Barbell buying guide

If you’d like to know more about barbells, check out my Olympic Barbell Buyer’s Guide.

The Buyer’s Guide has answers to every question I had when first researching barbells, including questions I’ve seen asked elsewhere.

Requirements

The majority of squat racks and power racks are built to accommodate a standard 7ft barbell, which has about 52” of shaft length between collars. I have a Garage Series Squat Rack from Fringesport, which is roughly 50″ wide.

A short barbell needs to fit on my squat rack to use for squats, overhead presses, and bench presses, so the short barbell must be rackable. In other words, it has to have at least 50” of shaft length between collars.

Olympic bars, even shorty bars, come in several different shaft diameters. I limited my search to barbells with a shaft diameter between 25-28.5mm, since that’s the range best suited for the mix of powerlifting and Olympic lifts I like to do.

The bar also needs to support at least 300lbs of weight. I picked this weight because it’s within achievable range for most healthy adults who train consistently, especially on the big compound lifts like deadlifts and squats.

There are lots of 6-foot bars available, but surprisingly few that meet all three requirements. After months of scouring the internet, reading through forums, and tracking down obscure product information, so far I’ve managed to find just seven barbells that met all three requirements:

I’ve purchased all of them and put them all to the test. So without further ado I present to you the best short barbells for home use!

Full reviews

What follows is a full review for each of the bars I’ve tested. For reference, I tested all of these bars with a 140kg set of competition bumper plates.

Most of the plates were tested using a set of Rogue competition plates (full review), although I recently replaced them with a set of Titan Fitness urethane competition plates (full review) after getting a good deal on them during last year’s Black Friday sale.

Competition plates are the among the thinnest bumper plates available, and 140kg is probably the most weight any of these bars will be able to fit on the sleeves without moving to steel plates.

For the sake of clarity, some of the bars include the word ‘Olympic’ in the name, but this doesn’t necessarily mean they’re intended to be used for Olympic lifting.

When describing barbell features, the term “Olympic” is often used as shorthand to mean the bar sleeve is 50mm (2″) in diameter. A standard non-Olympic bar typically has sleeves that are 1″ in diameter, so the distinction is important. A bar designated as an ‘Olympic’ bar will be compatible with other equipment designated as ‘Olympic’, like bumper plates and collars.

None of the bars I tested has a center knurl. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen any short bars with a center knurl, so if that’s important to you you’ll have to go with a full size bar.

I should also note that none of these bars is a perfect replacement for a full 7ft barbell. They all have different tradeoffs, but I think the advantages of having a short bar for use in a confined space outweigh the disadvantages.

Fringe Sport 15kg Shorty Bar Review

The Fringe Sport Shorty Bar is built to the same specs as the Fringe Sport Olympic Weightlifting Bar, but in a smaller package.

It’s clear that Fringe Sport didn’t skimp on quality to make this short barbell. Everything about it feels well constructed.

Specs 72″ bar length

28mm bar diameter

15kg weight

400+lb weight rating

216K PSI tensile strength

4 bronze bushings per collar

Light knurl

Dual markings

Hard chrome finish Measured lengths Bar: 71.5″

Shaft: 51.25″

Loadable sleeve: 8.75″

The Fringe Sport’s Shorty Bar is a true 15kg bar, which makes plate math easier for those of you lifting in kilos instead of pounds.

The Shorty Bar is spec’d at a full 52″ bar length, which is the same length between sleeves as a regular 7ft bar. This is a big deal, because it makes the bar much more usable for Olympic lifts.

The measured length is actually only 51.25″ so saying it’s a full-width bar is a bit generous, but it’s still one of the widest bar lengths of the review group.

You might be asking yourself, “how’d they do this?”, which is a good question. There’s only so much real estate on a 72″ bar (actual measured length is 71.5″), so they cut down the sleeve lengths to accommodate the full size bar length.

I didn’t find the shorter sleeves to be a hindrance though. The bar will fit the full 140kg of weight, although I’m unable to use my Lock Jaw collars when I do this. As you can see in the pictures below, the collar comes right to the edge of the sleeve with only 120kg of loaded weight.

The spiral ribbed sleeves spin smoothly and consistently with no side-to-side play. In fact, the amount of spin these sleeves have is impressive, especially since they use bushings instead of bearings. Bumpers slide on and off easily, with almost no noise.

The light knurling extends all the way to the sleeve collars and is easy on the hands, which makes high-rep snatch/clean/jerk sessions a breeze.

