Weighted bar recommendations

[Joshua Slocum]

I'm looking into getting a weighted bar, since they feature heavily in the mobility work for Handstand 1. On the internet at least, it's difficult to find exactly what I want. So far I have this:

 

10# weight bar with 1 inch diameter: http://amzn.com/B004CAH69M

 

2.5# and 1.25# plates: http://amzn.com/B003F1251I

 

1 inch imperial fractional plate set: http://www.ironwoodyfitness.com/standard-1-in-fractional-plates.html

 

 

Does this seem like a reasonable setup for a weighted bar? Should I try to find a lighter bar? Is there a cheaper way to get fractional plates? 

 

 

There seems to be a much more varied selection of fractional plates in olympic size (2 inch holes) than for standard size. Does anyone know of a light (~10lbs or less), olympic sized bar that isn't curved? 

[Chris Hobbs]

I have a 4' section of steel pipe - 3/4" IIRC but I can check it later today you want confirmation, it weighs a little over 5lbs. Perfect as a starting point. I can slide plates onto the bar to add weight, or I have steel loaded shot I picked up from strongergrip.com that I can fill it with if I want something less adjustable.

 

- Chris

[Joshua Naterman]

You should seriously consider using a piece of pipe (PVC or RMC)  and ankle weights.

 

If you want a more serious set of weights, something that will easily and affordably go past 15 lbs or so, I'd probably go with the 1" screw-type barbell you see, and pick such a bar up off of craigslist or a used sports store like this:

http://www.playitagainsports.com/locations/list/MA

 

I always go to play it again, they are awesome!

 

I have a 1.5" RMC piece that's ~11 lbs @~5 feet long. It's half of a 10 foot piece, and doubles as one of my parallel bars when strapped to my power rack (at a conveniently perfect width, strangely enough!). The 10 foot piece was around 20 bucks at Home Depot, I think.

 

I do like the thinner bars for HS1 mobility, I use a 9 lb body bar at school and it's fantastic, so I'd probably recommend that you make a run to play it again.

[Marcos Mocine-McQueen]

I'm working on improvising a weighted bar using PVC. Thus far I've got a length about 5 feet long with a fixed cap closing one end and a threaded cap on the other (so that I can adjust the weight by adding or removing ballast).

My question is this: Should I use water or sand to fill the pipe? It will hold either without problems.

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

I'd personally use some sort of gravel; it would be a lot less messy in case one of the caps failed.

[Marcos Mocine-McQueen]

Thanks Fred That's a good point. In answer to your question in another thread, I'm living in Japan, so I'm only loosely your neighbor. I might be a little late restarting your heart. I would, however, do it with always impecable "Japanese service".

[Joshua Naterman]

WIth the PVC, which is what I use, I made measured marks from the middle in 1" increments. I then taped over them with clear tape to preserve them.

 

Finally, I used fishing line and sewed a zippered pouch onto the middle of the bar and taped it in place. This allows me to adjust the weight of the bar with any number of things, but I am using the iron dust pouches that came with my weighted vest. They are 4 lbs each, so I have two of them in the pouch.

 

This works fantastically well for me, and didn't cost a penny.

[Daniel Burnham]

I found a piece of PVC behind my house and filled it with rocks. The I taped the ends with duct tape. It is heavy enough to be challenging though I don't know exactly how much it weighs. Doesn't get much simpler than that.

[Joshua Naterman]

Sho-nuff!