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Allow us to walk you through each and every type. Clarity, ahead! 20kg tpu barbell set

If the goal of your exercise regimen is better overall health (and, let’s be honest, some calorie burn and a bit more muscle, too), strength training should be in regular rotation. And while you don’t *need* weights to get stronger, necessarily, learning to carry heavier loads can take you further than bodyweight exercises alone. Grabbing—or, you know, lifting—a barbell, for starters, can be a fast track to the aforementioned fitness goals.

Judine St. Gerard, CPT, explains how this works. “Take, for example, the squat; you can start with bodyweight, but once you've mastered that and the body adapts, you'll want to [keep challenging yourself] to continue to see results and progress,” she says. “You could just increase the reps, but over time (once you get to 50+) it becomes pretty inefficient, depending on your goal and time constraints.”

In other words, you could squat forever using just your bodyweight and still not achieve the results you’d get in a far shorter amount of time simply (ha!) by hoisting a barbell in the air.

Now that you know why you'd want to use barbells, you might be wondering how heavy is a barbell right about now—not to mention which type (because yes, there are different ones) is would be an ideal addition to your home gym.

Below is everything you need to know about the various lifting bars you can buy—plus, a lil' explainer on weight plates so you can decide which fits into your regimen best.

Weight: 20 kg, or about 45 pounds | Length: 7’2”

When to use it: This is the barbell you'd most likely work with at a gym as it's a fairly all-purpose, intermediate-to-advanced piece of equipment that can be used for a wide variety of exercises including squats, bench presses, and deadlifts—plus, CrossFit moves like the power clean or snatch.

Weight: 15 kg, or about 33 pounds | Length: 6’5” (can vary)

When to use it: In addition to being lighter and shorter than a standard bell, the diameter of the bar is also smaller, making it easier to hold. Women’s barbells can be useful for beginners who need to work up their grip strength and polish their form. They’re also great for engaging in exercises such as curls or bent over rows.

Weight: about 15 pounds | Length: 6’ (can vary)

When to use it: St. Gerard says they’re typically utilized for learning complicated Olympic movements like the barbell clean, snatch, or overhead squat.

Weight: 60-70 pounds | Length: 7’5” (can vary)

When to use it: Safety barbells, which include the safety squat barbell, trap barbell, and Swiss/multi-grip barbell, are designed to help to prevent injury and therefore can be handy when your workout lacks oversight from a professional or you’re recovering from muscle problems, says St. Gerard.

They're also ideal for more advanced lifters since they're heavier to begin with than the barbells above (in most cases). For example, a safety squat barbell has bars that curve at the end to position the weights closer to the ground for easier balance. These bars also have a padded section that sits on the shoulders to reduce stress to that area as well as the elbows and wrists. This design also pushes more work into your quads while reducing the load on your lower back.

Weight: anywhere from 25 to 70 pounds | Length: 7’2”, handle width of 25” (can vary)

When to use it:The trap or hex barbell can also reduce stress to your back and shoulders. It’s shaped like a diamond, which allows the lifter to stand in the middle of the weight, ensuring better (and therefore safer) form. They can be used for deadlifts, rows, squats, and more.

Weight: 35-55 pounds | Length: 6’8” (can vary)

When to use it: The Swiss or multi-grip barbell also features a unique shape. It’s designed with a ladder at its center, which offers a number of different grip variations. This can make lifting safer on the shoulders. It weighs between 35 and 55 pounds and is most often used for bench presses and other overhead exercises.

Weight: 20-40 pounds | Length: 4’ (can vary)

When to use it: Other specialty bars are used to isolate specific muscle groups. EZ barbells, for example, are designed with a W shape in the middle of the bar and are primarily used to work the biceps. They weigh about 20 to 40 pounds and are shorter than standard bells.

Weight: 20-40 pounds | Length: 3’ (can vary)

When to use it: A tricep barbell, meanwhile, is designed with a rectangle in the middle with two grips that allow for a more narrow hold on the bell. As you may have guessed, they specifically work the triceps.

Now that you (hopefully) have a better idea of what type of bell could work best for you, it’s time to consider plates. Plates are relatively uncomplicated. St. Gerard says they can be found in a wide variety of sizes offered at 5 to 10 pound increments. In other words, they’re available anywhere from 10 to 55 pounds, usually.

Plates do come in a variety of materials, however. You might be used to seeing iron or steel round plates that vary in diameter in accordance with their weight. Similar plates may be made from plastic, too. These are the 100-level of weight plates, the kind of thing you might find at your parents’ house, and they’re totally fine for most purposes. Typically, says St. Gerard, chain gyms tend to opt instead for rubber-coated weights, which are quieter and more durable than their non-coated counterparts but are otherwise similar.

In CrossFit gyms and other serious weightlifting venues, however, you might instead find standard Olympic plates. These are also known as bumper plates and are uniform in diameter but vary in terms of thickness. “Often you'll find them [measured] in kilograms, especially in the weightlifting/powerlifting setting or out of the country,” she explains. The benefit to standard Olympic plates is that they protect bars dropped from great heights with a lot of force from breaking, which is why they’re utilized by the hardcore lifters.

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