On the other hand, the hard chrome finish is great for corrosion resistance, but not so great for maintaining grip during pulls. The hard chrome combined with the light knurl make this bar difficult to hold on to during deadlifts once I start sweating.

It also makes high-rep snatch sessions a little tricky, since I find my hands starting to slide outward when the bar is overhead. A little bit of climbing chalk helps the grip tremendously, but I don’t like using chalk in my spare bedroom if I can avoid it for the sake of keeping my spare bedroom clean.

I would love to see this bar offered with a cerakote option for improved grip, especially since Fringe Sport has recently introduced a cerakote-coated Bomba Bar.

A slightly thicker knurl would also help, although that would potentially impact this bar’s usefulness for high-rep work.

Despite the small size, this bar has room to grow. The Shorty Bar can hold over 400lbs of weight if you use metal plates, so it should be usable by all but the most beastly of you out there.

Best use

The Fringe Sport 15kg Shorty Bar is the most versatile and well made 28mm short bar I could find. This bar is perfect for CrossFit-style WoDs and MetCons, Olympic lifts, and also good for pressing lifts like squats, bench press, and overhead press. This bar can also be used for heavy pulls and high-rep sets, as long as you’re okay with using some chalk for adding grip to the light knurling and chrome finish. Buy The Fringe Sport Shorty Bar

GetRXd Shorty Bar Review

The GetRXd Shorty Bar is constructed with the same steel as the GetRXd WOD Bars, which are designed to take a beating.

Although not explicitly stated in the product info, I confirmed with customer support that the Shorty Bar can be dropped while loaded.

Specs 74″ barbell length

28mm bar diameter

15kg weight

400+lb weight rating

190K PSI tensile strength

1 oversized oil-impregnated bushing per collar

Light knurl

Dual markings

Hard chrome finish Measured lengths Bar: 73.25″

Shaft: 51.31″

Loadable sleeve: 9.69″

I’m actually reviewing version 2.0 of this bar, which I’m happy to say is an improvement over version 1.0.

The original version was not wide enough between collars to fit most standard squat racks, so GetRXd went back to the drawing board and redesigned the bar accordingly! The new and improved GetRXd Shorty Bar now fits on all standard squat racks up to 50″ wide.

The sleeves are completely smooth with no side-to-side play. Bumpers slide on and off easily, with very little noise.

The GetRXd Shorty bar works great for nearly any kind of workout, including WODs and CrossFit-style workouts.

If your training consists mainly of Olympic lifts, the GetRXd Shorty is probably not the bar for you. Some of the bar’s rotational inertia gets transferred to the plates during snatches and cleans, which causes the plates to continue spinning at the end of the movement.

The knurling on the GetRXd Shorty Bar is light, which is great for high rep work but not so great for heavy pulls with sweaty hands.

Tradeoffs are to be expected when using any multi-purpose bar, so I counter the slick grip with a bit of climbing chalk when necessary.

The GetRXd Shorty Bar can hold the full 140kg of test weight, although I only have 120kg loaded in the pictures above.

There isn’t enough sleeve space for me to load the full 140kg of weight and still use my Lock Jaw collars, but I can definitely fit a spring clip on the end so no worries about safety.

The GetRXd Shorty can hold over 400lbs of weight if you use metal plates, so it should be usable for the vast majority of home lifters. All in all, this is a great bar for the asking price.

Best use

The GetRXd Shorty Bar is the best mix of price versus performance. This bar is good for CrossFit-style WoDs and MetCons, Power lifts like squats, bench press, overhead press, etc and will fit any standard squat rack up to 50″ wide. This isn’t a bar for use in frequent Olympic lift training. This bar can also be used for heavy pulls, as long as you’re okay with using some chalk for adding grip to the light knurling and chrome finish. Buy The GetRXd 70″ Shorty Bar

CAP OB-73UL Review

The CAP OB-73UL, aka the Ultra-Light Olympic Training Bar, is an interesting product that doesn’t quite seem to know what it wants to be. It has the look and feel of a powerlifting bar, but doesn’t have the weight rating to back it up. It has ‘Olympic Training’ in the name, but is definitely not spec’d for Olympic lifting.

It’s an odd duck, and I was left with mixed feelings about it.

Specs 73″ bar length

28.5mm bar diameter

30lb weight

250lb rating

Medium knurl

Single markings

Black phosphate bar

Hard chrome sleeves Measured lengths Bar: 73″

Shaft: 51.75″

Loadable sleeve: 9.25″

The OB-73UL is a decent bar that I found myself using a lot. The grip provided by the finish on this bar is among the best of all the barbells I reviewed for this article.

