THIS Is The Barbell You Should Buy For Your Home Gym In 2024

Last updated on October 3rd, 2024 at 09:12 am

A barbell is likely one of your first purchases for your home gym. In fact it was my first purchase as I started deadlifting in my garage before anything else. Barbells are unfortunately the easiest area of the home gym to get paralysis by analysis. Every single company offers a dozen or more options when you add up bar types, coatings, and more. Rogue has over 47 options just for Mens 20kg barbells.

In fact I bet that is exactly why you are here!

Today I’m going to drop some details that I think will make your life easier if you are looking to buy your first barbell. Don’t worry, I’m going to make this fairly easy on you. You don’t need a PhD in metalurgy to pick out your first barbell.

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Barbell Buying List

r/HomeGym’s Favorite Barbell and the barbell that MOST home gym lifters should buy – Rogue Ohio Power Bar

If I was buying a barbell today for MY Home Gym, I wouldn’t even hesitate to grab the American Barbell Chewy Bar.

• Best Squat Bar – Texas Monster Squat Bar
• Best Bench Bar – Texas Bench Bar
• Best Deadlift Bar – American Barbell Il Padrino Deadlift Bar
• Best BUDGET Multi-Purpose Bar – Living.Fit Cerakote Barbell (10% off w/ Code: GML)
• Best BUDGET Power Bar – Bells of Steel BareNaked Power Bar

It Doesn’t Matter What Barbell You Buy For Your Home Gym – Video

My History With Barbells

The very first bar I ever bought was a cheap bar off Craigslist. I paid $50 for it. It was a cheap chrome bar. But it got the job done.

I upgraded to a Rogue Ohio Bar when I officially started my home gym. That was my main bar for several years. When I started buying more and more equipment on Craigslist and Marketplace, I handled a bunch of bars. Both of the York and Rogue B&R bars, dozens of no-name off brand bars, bars from Fringe Sport, Texas Power Bars, and more.

Several years down the road when I started getting into Vintage Weights, I snagged my current daily driver barbell, a bar from approximately the 1980s, the Ivanko OB-84.

This again cost me roughly $50 off Craigslist, but if you know anything about Ivanko you know their bars are upwards of $500 brand new.

This bar has what was at some point considered aggressive knurling, but today is probably more similar to the Chewy Bar from American Barbell, where the bar STICKS in your hand, instead of specifically BITING into your hand.

This bar has a black oxide coating, which after 40+ years of lifting has only a couple of spots that have worn down, which is entirely because I lifted on bare steel mono hooks for awhile. I can’t confirm the specs, but I wager this bar is rated for over 1000lbs, and it clocks in at a perfect 7ft and 20kg.

We have added a dedicated womens bar to the rotation for my wife, as well as a kids and junior bar for my daughter. Plenty of specialty bars, but years and years later, I am still using the Ivanko OB-84 as my main bar for Squats and Bench. For deadlifts, I received a Texas Deadlift Bar a couple years ago.

This bar is meant to be used exclusively for deadlifts, as it has some unique features, including a thinner diameter shaft, wider spacing, more what they call WHIP to the bar… and a much more aggressive knurl pattern. The cerakote coating was because we get weather fluctuations here in Northern California and I didn’t want to deal with the oxidation. This bar is my go-to for deadlifts.

All in, I’ve probably handled over a dozen bars from weightlifting, to powerlifting, to multi-purpose bars.

A Barbell Science Experiment

At the end of 2023, I was looking through SlickDeals and saw a barbell for… $45! This was the take home price after taxes and shipping. $45 for a BRAND NEW barbell. I was blown away. So I bought it. I sat on it for a bit as I figured out what I wanted to do with it. Then it hit me… lets run a science experiment. Could a $45 barbell, hold up to the extremes of my lifting?

If you aren’t aware, my best lifts to date include:

• 550lb Squat
• 370lb Bench
• 630lb Deadlift
• 500lb Deadlift x 10 reps

What Are The Specs?

This is a BalanceFrom BF-OB7 from WalMart. Right now it is listed at $99 brand new, which still makes it a solid 4 times less than my Texas Deadlift Bar.

Even specs wise, this bar is drastically different than the other two bars I normally lift with. Price, design, coatings, tolerances, knurling, everything. This was going to be interesting.

My Hypothesis

What I’ve found over the years is that MOST people will notice a difference between a bad bar and a good bar, but not likely notice the difference between a good bar and a REALLY good bar. This bar being so cheap, I figured it would live in the BAD bar realm, and I’d definitely notice the difference. Especially with my decade of home gym experience and handling a dozen or more bars.

