Information on how to run faster, lift stronger and think deeper

What kind of deadlift bars are there ?

Posted by Pascal Landshoeft

Apr 17, 2015 1:48:56 PM

What kind of deadlift bars are there ? 

The deadlift is personally my most favourite lift. When you want to reach peak performance it can help to change up the routine. I have personally not extensively tried the approach of varying the stance, grip, bars and loads constantly, but here is an overiew for you which bars made help to make this easier for you.

Get the free deadlift calculator

Most popular Rogue bars in 2020

This is an overview of the most popular Rogue barbells per views and click through rates for Marathon-Crossfit.com in 2020. If you want more details on how the data was collected you can dig deeper in what were the most popular Rogue products in 2020.

Most popular rogue bars in 2020

 
This is an overview of the most popular barbells on Marathon-CrossFit.com during 2020. The ranking is as followed:
 
 
That the operator bar was so popular on Marathon-CrossFit in 2020 came as a surprise to me. It is one of the cheaper Rogue barbells which still has a cool name rather than being a variation of the Rogue Ohio barbell. If you want to feel a little more camouflaged in your life, go with this one. You can read the full review of the operator bar via this link.
 
The West side bar is a variation of the Ohio bar specifically for powerlifting. It is very similar to the Rogue Ohio power bar which recently has gotten a little more attention from influencers. This is a solid bar if you do not intend to do the Olympic lifts and stick to the bench press, deadlift, and barbell back squat in your training. You can read the full review of the west side bar via this link.
 
The Rogue Russian bar is another surprise on the Marathon-CrossFit popularity list. While it is one of the most expensive bars you can get from Rogue I personally find that it is more of a collector's item with nostalgia attached to it. It is a great piece of craftsmanship to recreate a bar from the Soviet era. Unfortunately, the collar system is not used in competition anymore and also tenders the bar useless once you lose one of the collars. Rogue also does not provide an option to buy the custom collars separately in case you do lose them. Based on this I would take the Pyrros bar over the Russian bar any given day for this budget. You can read the full review of the Rogue Russian bar by following this link.
 
The Rogue Multi-grip bar is a great additional tool to bring your bench press training to the next level. Especially if you are a big fan of the Westside training method as it asks for many grip variations. This bar might not be your first purchase, but fun addition to your gym once all the essentials are covered. You can read the full review of the Rogue Multi-grip bar by following this link.
 
The Chan bar is my personal favorite if you want to do it all with your barbell. It is reasonably priced, has a cool design, and can be used for Olympic lifts and the big three alike. If you are a CrossFit fan who wants to workout from home, this is a great pick. You can read the full review of the Rogue Chan bar by following this link.
 

Classic barbell

The classic barbell is what you you will find in most gyms. They vary widely in their quality with the York ones being the most cost efficient and therefore at the lower end of the quality range. You might find barbells with bushing or bearing, still most of them will have bushing in your local gym.

If your local gym is serious about lifting you might find specific olympic weightlifting and powerlifting barbells. These have a more aggressive knurl to ensure more grip for the professionals. You will experience these to be rougher on your skin which has the benefit of being able to lift more and the downside of higher likelihood to get your skin damaged.

In addition the knurl marks are slightly different between olympic and powerlifting bars to show you where to put your hands. Usually the powerlifting bars are built to withhold more psi (basically tells you how mch weight you can put on the bar until it breaks) than olympic bars due to the fact that there is more load moved in the powerlifts than in olympic lifts. 

Lifting is not always for beginners. You need proper technique, balance and a bit of strength to do it. Otherwise you might hurt your shins on the deadlift or pulll some muscles when squatting. Improper squatting might also harm your spine. So get proper advise or start deadlifting with other bars.

Olympic weightlifting

Powerlifting bar

Trap bar

 

A good option for beginners is a trap bar. The trap bar enables you to stand with both feet on the ground while the bar practically wraps around you. On the deadlift this eliminates problems with flexibility that some beginners experience who can not move their shins out of the way when they pull the bar up. I also find it easier to grip and most poeple are able to lift more with the trap bar than with a barbell.

What you can give a try once you fell comfortable is do 5 - 10 reps with the trap bar and then start walking with it turning it into a farmer's walk. Nice change of your routine. Most local gyms have at least one of these around. The only irritating thing about them is that they usually weigh around 30kg and are very bulky to getin place. Good news that a trap bar is usually free to use when you walk into the gym, because people do not bother getting it in place.

 

Trap bar

 Fat Bars

For more advanced lifters it can be useful to use fat bars to work on their grip strength. You will probabaly have to search a bit to find a gym who provides these and they are rarely used (at least in the facilities I have seen so far). I have not tried them yet, but I think I'll give it a shot quite soon. Let me know about your experiences in the comments.

Fat bar

Further reading

Topics: Deadlift, Powerlifting, Barbell, Garagegym, Home Gym, Bodybuilding