I like to deadlift and the black phosphate finish combined with a medium knurl make the bar easy to hold on to during pulls.

What is most curious to me about this bar is the weight rating. Even though it looks and feels like a powerlifting bar, it’s only rated to hold 250lbs.

Deadlifting over 250lbs is well within the range of achievability of most healthy people that train consistently, so the relatively low weight rating means this bar has a built-in limited lifespan of usefulness.

When I originally bought the CAP Ultra-Light Training Bar bar, the product specs listed the weight rating as 300lbs. If you’ll recall from the requirements section, 300lbs puts the bar right at the limit of acceptable criteria for inclusion in this review.

However, CAP lowered the weight rating from 300lb to 250lb in the time between when I bought the bar and posted this review. Boo!

What’s even more confusing is their product website still says the bar will hold 300lbs, even though the specs on the same page clearly state 250lb. Why??

I don’t know which rating is correct, but I can verify this bar does hold at least 120kg (264lbs) of weight. However, the bar had a very noticeable bend at this weight and given the inconsistency in ratings I would not recommend using this bar for any pressing or squatting lifts in excess of 250lbs. Better safe than sorry!

The sleeves are grooved and finished in hard chrome. Unlike the other bars, sliding bumpers on and off the CAP Ultra-Light Training Bar produces a very irritating high-pitched metal-on-metal scraping. Not sure why, I guess the thin grooves just grate on the bumper inserts.

I mention this in case you have pets or small children, since the sound really annoys my dogs and I have to be extra careful when using this bar.

There’s not a lot of spin in the sleeves, and I noted a little bit of side-to-side play in them. Despite the inclusion of “Olympic Training” in the product name, this isn’t really a bar designed with Olympic lifts in mind.

The bar length between collars measures 51.75″ inches, which is almost the same as a full size bar. CAP managed this by extended the overall length of the entire bar to 73″ to accommodate the extra length.

Incidentally, now you know where the “73” in the OB-73UL name comes from.

Best use

The CAP Ultra-Light Olympic Training Bar is good for basic home gym lifting like bench press, squats, overhead press, deadlifts, and rows. In other words, this is a perfect bar for a Stronglifts 5×5 type workout, at least till you work up to 250lbs in any one lift. This is not a bar for use with Olympic lifts, and is unlikely to make a good WOD bar. Buy The CAP Ultra-Light Olympic Training Bar

Troy Barbell 6 ft Olympic Chrome Bar Review

The Troy Barbell 6 ft Olympic Chrome Bar is by far the most boring bar of the bunch in terms of specs and features.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing though, it’s still a solid bar with a solid use case.

Specs 72″ bar length

28mm bar diameter

30.5lb weight

350lb rating

Medium knurl

Single markings

Chrome finish Measured lengths Bar: 72″

Shaft: 51.75″

Loadable sleeve: 8.75″

The Troy Barbell 6 ft Olympic Chrome Bar has a medium knurl that extends to within 1 inch of the collar. The bar has a tacky finish that feels closer to bare steel than chrome.

I was surprised by this till it dawned on me that the bar was not coated with a protective oil for storage and shipping like the rest of the chrome bars were.

The Troy Barbell 6' Olympic Bar uses bronze bushings that don’t seem to rotate very smoothly, and as a result sleeve spin is almost nonexistent.

The lack of decent spin plus the single markings on the bar make it pretty clear this bar is intended for traditional powerlifting rather than Olympic lifting or CrossFit.

The sleeves also wobble a bit while spinning, which is indicative of loose manufacturing tolerances.

Not a big deal if you only want to bench/squat/deadlift, but not so bueno if you want to clean/snatch/jerk.

The Troy Barbell 6 ft Olympic Chrome Bar sleeve is long enough to hold the full 140kg of test weight, although as you can see from the picture above there’s not much room left over for a full size collar.

Even though the sleeves are smooth, sliding bumpers on and off resulted in a high-pitched scraping sound. Not as bad as the CAP bar, but close.

The specs for this bar are very clear that 350lbs is a static weight limit, meaning that this bar is not intended to be dropped. This includes deadlifts, which means that 140kg (308lbs) is probably the actual working limit if you don’t want to risk breaking this bar.

