Olympic Vs Standard Weights: Weight Lifting Equipment For Sale

Posted by James Allen on March 30th, 2017

Are you unsure about which one to go with, Olympic or standard weights? Here is everything you need to know.

Width: At the very first sight you can see the difference as Olympic bars are thicker on the ends. Olympic bars are just short of 2″ diameter on the ends, whereas Standard bars are 1″ in diameter on both the middle shaft and the ends. 

Strength: Standard bars will start flexing pretty severely somewhere over 200 lbs and will likely develop a permanent bend. In contrast, even low-priced Olympic bars can take more than that, and high quality Olympic bars are made to hold up to just about anything. They do flex under load but will return to straight.

Stability: Olympic bars are thicker and heavier on the ends and are much more difficult to tip over due to unbalanced weight when loading heavy plates while the bar is racked. You can easily load a 45lb plate without worrying about it tipping, whereas on a Standard bar, you need to batten down the hatches!  

Absence of Added Torque: Olympic bars have revolving ends, or sleeves, so that there is no added torque while performing certain exercises such as snatches or cleans where the bar needs to rotate quickly. It even helps for movements like squats where your grip will just slightly want to rotate.

Bar Options: There are power lifting bars and weightlifting bars to be geared towards certain exercises with different knurling patterns, different steel, etc.

Plate Options: Bumper plates are solid rubber, all the same diameter, and are made for dropping. Grip plates have built-in handles that make the plates much easier to carry safely. Rubber or urethane encased plates combat paint chipping, noise and rust. Olympic plates have the best variety of these options.

Adaptability:  You can purchase Olympic weight plates adapters in New York at reasonable price from a good store. This is a financial consideration many may want to utilize when putting together their own home gyms.

Grip Plates: Olympic weights can often be purchased grip style with convenient handles built in to the weight. This not only makes the weights easier to move and store, but grip plates can be used for many dumbbell and kettlebell-style exercises.

Tournament Must Have: If you are planning to join the bigger league in the weight lifting field, quit using standard plates and buy Olympic weight lifting equipment for sale at the earliest.