Barbells are a vital piece of equipment in every gym. Even if you have a home gym, you will eventually need to purchase one. They will help you do a wide variety of exercises – from deadlifts to overhead presses, and all the way to squats and isolation movements.
It’s arguably one of the most commonly used pieces of equipment in a gym. And that’s why it’s even more prone to the wear-and-tear damage that comes with heavy use. Low-quality barbells will cost you less, but they will also get damaged quite quickly.
The solution?
Buy a high-quality barbell that will last you for ages. But we understand that once you make a commitment to buy a top-quality piece of gear, you’ll spend your time thinking about which one to pick.
The American Barbell might be on your shortlist, so we’ve decided to give it a try ourselves and tell you if it’s worth your while.
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About American Barbell
Before we dive deeper into the review, let’s first take a look at the company behind the barbell.
American Barbell is a manufacturing company producing products for gyms. If you’ve been to commercial gyms before, you might have noticed gear from this company. You’ll find it in gyms like Gold’s Gym, Planet Fitness, and World Gym.
They’ve been around the block a while, too – since 1978, to be more precise. One of the most appealing factors about this company is that most of their products are made in the US (including the American Barbell Training Bar).
Specifications of the American Barbell Training Bar
Let’s get the technical stuff out of the way first. By this, we mean the numbers and the specifications of the barbell.
- Application: Olympic weightlifting, Weightlifting, Competition
- Bushing System
- Weight: 20kg (44lbs)
- Center knurl: No
- Shaft: Hard Chrome Coating
- Sleeve: Precision Ground Steel with a Hard Chrome Coating
- IWF Specification
- Made in the USA
Review
When you’re looking for a barbell for your home, one of the first things you should consider is how you’re going to use it. And the American Barbell Training Bar will suit a wide variety of tastes.
If you do Olympic weightlifting, or if you are just there to practice weightlifting, this bar will be great for you. But it’s also a fantastic competitive barbell.
Exceptional Build Quality
But what makes this barbell so versatile?
It’s the fact that it’s made of so few components, and these components are put together so well that you won’t even notice that. There is a lot of quality engineering behind this barbell, which means that the focus of the barbell is on performance rather than looks.
One of the best features of this bar is the knurl. It has a medium-depth knurl, and it allows you to grip the bar stronger. This is perfect for those who don’t like to use too much chalk to grip the bar.
The knurl is so precise that you won’t have to worry about it flattening anytime soon.
It’s not All About the Looks
This bar is the perfect representation of “It’s not all about the looks”. While the chrome finish is certainly nice, it’s not as flashy as some other barbells in its price range. However, the quality and versatility of this barbell outweigh the “generic” look it has.
Some barbells look great initially, but after a few months or years, they get corroded and they lose the initial shine they had.
This barbell is different in that regard. It’s made to last, so it will maintain its polished, chrome-look for years to come, even after heavy use on a daily basis.
Versatity
One of the most appealing things about this barbell is that you can do almost anything with it. If you’re looking to do Crossfit, it’s great. If you’re a “regular” weightlifter, it’s great. If you’re training competitively, it’s great. If you do Olympic weightlifting, it’s great.
There is so much variety that you can do with this barbell. You’ll be able to perform many exercises – from squats to deadlifts, and even curls.
It has just the right amount of whip, which enables it to be so versatile. It doesn’t have as much whip as a pure powerlifting bar, but it’s also not as stiff as the squat bar. This is a great combination if you’re looking to do a bit of both.
While yes, a specialized barbell might do better in each of those categories, this barbell represents the perfect balance between all those categories. You will spend quite a lot on this barbell, but it will enable you to do so much.
Are there any Drawbacks?
If we’ve been talking about the positive things about this barbell, it’s only fair to mention a couple of drawbacks (there are not too many, to be honest).
The first one is that this bar is a fairly generalistic bar. If you’re looking to buy a specialized bar for powerlifting or for CrossFit, then you might want to invest in a different bar. While this barbell is great in every category, it’s not as good as a barbell that’s designed solely for Crossfit, for example.
Secondly, the spin is not the best right from the start. It will take some time for the spin to really kick in, but at the start, you won’t get much of spin.
Other than that, there are not many drawbacks we’ve encountered with this barbell.
Final Thoughts
The American Barbell Training Bar is one of the most versatile barbells out there on the market. You can do all types of workouts with it, from Crossfit to regular weightlifting, or even Olympic weightlifting.
It represents a wonderful combination of exceptional build quality and versatility, something that will serve you very well if you’re looking for a versatile bar that will last you for years to come.
The quality of this bar makes it feel like we’re getting a bargain for just a little over the $300 mark. It’s one of the best general training barbells out there, no matter what type of workouts you prefer to do!
