Let’s start from the ground up regarding Barbells! They are a valuable asset to a gym as they all you to move some serious weight, if you wish!
What is a barbell?
It is that straight metal rod that you throw those iron or ruber plates on!
What are the parts of a barbell?
The collars are the part that actually hold the weight plates. The Shaft is the part your hands will hold while you perform a movement. The Knurling is the rough part that allows you to hold onto the bar easily – without it you would have some serious blisters (think about those old school playground bars)! Most bars also offer rings on the knurling to get your hand positioning just right!
How does Burr Strength use them?
We use barbells to perform controlled reps during our Strength portions of lifting. We also occasionally use them during assistance but we prefer other implements 9/10 times over barbells. We do not touch them during conditioning – as conditioning is designed to fatigue you to an extent where your form will more then likely break down several times simply due to fatigue.
We use barbells to:
Develop absolute strength, develop power and to help with certain skill and assistance movements. You will never be in an extremely fatigued state moving a barbell. We also have speciality bars we use, but again – we only use them during strength or assistance portions of our sessions.
What we don’t use them for:
We do not and never will use them for conditioning. The reason? They are not designed to be used for that. The idea of throwing a barbell over your head right after you did a run, burpees and swings multiple times in a row is pretty insane, from a safe coaching stand point. As your coach, we have a few jobs and #1 is keeping you safe so you can reach your goals. If you get injured, the workouts can be modified but the effort you can push due to working around an injury would be less if not injured.
Who do we use them with?
Training Camp – our Original, Weight Lifting and Strong(wo)man. Outside of that – we do not use them unless for modified skills (i.e. pull-up mods or barbell inverted rows). And thats it! None of the other classes require them! Meaning if you don’t like using barbells, see below!
Who do we NOT use them with?
Bootcamps – Bootcamps are designed to be lower weight with you moving fast, usually bodyweight! No need to throw a heavy barbell into the mix – we use sandbags, medballs and kettlebells for that!
HIIT – Performing High Intensity intervals with a barbell would be a recipe for an injury! Light weights and bodyweight!
Kettlebell – I think we know why – this is a kettlebell class!
Middle School Athletes – Nobody before 9th grade should be touching a barbell unless for a modified skill or assistance. The idea of moving a barbell as a 5th to 8th grader is insane for 99% of those kids (there are exceptions if guided correctly — IE we have a young male at our gym. He wasn’t allowed to touch a barbell for quite some time – he developed the necessary skills for CLOSE TO A YEAR and he was allowed to dable lightly). As a coach who works with athletes – there are countless other ways to get better results and faster. Let the young athletes develop the necessary skills to move CORRECTLY. Make them move – not throw a barbell around.
I have a background in training D1 Athletes (right over 3 years) and 3, almost 4 years training professionaly on my own. I have tried many methods – the one I have created is the best for what we offer for our philosphy for our gym. And guess what – it works pretty damn well. We are unique. Your safety is #1 – your results are #2 – we will not sacrifice your safety for results, as one small mishap could set you back months.