I wish there was more to say about this bar, but there really isn’t. It’s a standard, run of the mill lifting bar that doesn’t really excel at any particular use case, but it’s not bad either. It would make a good beater bar if you can find one on sale.

Best use

The Troy Barbell 6 ft Olympic Chrome Bar is a basic barbell for basic needs. Good for bench press, squats, overhead press, deadlifts, and rows. In other words, this is a perfect bar for a Stronglifts 5×5 type workout, at least till you work up to ~300lbs. This is not a bar for use with Olympic lifts, and is unlikely to make a good WOD bar. Buy The Troy Barbell 6ft Olympic Chrome Bar

Titan 6′ Technique Olympic Bar Review

The Titan 6′ Technique Olympic Bar is the dark horse of the test group.

This is the only sub-$100 bar that met my review criteria, and at that price point I wasn’t really expecting much from it.

I’m happy to say I was pleasantly surprised.

I’ll get this out of the way up front – I included this bar because the specs list the inner bar length as 51″, but it only measures 49.25“.

This is important because it means the Titan 6' Technique Olympic Bar will not fit many standard racks from companies like Rogue Fitness or Fringe Sport, which typically have a distance between posts of 50″.

However, other companies like GetRXd and Rep Fitness do sell power racks with posts spaced 48″ apart. So, if you’re looking at this bar and want to use it with a rack, you do have some choices.

Specs 72″ bar length

28mm bar diameter

15kg weight

700lb rating

Medium-sharp knurl

Single markings

Chrome finish Measured lengths Bar: 72″

Shaft: 49.25″

Loadable sleeve: 9.5″

The Titan 6′ Technique Olympic Bar has a lot of good qualities at a fantastic price, which explains why the bar is often sold out on Amazon and on the Titan Fitness website. I think I may have bought mine just after it was introduced, so I was lucky to get one before everyone else jumped on it.

The Titan bar is a true 15kg bar, which makes plate math easier for those of you lifting in kilos instead of pounds.

The knurling on the Titan 6′ Technique Olympic Bar can best be described as ‘medium-sharp’. It’s not super aggressive, but definitely the sharpest of the bars included in this review.

It provides a good amount of grip for pulls, but maybe a touch too much for high-rep clean/snatch sessions if that’s your thing.

The knurl pattern on both ends is shifted toward the center, leaving three inches of smooth un-knurled bar at the ends by the collars.

This is an unfortunate design choice, since it reduces the amount of usable grip for you tall folks out there and also makes the bar less usable for deadlifts since there’s no way to pull this bar up without scraping your shins.

The bar is marketed for use by youths and beginners, so my guess is the narrower knurling is intended to make it easier for young lifters to use.

On the other hand, the bar is wildly over-spec’d for a youth bar. It’s rated to hold up to 700lbs, which is way more than any kid and very few adults will ever be hoisting.

The shifted knurling is the biggest drawback to what is otherwise an excellent value home gym bar.

The sleeves on the Titan 6' Technique Olympic Barhave decent spin, but nothing special. This bar isn’t geared toward Olympic lifting anyway, so the amount of spin provided by the brass bushings is adequate for powerlifting and the occasional snatch or clean.

The sleeves wobble a bit when spinning and there’s a bit of side-to-side play in them, indicative of loose manufacturing tolerances. One sleeve also rattles under spin, due to a loose fitting Titan-branded endcap placed in the hollow at the end of the sleeve.

Making allowances for how affordable this bar is, I consider these things to be annoyances more than anything else since they don’t take away from the usability in any way.

With 9.5″ of measured sleeve length, the Titan 6′ Technique Olympic Bar can securely fit the most weight of all the bars tested. I was able to load the full 140kg of test weights plus collars.

The collars stick out from the end of the bar by only about a quarter of an inch, leaving plenty of collar in contact with the bar to keep the plates secure.

The sleeves are smooth, and bumpers slide on and off easily with very little noise.

The product info on the Titan website doesn’t specify whether or not this bar can be dropped from overhead under load, so I reached out to customer service to ask them. Here’s what they said:

Though we do not recommend that, it will withstand it safely

Take from that what you will.

Best use

For the asking price, the Titan 6′ Technique Olympic Bar is almost a no brainer purchase for a basic barbell. Use it for slow grinding lifts like bench press, squats, overhead press, and rows. The knurl placement makes the bar less useful for heavy deadlifts, but if you don’t mind the occasional shin scrape then this bar is a fantastic value. This is not a bar for use with Olympic lifts, and is unlikely to make a good WOD bar. Buy The Titan 6′ Technique Olympic Bar

Rogue Junior Bar Review

The Rogue Junior Bar is the first true 25mm bar I’ve ever owned and trained with. Based on my experience with the American Barbell T-Grip Shorty Bar (which I love by the way) I thought 25mm would be too narrow for me to use effectively for regular lifting, but I was wrong.

