Barbells

Barbell Shopping Guide

Bells of Steel produces top-quality, feature-rich, warranty backed barbells that will last a lifetime in your home gym or commercial gym. We design our barbells in-house based on our expertise, along with feedback from customers like you. Our mission is to deliver you the absolute highest quality to price ratio possible. To put it simply, we provide you with the best barbell for the money.

There are, to be perfectly honest, an unreasonable amount of barbell sizes and weights, finishes, knurling patterns and other options. It can be downright overwhelming to make a decision. So that’s why we stock a simple four types of straight barbells, and only a handful of specialty barbells, to make your choice easy.

Keen to learn about the different kinds of barbells? Then take a peek at our feature article about the different kinds of barbells and which is best for you. Think of it as Barbells 101!

Olympic Barbells

Multi-Purpose Olympic Barbell - The Utility Bar

Our next-generation basic bar, the Multi-Purpose Olympic Barbell is designed to be an all-around solution for garage gym athletes, as well as commercial gyms. As a generalist barbell, our Utility Barbell is designed for people who don’t adhere to a particular strength sport and just love an excellent bar. To learn more, check out the Garage Gym Lab Review of the Utility Barbell.

Barenaked Powerlifting Barbell

Voted the Best Budget Powerlifting Bar by Garage Gym Reviews, our Barenaked Power Barbell is intended for powerlifting and to meet IPF specs. This barbell is designed to be extra stiff for the Big 3: Squats, Bench, Deadlift. And it has killer knurling.

Want more info? Check out Will a Stiff Powerlifting Bar Make a Difference.

Onyx Powerlifting Barbell

Our Onyx Powerlifting Bar takes our world-famous powerlifting bar and upgrades it with a cerakote finish. The cerakote makes it rust-resistant. It’s designed specifically for powerlifting and to meet IPF specs.

Cerakote Utility Barbell

The Cerakote Utility Barbell takes our popular Utility Barbell and adds a black cerakote finish to the sleeves, and your choice of blue or orange for the shaft. This barbell is designed to be an all-around solution for bench press, squats, deadlifts, and the Olympic lifts (cleans, jerks, and snatches).

To learn more, check out What is a Cerakote Barbell.

Women's Barbell

The Women’s Barbell is slightly thinner, lighter, and shorter than our (men’s) Olympic Weightlifting Barbell, to align with IWF standards. This barbell is designed for Olympic weightlifting with the perfect amount of spin and ultra-durable construction.

Specialty Barbells

A specialty bar is a barbell that has been modified to improve the ergonomics of one or several lifts to target different muscle groups.

Some specialty barbells are curved or cambered to reduce stress on the shoulder, others have a larger diameter to test your grip, and several barbells have neutral handles making them more comfortable to grip and press.

The Arch Nemesis, Open Trap, and Safety Squat barbells are some of our most popular as they enable you to still perform powerful compound exercises if you have injuries or reduced range of motion. For a comprehensive guide, read The Best Specialty Barbells for Strength Training.

Arch Nemesis Swiss Barbell

One of the most versatile specialty barbells you can get, the Arch Nemesis Barbell is a shoulder saver, bench builder, and cable attachment. This welded bar has three different angled grips so help overcome any mobility issues, and enables a deeper range of motion for bench press. For more info, browse these:

Open Trap Bar

The Open Trap Bar, often called a Hex Bar, is one of the best specialty bars for building strength and developing power in the deadlift.

It is considered by many to be both superior and safer than deadlifting with a traditional straight bar, as the load is centered and more balanced with a Trap Bar, which puts much less stress on the spine. Have a look at the full Open Trap Bar Review by Garage Gyms or learn Why Trap Bars Are Worth It.

Safety Squat Bar

The Safety Squat Barbell is designed for those with limited shoulder, elbow, and wrist mobility. It’s also highly effective for developing your quadriceps and posterior chain. The high-quality, single-piece padding is dense yet comfortable, and it will always stay in place even during your sweatiest workouts.

To learn more check out How to Use a Safety Squat Bar.

Why Buy a Barbell from Bells of Steel

BARBELLS 

Looking for the ultimate barbell experience? You’ve hit the motherload, my friend. Bells of Steel presents the most epic lineup of barbells that will take your workouts to the next level. We’re not messing around here – these aren’t your average barbells. These are the tools of champions, the weapons of mass construction!

