A tale of a new bar

[teeroy]

I got a new bar. My old one bent. It was a cheapo from Sports Authority.

I got a Hampton. It is rated at 700lbs. Paid $189 for it.

The collars spin very smoothly and don't rattle around like some of the cheaper bars there did.

The rings on it are 32" apart. The rings on my old bar were 29.25" apart. The inside of my rack is only 35" which means that the widest I can get my grip for bench is ring finger. That leaves just enough room for the pinky to wrap around the bar. I've been looking for a new rack but nothing has come up on craigslist for months. Until I get a new rack I guess I won't be able to go to middle or ring finger.

The new bar is fatter than my old bar so it should be interesting to see how that affects my deadlift grip on Friday. It is as fat as the bars are when I go to a gym so I guess the correct thing to say would be that my old bar was skinny.

It weighs 43lbs. I don't understand why they can't make every bar weigh an even 45lbs. Don't need no stinkin' standards I guess. For that matter, the rings should be the same on every bar.

The new bar is quite a bit wider than my last bar. This means that it hangs over the pins quite a bit on the outside of the rack. I was able for the first time to squat with my hands out at the collars. Wow. What a difference. The weight felt lighter on my back. I swore it was easier to keep my back tight in the hole and on the way up. I felt more balanced.

Anyways, I'm excited. Been wanting a new bar for a while so thought I'd share my first lifting experience I had with it today. I hope it lasts me a long time and serves me well.

[rctriplefresh5]

yeah my bar is only like 40 pounds and the one before that was like 35. i put 2 clamps on each side to make it closer to 45 pounds. a lot of the cheapo sets dont have accurate plates either my 45s are like 40 pounds lol. i cant complain though, my neighbor gave me his whole set and ibought mine for like 120. his plate are accurate and thankfully his bar was 40 pounds.

be careful of the screws at the end they come loose a lot. all in all it should serve you well. i used to do quarter squats because ithought it would train my cns (stupid idea) and the bar was able to handle 640 pounds and is still in ok shape so i guess the 700 rating is accurate gl with your set.

[Bohizzle]

At the school gym that I work at we have had 2 Hampton bars (out of 3) snap at the collar . They were the chrome ones with black rubber around the collar, although I'm not sure of the model number. Not trying to alarm you, but I figured I would let you know. Hope your bar doesn't succumb to the same fate, but instead lasts 10+ years!

Andrew

[teeroy]

At the school gym that I work at we have had 2 Hampton bars (out of 3) snap at the collar . They were the chrome ones with black rubber around the collar, although I'm not sure of the model number. Not trying to alarm you, but I figured I would let you know. Hope your bar doesn't succumb to the same fate, but instead lasts 10+ years!

Andrew

Oh, Wow. Mine isn't the one with rubber around the collar. Those were $100 more. Along that line, maybe mine will snap sooner since it is the cheaper of the two.

[Bohizzle]

hopefully not!

[Travis Bell]

At the school gym that I work at we have had 2 Hampton bars (out of 3) snap at the collar . They were the chrome ones with black rubber around the collar, although I'm not sure of the model number. Not trying to alarm you, but I figured I would let you know. Hope your bar doesn't succumb to the same fate, but instead lasts 10+ years!

Andrew

Two of the highschools I work with have had similar issues with the same bar you mentioned.

I'm inclined to believe they are junk. There is NO reason a bar should break like that.

[teeroy]

Well, I'll post here if my bar breaks. I sure hope it doesn't.

[Reko]

you know, we had a chrome bar with some odd rubber caps to the sleeve or something. I don't know the brand it just came with a random weight set we had, but it was a very nice bar and took quite a beating from 500/600+ squats.