To me, the name “Junior Bar” implies a product made for kids, and the bar does kind of look like a toy when placed next to a full size 20kg barbell.

However, the Junior Bar is most definitely not a toy.

Specs 190K tensile strength steel

Diameter: 25MM

Weight: 10kg

Overall length: 66.80”

Loadable sleeve length: 6.625”

Distance between the inside edge of the sleeves: 52.18”

Bronze bushings

Dual knurl marks w/ no center knurl

Finish: black zinc shaft + bright zinc sleeves

Made in USA Measured lengths Bar: 66.38″

Shaft: 51.5″

Loadable sleeve: 6.68″

Unlike most of the other bars in this review, the Rogue Junior Bar is intentionally designed for the novice lifter rather than try to be a shorter version of a full spec Olympic barbell.

Allow me to elaborate.

First, the shaft diameter. With a 25mm shaft diameter, this is a great bar for people with small-to-medium sized hands. More on this later.

Second, the weight. At 10kg (22lbs), this is one of the lightest bar of the test group. Most of the other rackable short bars I’ve tested so far weighed between 30-35lbs.

This oddball weight totally throws off my plate math, but it’s so light that it makes the bar very accessible for young people and adults that may have limited weight lifting experience.

Third, the knurling. The knurling on the Junior Bar is good, but no one would ever call it aggressive. It’s just enough to provide grip without being too rough on hands that have yet to develop thick calluses.

The Junior Bar is also the only bar in the test group with a black zinc finish. Zinc provides better grip and corrosion resistance than hard chrome, but not as good as cerakote or stainless steel.

I still find myself having to use chalk when my hands get sweaty, and most of you will know by now I prefer not to use chalk if I can avoid it.

I initially thought the 25mm diameter would be too small for me to use, but I was pleasantly surprised. For context, I’m about 5’8″ tall and 180lbs, and my hands are sized proportionally to my weight and height.

Translation – I don’t have large hands.

The narrower shaft made the bar easier to hold in the front rack position, which makes the Junior Bar easier to use for training cleans and jerks than any of the other 28-28.5mm diameter bars I tested for this article.

I also found the narrower diameter to be good for deadlifting, since I’m able to get a better grip on the bar and hold on to it longer. Bonus!

The sleeves are ribbed, and bumpers slide on and off with a fairly loud zipping noise. The sleeves have decent spin, but not great spin.

Maybe the shorter sleeves impact the number of bushings used, maybe not, but the spin on this bar is not as good as what I saw with the Rogue Bella Bar, or even the Rogue Training Bar.

The bar tends to transfer some inertia to the sleeves during cleans, which makes the weights spin a little at the end of the lift.

Speaking of sleeve length, there’s only 6.68″ of loadable sleeve length on the Junior bar. Although the Junior Bar has a tensile strength strong enough to hold at least 300lbs, you’ll never get there unless you use steel plates.

I was only able to fit 55kg of competition bumpers per sleeve, leaving just enough room for a spring clip. Including the weight of the bar, this adds up to a grand total of 120kg (264lbs) with no room to spare.

Regular all-rubber bumper plates are thicker than competition plates, so the total weight using regular bumper plates would be significantly less.

Bottom line, this is a great bar for entry level lifting, workouts in tight spaces, or as a secondary bar for accessory lifts.

Best use

The Rogue Junior Bar is a surprisingly versatile bar considering how small it is. The 10kg weight makes it an excellent choice for anyone new to weightlifting and the compact size is perfect for working out in tight spaces. The Junior Bar is great for CrossFit-style WoDs and MetCons, occasional Olympic lifts, and also good for pressing lifts like squats, bench press, and overhead press. This bar can also be used for heavy pulls and high-rep sets, as long as you’re okay with using some chalk for adding grip to the light knurling and zinc finish. Buy The Rogue Junior Bar

American Barbell 10KG Performance Training Bar Review

The American Barbell 10KG Performance Training Bar is the second 25mm bar I’ve owned and trained with, after the Rogue Junior Bar.

Rehashing some of my impressions of the Rogue Junior Bar, the Performance Training Bar looks like a toy when placed next to a full size 20kg barbell. However, the Performance Training Bar is also most definitely not a toy.

