Weighted Bars

Hello,

Does anyone know where to find some cheap weighted bars?

I'm looking around online and it the cheapest bar I can find is $30. I guess I wouldn't have a problem with this, except most bars are too small in width that I know I will run into problems when I get to dislocates.

Thanks.

I use a broom stick and add small plates in the middle. Works great for all the H1 work.

Christian said:

I use a broom stick and add small plates in the middle. Works great for all the H1 work.

this! I need to do this, I tied some weights to my kali stick with some shoelaces. sketchy. 

I got some PVC pipe I had laying around I.5 " and 2 " cut it to length and fill it with sand on a scale till its the weight you want and cap it . Cheap and easy.

Nautique163 said:

I got some PVC pipe I had laying around I.5 " and 2 " cut it to length and fill it with sand on a scale till its the weight you want and cap it . Cheap and easy.

Great idea!! One of those could be made pretty heavy!

Finnbar said:

Great idea!! One of those could be made pretty heavy!

If you get really strong you can fill them with lead wheel balance weights from a tire shop. I'm no where near there! Also it helps to wrap the pipe with tape , so your hand don't come into contact with the chemicals in the PVC .

- I would not personally use a sand filled PVC bar.  I prefer something whose weight is more easily adjustable.

 

- Poor man's Weighted Bar version; just slide a small 1.25 or 2.5 lb plate into the middle of a dowel.  Do not tape it in place.  The weight being loose and able to slide around will force you to work both arms evenly.

 

- Solid metal 1" standard plate weight lifting bars generally weigh in at 10lbs.  A 10lb bar can be however a little rough for beginners to start with.

 

- Cheap partially hollow standard plate weight lifting bars weight in at about 5lbs.

 

- I just picked one of these up for myself and my athletes; the rolls royce of weighted bars is the Rogue Fitness Earthquake bar ($289).  Weighs in at 5lbs and hold up to 200lbs.  The interesting function of this bar is that they flex heavily under load and the weights attach to the bar via straps which creates a pendulum effect when using the bar.  Very interesting to use and works the stabilizers quite nicely.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

The earthquake bar has some very interesting applications. Only note from me on that is if you do

try one as a beginner be smart with it.

Thank you for the idea's everybody! I went with the dowel + plates idea. Very cheap, very effective.

For the price of purchasing some of these bars I could fill a dozen PVC pipes with a variety of materials, from sawdust to sand to concrete cement. My quick "back of the envelope" calculations say that should be able to range from around 0.5kg to 12kg. Or over twice that if I used lead weights as suggested above.

Doddibot said:

For the price of purchasing some of these bars I could fill a dozen PVC pipes with a variety of materials, from sawdust to sand to concrete cement. My quick "back of the envelope" calculations say that should be able to range from around 0.5kg to 12kg. Or over twice that if I used lead weights as suggested above.

 

With the main problem for me being that you would now have a dozen PVC pipes laying around your workout area.  But if you don't find that an issue, then you should be fine.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Doddibot said:

For the price of purchasing some of these bars I could fill a dozen PVC pipes with a variety of materials, from sawdust to sand to concrete cement. My quick "back of the envelope" calculations say that should be able to range from around 0.5kg to 12kg. Or over twice that if I used lead weights as suggested above.

 

The single pipe with the plate in the middle is by far the cheapest option though.

 

- Chris

chobbs said:

The single pipe with the plate in the middle is by far the cheapest option though.

- Chris

Not if you don't already own some plates and have to go out and buy some.

Finnbar said:

Not if you don't already own some plates and have to go and some.

 

True, but one could always attach weight to the pipe via some other means. A rope and something heavy to tie to it might work fine.

 

- Chris

I wrapped an adjustable ankle weight around a pole and strapped it down to the middle - it still slides a bit left and right and you can take the individual sandbags out one at a time to adjust weight by ~.5 lb increments.  Works nicely.

chobbs said:

The single pipe with the plate in the middle is by far the cheapest option though.

 

- Chris

I had about 20 feet of  pvc from a previous job, and the sand was free

Just thought I would share yet another weighted bar alternative. SInce I've got a busy week, I'm holding off heading to the store.

However, since tomorrow is a workout day, I just filled up a water gallon and stuck a closed umbrella through the gallon handle. Works extremely well considering all i need to worry about is the seated shoulder flexion stretch. And I can alter the weight easily between 0 - 8 lbs. Super-ghetto creativity wins! Of course, I will eventuallty need to get a dowel/broom stick/etc for the dislocates - But that it some time away.

Awesome! You can just add some more gallon jugs as needed to up the weight. I don't see this being an issue for the other movements either - stick-like object + weight. Simple.

 

- Chris

Finnbar said:

Not if you don't already own some plates and have to go and some.

I'll need lots of little plates though, because any plate bigger than 2.5kg will have too great a diameter and will therefore hit the ground when I'm eventually up to doing HS/PE4 and HS/PE5.

No matter what you do with your equipment, think twice, buy once!

Good equipment is for life; crappy one will make sure you remember it every single time you train, long after the 3 bucks saved are forgotten!

Doddibot said:

I'll need lots of little plates though, because any plate bigger than 2.5kg will have too great a diameter and will therefore hit the ground when I'm eventually up to doing HS/PE4 and HS/PE5.

I for one have at least 5 more months to figure out a solution to that issue

Can someone please explain to me why Coach says not to fix the weight in the center of the bar?  He says letting it slide will work both arms evenly...but if it is sliding wouldn't that end up putting more weight on one side, or favor improper form?

 

Asking because I am getting ready to add these courses to my training and saw that I will need a weighted bar as equipment from day 1...

He means that the fact the weight can slide will force you to work both sides evenly to PREVENT it from sliding.

Got it, thanks.  2.5 lb weight is plenty to start with yeah?  Keeping in mind I am 6'7" so I have loooong levers to move...

The Giant said:

Got it, thanks.  2.5 lb weight is plenty to start with yeah?  Keeping in mind I am 6'7" so I have loooong levers to move...

Yea, start with something you are comfortable with and work your way up SLOWLY. As coach has said, the progress is weekly here, not daily. Maybe as a point of reference:I can do 18 lbs, but I stick with 8 lbs.