Owning the best barbell isn’t just a flex: It’s also the fastest way to get stronger. “As far as putting the most mechanical stress on your body, there’s nothing really that can compete with a barbell,” says Kyle Firmstone, CPT, CSCS, an assistant fitness manager at Crunch Fitness and licensed weightlifting coach. “Bang for your buck, if you know how to use it, I don’t think there’s really a comparison.” With a barbell, you’ve got the opportunity to lift massive amounts of weight, and challenge all those little stabilizer muscles at the same time. Read: Regular barbell workouts can make you Hulk out in no time.
As more people catch on to the benefits of strength training, there’s been an explosion of barbells to choose from. If you’re feeling lost in all the online barbell reviews, don’t sweat it. We quite literally did the heavy lifting for you, testing out tons of options to find the best barbell for your home gym.
Our Favorite Barbells Overall
The Olympic Weightlifting Bar from Bells of Steel dominated our list with its seamless spin and peppy whip, plus a whopping 240,000 PSI tensile strength. And baby’s got range: Although it follows the International Weightlifting Federation specs, this bar is versatile enough to use for powerlifting, too—all at a surprisingly modest price.
The Best Barbells, At a Glance
Get ready to get ripped by picking up any of these barbells.
How We Chose the Best Barbells
We got our sweaty hands on dozens of the best barbells over the course of hours of testing. We then finalized our picks by weighing how grippy—or painful— the knurling felt in our hands, how much of an assist we got from the whip, and how well each bar stood up to being dropped and thrown around the weight room. Why? So we can confidently stand behind each of these picks as the best barbells for home gym setups.
Looking for Something Specific?
The Bells of Steel Olympic Weightlifting Bar offers top-of-the-line quality at a remarkably reasonable price. Although it’s designed for weightlifting, it’s also versatile enough to let you hit a new powerlifting PR.
Our Tester’s Take
You can snatch and clean and jerk like a pro with this weightlifting bar—literally. It fits the standards of the Olympic Weightlifting Federation, making it an ideal practice bar for competitions. Even if you’re not planning to hop on a platform yourself anytime soon, this barbell can be a ticket to making massive gains right from home.
Our testers were most impressed by the whopping 240,000 PSI tensile strength, which measures how much force a bar can take before breaking and in this case is among the best you’ll find in Olympic lifting bars. The four needle bearings and snap rings also mean you get a great spin while the 28mm shaft provides a solid whip. And as you get stronger, you have plenty of room to progress—the weight capacity is 1,500 pounds.
Although it’s technically designed for Olympic lifts, this bar’s got dual knurling markings, so you’re also easily able to use it for your squats, bench presses, and deadlifts. Altogether, that’s a lot of value for a barbell that’s less than $300.
The Iron Bull Strength Competition Bar lets you lift to your heart’s desire, with major versatility and top-notch durability.
Our Tester’s Take
Deadlifts, hip thrusts, rows, clean and jerks—it’s all on the menu with the multipurpose Iron Bull Strength Competition Bar. Our tester found the eight needle bearings in the loading sleeves minimized the torque on his wrists when the bar was rotating. “Bearings tend to [create] a cleaner, faster, smoother spin,” Firmstone explains.
No matter what kinds of lifts he was doing, our tester found the grip comfortable. The barbell uses moderate volcano-style knurling that doesn’t rip up your hands, even during high-rep movements.
Available in five finishes and two lengths, we found this barbell to be super durable. It held up with no more than a little scuffing on the sleeves even after being thrown around and dropped for months on end. (One note: Although Iron Bull Strength doesn’t publish a weight capacity, our tester says that the bar warped slightly after he hit 535 pounds. That said, that’s plenty of weight for beginners to play around with.)
The Nordic Lifting Barbell 7′ Olympic for CrossFit & Weightlifting gets five out of five stars from our team and Amazon reviewers—and for good reason. It’s a well-built do-it-all bar you can use for weightlifting, powerlifting, and CrossFit alike.
Our Tester’s Take
Trawling the thousands of barbell options on Amazon can be a mind-numbing process. Instead, we recommend just clicking on this Olympic barbell from Nordic Lifting. It has a 190,000-PSI tensile strength and dual knurl marks for weightlifting and powerlifting, making it plenty versatile. And it’ll last you for years: The graphite bushings keep this bar durable and low-maintenance while the 1500-pound weight limit lets you lift as heavy as you’d like.
The Major Fitness Home Gym Barbell is a smart value for everyday lifters, with smooth rotations and a medium-level grip that won’t leave your skin in shreds. The weight limit might not be the most impressive number on this list, but it’s all most of us need.
We found this budget-friendly barbell pretty damn comparable to what you’d find in a commercial gym. Yeah, it maxes out at 750 pounds, which is on the lower end of this list, but that’s high enough for most of us everyday lifters who aren’t planning to become elites or squeeze into a mulit-ply squat suit. With dual knurl marks, you can use this bar for powerlifting or Olympic weight lifting, though the smooth spin created by the needle bearings make it ideal for snatches and clean and jerks. The medium-depth knurling kept our grip secure without shredding up our hands, though you might prefer something a little more aggressive when you’re going for your one-rep max on any of the big three.
The Fringe Sport Wonder Bar is simply an outstanding bar, with speedy and smooth rotations. We’re not surprised fans of the bar have nicknamed it “Black Magic,” according to Fringe Sport.
Our Tester’s Take
Of all the barbells we’ve tested, the multipurpose Wonder Bar is what we reach for when it’s time for our CrossFit WOD. High rep schemes and dynamic lifts just feel a little more doable with this sleek bar, thanks to its speedy, seamless spin. Although Fringe Sport may not be super well-known outside of CrossFit and functional fitness circles, don’t sleep on the brand—it offers top-notch customer service, and it’s selling this bar for an amazing price. Not to put too fine a point on it, but our tester admitted to us that with this bar in his hands, he felt confident and powerful—exactly what you want to feel when you step in a box.
Olympic lifters will love the REP Fitness Alpine Weightlifting Bar for its silky smooth spin and satisfying whip.
Our Tester’s Take
This Olympic bar is downright ideal for your snatches and clean and jerks. Although it’s not certified by the International Weightlifting Federation (which helps to keep the price down) the diameter and knurl markings do follow IWF specifications. “REP Fitness makes a lot of good barbells,” Firmstone says. “They’ve become a big home outfitter.”
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