In fact, the Performance Training Bar is so good it has taken the title from the Fringe Sport Shorty Bar as The Bar With the Best Build Quality™. Everything about this bar feel well made and thoughtfully designed.

Specs 180K tensile strength steel

Diameter: 25MM

Weight: 10kg

Overall length: 66.65”

Loadable sleeve length: 6.175”

Precision welded sleeves

Bushing system

Dual knurl marks w/ no center knurl

Finish: hard chrome shaft and sleeves

Made in USA Measured lengths Bar: 66.75″

Shaft: 51.5″

Loadable sleeve: 6.75″

This bar is very similar in specs to the Rogue Junior Bar, so many of the same things apply and therefore I’m going to indulge in some copypasta…

<copypasta>

The American Barbell 10KG Performance Training Bar is designed from the ground up for the novice lifter rather than try to be a shorter version of a full spec Olympic barbell.

Allow me to elaborate.

First, the shaft diameter. With a 25mm shaft diameter, this is a great bar for people with small-to-medium sized hands. More on this later.

Second, the weight. At 10kg (22lbs), this is one of the lightest bars of the test group. Most of the other rackable short bars I’ve tested so far weighed between 30-35lbs.

This oddball weight totally throws off my plate math, but it’s so light that it makes the bar very accessible for young people and adults that may have limited weight lifting experience.

</copypasta>

The knurling on the Performance Training Bar is by far the best of all the bars in my test group. Even though the finish is hard chrome, the knurl provides plenty of grip with a feel closer to stainless steel than chrome.

I was pleased to see it’s the same knurl pattern as my American Barbell Cerakote Training Bar, which is one of the best barbells I’ve ever tested and one of the few I plan to keep till it falls apart or I depart from this earth, whichever comes first.

I do still occasionally have to use chalk with the Performance Training Bar, but it still offers the best grip out of the entire test group.

I’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating – I initially thought a 25mm diameter barbell would be too narrow for me to use comfortably, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. For context, I’m about 5’8″ tall and 180lbs, and my hands are sized proportionally to my weight and height.

The narrower shaft of the American Barbell 10KG Performance Training Bar makes the bar easier to hold in the front rack position than a full size barbell, which makes the Performance Training Bar easier to use for cleans and jerks than any other bar in the test group aside from the Rogue Junior Bar.

The narrower diameter is also great for deadlifting, since I’m able to get a better grip on the bar and hold on to it longer.

In my opinion, the American Barbell 10KG Performance Training Bar has three features that really set it apart from the rest of the test group. The first is the awesome knurling, which I already mentioned.

The second is the use of recessed welded sleeves. As far as I’m aware, American Barbell is the only company that does this type of precision welding, and this is almost certainly the only rackable shorty bar with recessed welding on the market.

The welds are recessed to avoid interference with plates resting flush against the collar. It might be overkill for a bar aimed at novice lifters, but I like it.

Third, the sleeve spin is the best of all the short barbells I’ve tested. The spin is buttery smooth and consistent, especially considering this bar uses bushings instead of bearings.

The sleeves also spin very quietly, which is unusual for a bushing bar. All the other bars in this test group produce at least some noise due to the friction of the shaft spinning inside the bushing.

Does the quiet matter? Probably not, although I think it does indicate a well constructed collar and sleeve assembly.

What does matter is the Performance Training Bar is a true training bar, meaning it’s possible to train the Olympic lifts with this bar up to the limits of your ability (or to the limits of weight loaded on the shorter sleeves).

Speaking of shorter sleeves, there’s only about 6.75″ of loadable sleeve length on the Performance Training Bar. Even though the bar has a tensile strength strong enough to hold at least 300lbs, you’ll need to use steel plates to get there.

I was only able to fit 60kg of Titan Fitness urethane competition bumpers per sleeve, leaving just enough room for a spring clip. Including the weight of the bar, this adds up to a grand total of 130kg (286.6lbs) with no room to spare.

Black rubber bumper plates are thicker than competition plates, so the total weight using regular bumper plates would be significantly less.

Bottom line, the American Barbell 10KG Performance Training Bar is the best short barbell I’ve tested for Olympic-style lifting, workouts in tight spaces, or as a secondary bar for accessory lifts.

The only thing truly “beginner” about this bar is the 10kg weight. Everything else is on par in quality with the rest of American Barbell’s Performance Training line of bars.

Best use