I also was at least a LITTLE concerned that there would a chance that the bar would bend or break on me in use. It claims to have a 700lb weight limit, but just because they tested it in a lab at that weight, doesn’t mean it was actually battle tested to that weight.

The Test

I used this barbell exclusively during my latest training block on JuggernautAI, for all my Squat, Bench, and Deadlift needs. I filmed my 10 RPE (max effort) attempts for each lift.

Squat

For squats, I managed a triple at 500lbs. The bar had no issues handling the weight, sat on my back just fine, and I never once felt like I was held back due to the bar.

Bench

For bench, I snagged a 330lb triple. Again, no problems. Bench has a little more knurling need in my experience than squats, and you could definitely feel the bar being DIFFERENT than my Ivanko bar here, but ultimately, the lift got done successfully.

Deadlift

Lets finish this off with deadlits with a 565lb double.

You can see that my strength was there as I crushed the first rep, made it half way up and then had to put it back down. The bar was legit falling out of my hands. I just couldn’t hold on through the second rep. The much less aggressive and prominent knurling of this bar proved to be a problem during deadlifts.

To prove I could do it, I went ahead right after this set, unloaded the bar and reloaded the weight onto the Texas Deadlift Bar. You can see here that I pulled a double with room to spare. If I had went for the Texas bar at first, this might have been a set of 4 or 5. In fact my best deadlift set to date, is a 500lb pull for a set of 10 on the Texas Deadlift Bar. Absolutely no way is that happening on this $45 barbell.

Results

Where does this science experiment take us?

Well… When we look at a barbell from a distance, we see that the majority of them have a very common design. They have sleeves that spin, they have knurling on the shaft, and most are going to be very similar in their shape and size as well.

Take a few steps closer, and differences start to arise. We have different coatings on the bar for oxidation protection. We start to notice differences in the sleeve length, the rings on the shaft are in different places, we notice different mechanisms to hold the sleeve to the shaft… we might even notice bushings or bearings.

Take an even closer look, and the diameter of the bars start to differ, the weight between the bars differ, we can see different styles of knurling. We start to pay attention to how much “slop” the sleeves have on the shaft; how tight the fit is to the plates. We take notice of whether the sleeves have ribs or are smooth.

The further back we get, the more each of these bars looks the same. And the closer we get, the more we notice the finer details.

What Kind Of Barbell Owner Are You?

There are three types of people who I think should get closer to their barbells.

First, is competitive lifters. People who are competing in weightlifting, crossfit, or powerlifting competitions that will use a specific bar in said competition. They can gain an advantage by training on those exact bars. You get familiar with them, how they feel, how they move, bend, shake, you name it.

Second, is advanced lifters. People like myself who are pushing the boundaries and approaching our likely genetic potential in the strength realms, can potentially maximize performance with a few select choices in a barbell. Where PRs begin to be rare, sneaking a few pounds out of a better suited bar for the job can be invigorating and worth the expense and time to find the right bar.

Third, is for people who are barbell aficionados. If you prefer the finer things in life, if you have the budget, the time, the desire to explore and dive deep into the difference between mountain and volcano knurl, TPI patterns, sleeve construction, and get joy out of owning a dozen bars or simply hunting for the BEST of the BEST.

Everyone Else

Everyone else, just needs to buy a fu&*ing barbell. Our science experiment proved that an under $100 bar could handle a 500lb squat, 330lb bench, and 565lb deadlift. That is just shy of a 1400lb total.

I did some googling and research, and some data peeps have come up with an idea that WELL below 1% of the population can Squat 500, bench 315, and Deadlift over 500lbs.

So statistically speaking, if you are reading this, you probably don’t NEED a better bar. And until you hold multiple bars against each other, you won’t know the difference… and ignorance my friends, truly can be bliss.

The time spent reading, researching, and trying to figure out if the Rogue Ohio Bar is better than the Bells of Steel Barenaked Powerlifting Bar, or the Texas Power Bar, or the American Barbell Chewy Bar… Can be used to lift weights and eat food. Something that will actually add pounds to the bar, consistently, for years to come.

Choosing A Barbell

Ok let’s wraps this up.

There is absolutely a different feel to a “better” barbell. And my initial hypothesis holds true, I can definitely tell the difference between a “bad” bar and a “good” bar.

