The first step in lifting a barbell is loading weight plates onto the bar. At some gyms, there’s only one type of bar, and it weighs 45 pounds , and that’s all you need to know. But that’s not the only type out there, and if your gym has different bars of different shapes and weights, it’s possible to get confused.
If you’re wondering about a bar, always check the end of it. Sometimes you’ll find a label with a brand name, a description of what the bar is, and its weight. For example, this one has a little endcap that says “The Rogue Ohio Deadlift Bar. 27mm. 20kg.” Now you know that it weighs 44 pounds (20kg) and that it’s got a 27mm wide handle, which is slightly thinner than a typical power bar. Great! Problem solved. Yoga mat
But on many bars, all you’ll see at the end is a rusty bolt. If the bar is seven feet long, it probably weighs 44-45 pounds. If you’re suspicious, though, trust no one. I’ve heard bystanders say “oh yeah, that one’s 55 pounds” for both a standard 45-pound bar, and a monster of a 69-pound trap bar.
There’s a simple way to find out how much any bar weighs: weigh it. Almost every gym has a bathroom scale kicking around somewhere, so you can weigh yourself holding the barbell, and then weigh yourself without it and subtract your own weight.
That said, these are the most common bars you’re likely to encounter:
These are a family of slightly different things, but I’m lumping them together because they are about the same size and weight, and can be used interchangeably for many lifts. Some are 44 pounds, and some are 45 pounds. Don’t worry about the difference.
If you see a bar at the gym that’s seven feet long, with the part you hold about an inch in diameter and the parts where the weight plates go about two inches in diameter, you’re almost certainly looking at one of these; they are the most common type of bar you’ll see in most gyms.
If you’re ready to buy your own:
Women’s bars are lighter and slightly thinner than men’s Olympic bars, but they are also noticeably shorter—about eight inches shorter. They weigh 15kg, or 33 pounds.
Women’s Olympic bars exist for women to use when competing in the snatch and clean and jerk . They have two main advantages over a men’s bar (if you are an average sized woman):
Because they’re specialized for Olympic lifting, you’re not too likely to see these bars in most gyms. But they’re out there, and can be a nice substitute for a deadlift bar if you want something extra thin and whippy. Just be aware of the weight difference.
These bars are smaller and lighter than the ones discussed above. The idea behind training bars (often 5kg or 10kg, so 11 or 22 pounds) is to give you something lighter to work with if you’re not ready for a full size bar.
Curl bars are what they sound like: shorter, smaller bars meant for doing bicep curls and other moves that don’t require a full size bar. At my gym, they’re not kept with the regular bars, but instead stored under the dumbbell racks.
Curl bars are often, but not always, 25 pounds. Check or weigh to be sure.
These are the wiggly ones . They’re used like curl bars, for exercises that use smallish amounts of weight. Their handles are designed so that you can choose the position that’s most comfortable for your wrists. They may be 25 pounds or less; this one is 15 pounds.
There are a variety of other bars out there, in odd shapes and varying weights. One is the trap bar or hex bar, a hexagon big enough that you stand inside of it. (It’s mainly used for trap bar deadlifts , where your hands are at your sides and you don’t have to worry about whether you’re going to smack the bar into your shins.) Some trap bars are 45 pounds, but some are more and some are less.
There are also football bars , also called Swiss bars or multi-grip bars, that allow you to use a neutral grip for bench press or other pressing movements. Sometimes they’re 45 pounds, but again, sometimes they aren’t.
China Kettlebell Unusual bars aren’t standardized, so the weight is just whatever it ended up being when the bar’s maker welded all the parts together. And when in doubt, weigh it yourself.