BARBELLS

Looking for the ultimate barbell experience? You’ve hit the motherload, my friend. Bells of Steel presents the most epic lineup of barbells that will take your workouts to the next level. We’re not messing around here – these aren’t your average barbells. These are the tools of champions, the weapons of mass construction!

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Excellent Warranty
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weightlifting trap barbell
barbell ez curl
barbell ez curl

Why they’re the Best Garage Gym Barbells for your dollar

Bells of Steel produces top-quality, feature-rich, warranty backed barbells that will last a lifetime in your home or commercial gym. We design our barbells in-house based on our expertise, along with feedback from customers like you. Our mission is to deliver you the absolute highest quality to price ratio possible. To put it simply, we provide you with the best barbell for the money.

High tensile strength machined steel
For prevention of bending and warping over time.

Federation compliant barbell knurl marks
So if you compete, you will be lifting with familiar barbell knurling dimensions and will not go over the barbell grip width limits when bench pressing.
Reliable and consistent barbell knurling For a superior grip for setting new personal bests and preventing hand tears.
Over 1,000 lbs max weight on all our bars
Unique ribbed weight plate sleeves To prevent plates from falling off your barbell sleeve while working out. These are just a few reasons why our bars are the perfect fit for your gym. Our apocalypse surviving barbells are ready to handle the most massive workouts you can throw their way. You’ll be delighted with the quality and astonished with the price. We stand behind our products 100% and all barbells come with our 30-day money-back guarantee and industry-leading warranty.
barbell trap
barbell trap bar

Frequently Asked Questions

Bells of Steel produces top-quality, warranty-backed barbells that will last a lifetime in your home or commercial gym. Our best-selling Olympic Weightlifting Barbell and Onyx Powerlifting Cerakote Bar cost around $300. The Barenaked Powerlifting Bar 2.0 and our Utility Bar costs $250. Check out the wide selection of barbells on our Barbells page.

Bells of Steel has a multitude of weight bars to help with your training. We have power bars (Barenaked Powerlifting Bar and Onyx Powerlifting Cerakote Bar), utility bars (Cerakote Utility Barbell and Multi-Purpose Olympic Barbell), and Olympic bars (The B.o.S Bar 2.0 and Women’s Barbell 2.0). You can also check our wide selection of Specialty bars and Industrial barbells on the website.

A barbell is a piece of exercise equipment that can be loaded with weights. Different types of barbells are used in various settings but mostly for weight training, bodybuilding, weightlifting, and powerlifting.

Before the word barbell first emerged in the 19th century, there was the word dumbbell, “weighted bar used for exercise,” from which the bell ending was borrowed for barbell. It has also been traced to 1870 when Madame Brennar’s Gymnastics for Ladies was among the first to use the term “barbell”. She got the idea by calling it an ‘appliance that partakes partly of the ‘Wand,’ and part of the Dumb-bell.’ She was one of the first entrepreneurs to use it.

Short barbells, or “Shorties,” are typically shorter than standard Olympic bars. They are lighter and smaller than most other bars, and most of the time they are called curl bars because they are used mostly for bicep curling. Our Bells of Steel EZ Curl Bar will help you build the perfect bicep peaks without straining your wrists and elbows.

The IPF (International Powerlifting Federation) and the IWF (International Weightlifting Federation) have set forth barbell standards for what a barbell has to be for use in competition. These standards are largely implemented in Bells of Steel bars. A men’s bar weighs 20kg/44 pounds and for a women’s bar, it’s 15kg/33lbs.

Having both is ideal. Dumbbells are great fitness equipment for isolating muscle groups. However, barbells also offer a wide range of exercises, especially if you are training for more strength and functionality. All in all, it depends on your fitness goals.

Yes, when it comes to mass gains, barbells are your best bet. With a barbell, you can lift heavier weights and incorporate progressive overload into your training. Barbells are more convenient and easier to use than dumbbells when you’re adding a lot of weight. Another advantage of using barbells is that you can work more muscle groups simultaneously and you have greater stability as you perform your deadlifts, bench press, or squats.