I’m ditching the cheap bar and going back to my Ivanko. It feels better, it holds better in my hands and on my back, it doesn’t chip, etc. And I’ll be using my Texas Deadlift Bar for all things deadlifts.

But a cheap bar is still going to get the job done for the VAST majority of lifters at a significantly lower price. So first, decide what kind of lifter you are, and then pick a bar that matches your needs.

What Kind Of Lifter Are You?

What Barbell Should A Competitive Lifter Buy?

You need to pick a bar that is approved by your federation. An easy way to check, is LIKELY to go with any bar that is either IWF or IPF approved – International Weightlifting Federation & International Powerlifting Federation. You will be best suited to check your specific federation, their rules, and their approved equipment. So I’m not going to recommend anything here, as those could change every year.

What Barbell Should An Advanced Lifter Buy?

If you are like me, and don’t necessarily compete, but want to make sure you are taking advantage of all the good stuff out there to maximize your strength potential, I’d look into a few bars.

If I was buying a barbell today for MY Home Gym, I wouldn’t even hesitate to grab the American Barbell Chewy Bar. Pair this with their Il Padrino, and you have two stainless steel bars that are competition spec and ready to rock.

Squats

If you want a DEDICATED bar for Squats, check out the following:

• Texas Monster Squat Bar
• Rogue 32MM Squat Bar
• REP Fitness Helios Squat Bar
• Cerberus Strength Squat Bar – (10% off w/ Code: GGC)

Bench

There aren’t many dedicated bench bars, so we are gonna keep it simple. If you are a bench specialist, grab a Texas Bench Bar.

Deadlift

You have a few more options here, as a Deadlift Bar does a little more than the others.

• American Barbell Il Padrino Deadlift Bar
• Texas Deadlift Bar
• Rogue Ohio Deadlift Bar
• REP Fitness Hades Deadlift Bar
• Bare Steel – Steel Reaper Deadlift Bar
• Cerberus Strength Deadlift Bar – (10% off w/ Code: GGC)
• Crandall Fitness Deadlift Bar – (5% off w/ Code: GGC2023)

What Barbell Should A Picky Lifter Buy?

This is honestly not my area of expertise. I’d probably lean towards anything from American Barbell, as they are just a leap and bound ahead of the competition in every aspect.

If you want to dig into the deeper details of barbells, I’ll send you off to some of my friends.

• Adam from Garage Gym Lab
• JB from Garage-Gyms.Com
• Brandon Campbell
• Gluck’s Gym
• KurtLocker

Consider joining groups like the Home Gym Discord and Reddit r/HomeGym and chat about barbells with people who know arguably too much about bars.

What Barbell Should A New Home Gym Owner Buy?

If you are setting up a home gym and trying to pick a barbell… Buy one that you like the color of, grab a bar off Maketplace, or simply pick a bar from whomever you are already buying a majority of your equipment from. Good places to look are REP Fitness, Rogue Fitness, Bells of Steel, Crandall Fitness, and Fringe Sport.

If you do crossfit, olympics lifts, or otherwise do any cleans, jerks, snatches, etc… grab a multipurpose bar. It will be suited for all the lifts you want to do, without making too many compromises. Here are some good options.

• For the best BUDGET multi-purpose bar, grab the Living.Fit Cerakote Barbell – 10% off w/ Code: GML
• For a middle of the road offering, take a look at anything from Fringe Sport. I’m not linking to a specific bar, because they often have sales. So grab whatever is on sale.
• For the most CrossFit bar possible, snag the Rogue Bar 2.0.

Everyone else would do well with a power bar. This is going to give you good knurling and grip, be strong enough for you to lift WAY more than you ever will, and perform well for all your main lifts and accessories. Here are some good options:

• For the best BUDGET bar, grab the Bells of Steel BareNaked Power Bar.
• For the r/HomeGym favorite barbell, grab the Rogue Ohio Power Bar.

If you happen to live somewhere that gets lots of humidity, consider a protective coating to help with oxidation. Stainless Steel is a fantastic option if your budget allows, Black Oxide would be my second choice, followed by Bright Zinc and Cerakote. The others work as well, but are more prone to chipping and fading.

Wrap Up

It really doesn’t make a HUGE difference what bar you pick. Nicer bars are nicer, and there CAN be a difference in performance, but that difference is likely not realized except in the more advanced lifters.

So buy a barbell, use it consistently, and focus your efforts on buying other things that make a bigger difference.

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