big. I remember my brother’s shoes repeatedly flying off my feet while running around a play ground.

When I complained how loose my clothes felt. My mother would always say, “Don’t worry honey, you’ll grow into them before you know it.”

True to form, she was right. As I grew, what started out as my brother’s too big clothing, eventually turned into my clothing that fit perfectly. Then soon enough, they were too small and I couldn’t wear them anymore.

I learned growing into something is always better than growing out of it. Growing into something makes it more useful and valuable. Growing out of something makes it unusable and worthless.

This the first decision we make when adopting our new barbell. Do we want a bar to grow into, or out of?

When shopping around, we’ll notice two major types of barbells. 

Standard barbells, and olympic style barbells.

The standard barbell looks like a metal broomstick and is around 1” thick. Some are solid, and some are hollow. There is no standard length to these, and most won’t fit on a power rack.

Most teenagers used these in their basements to bench press and curl themselves to death, then run to the mirror to see what changed.

Most kids never used heavy weight on these bars. The bar couldn’t handle it. I’ve permanently bent a few myself.

Fitness classes use these with light weights and do lots and lots of reps. These little barbells aren’t scary looking to the casual user, and they can be easily stacked and stored.

This is exactly what standard barbells are great for, non-serious weight lifting. They fill that niche perfectly as they’re inexpensive and low quality.

People who start with these bars, and then decide to get serious, outgrow them. This can be avoided by not buying a standard barbell in the first place.

The original olympic style barbell is around 7’ long, about an inch wide in the middle, with ends that are 2” wide. They weigh about 45lbs. They only use weights with a 2” hole in the middle.

For a long time this was the only kind of olympic barbell, but lucky for us barbell companies have diversified. Now there are women’s and youth olympic bars that are smaller, lighter, and shorter.

Olympic barbells are designed to give the best experience when weight lifting. 

High quality steel makes the bar very strong. 

Our grip feels very secure when grabbing it. 

The thicker ends spin independently from the middle bar, decreasing strain on our wrists and elbows. 

With few specific exceptions, they’re all designed to fit on your power rack.

The differences between standard and olympic barbells are massive.

We may think these bigger bars are only for the muscle bound. Yet thousands of people like us enjoy the delightful experience of a good olympic barbell everyday.

So here’s the decision. 

Do you want a barbell that will feel tight and restrictive as you grow out of it? Or would you rather something that will soon fit like a glove as you grow into it?

Your olympic barbell might seem too big for you at first, but it won’t fly off you like my brother’s shoes did.

In short time it’ll fit you perfectly, everyday, for the rest of your life.

Get strong as hell,

Coach Ken