Many people have problems in bicep curl workout with a straight barbell. As to many it feels as if the straight bar sends shooting pains up the forearms during the curl.

Fitness gurus think this is since the wrists are forced to remain rigid. As a result this fatigues the forearms before the biceps have had enough the workout.

Many fitness gurus feel that by using the curl bar, you are preventing yourself from exhausting the biceps and giving them an adequate workout. A curl bar (or an easy curl bar, as they’re also called) is a good addition to bicep exercises then the forearm weakness doesn’t occur and you are able to do the bicep workout to the maximum.

So always choose curl bars to do bicep workout.

Well you can try the straight bar first but you will surely realize that it is uncomfortable substitute to the curl bar. Either way, you’re getting the same bicep workout, comfortable or uncomfortable. You can find curl bars which are 47-inches in length. Just remember that if you buy an Olympic curl bar it will only fit Olympic plates and vise-versa with the standard bar.

As I mentioned, in order to isolate your biceps workout it’s very important to keep your elbows fixed at your side throughout the exercise with curl bars.

If your elbows flare out or if you have to move your body forward or backward to get the curl bar up, change to a lower weight. As with any weight lifting exercise, it’s important to use proper form to isolate the proper muscle. Since the biceps are a smaller muscle, you should start the workout light and increase the weight after you’ve nailed your form down.

Muscle clamps are specifically designed to fit Olympic bars which mean they’re made to slip over the 2-inch diameter bar. Muscle clamps are made from high-impact nylon so they can retain the weights without causing any breakage. You can use muscle clamps by simply load your weight plates onto the bar and slip a Muscle Clamp on either end. Push the clamp’s tab down to lock the plates in place. This way they won’t become lose or fall off the bar during your weight lifting.

Muscle clamps perform the same purpose as do screw-on standard weight collars and spring-loaded weight collars.

However, they’re nylon design offers the following extra features like:

• The non-slip rubber gripping walls won’t slip the Olympic bar as some screw-on collars have been known to do.
• Muscle clamps are swift to take on and off for rapid weight change like spring collars.
• They aren’t heavy or cumbersome so lifters are more prone to use them.
• The nylon design can easily withstand a rough gym environment.
• Finally, muscle clamps are nylon all through so their inner lining will shield your bar from becoming scratched and dented.

Please always remember that safety comes first in your home gym, just as it does in your local gym. Using the proper safety precautions is probably more important if you workout in your home. The proper way to use muscle clamps is by fitting your barbell with weight collars might take a few seconds, but it can save you from suffering a serious injury that will put an end to your weight lifting.

Olympic bar is a metal bar that is 7.22 ft long and weighs 20 kg. The outer ends of the Olympic bar are 50 mm in diameter, while the grip section is 28 mm. The Olympic bars have grip marks spaced 910 mm apart to allow spontaneous grip width measurement. It is the standard used in competitive weightlifting where men and women compete at the highest level games like the Commonwealth Games, Pan-American Games, World Championships, and also the Olympics. The total weight of the Olympic bar varies based on the type and number of plates loaded onto the ends the bar and the lift being performed and can be as much as 450 kg depending on the fitness of the person.

In addition to regular Olympic bars, power lifting often requires use of sturdier bars to better accommodate the heavier weights being used in sports. These bars can be longer so it can allow loading of more plates and thicker to deform less under load.

Furthermore, power lifting bars have their grip marks spaced closer, at 810 mm. This closer spacing is used to make sure of the legal grip width in the bench press. The International Power lifting federation does not, though, permit the use of longer or thicker bars.

An Olympic barbell is highly long-lasting. It can hold disc plates weighing as much as 800 pounds. Olympic Bars are commonly used in gyms and professional training.

Its outer portions are two inches thick. The steel bar is typically seven feet long and weighs 45 pounds. Smaller Olympic Bars are about four to six feet long.

The trap bar keeps the legs strong crucial to the squat without aggravating the old lower back injury. As a result, the so-called shrug bar was designed to suit the same purpose with a slightly different shape and to prevent injury.

The shrug bar has space on its side, and space is what you need between your upper thighs and bar when training for squats and dead lifts. So if you’re a 6-footer or taller, you won’t have to trick the bar around your knees like you would with a straight bar. This means that you’re able to concentrate on what’s important to your form and progress.

Aside from dead lifts, the shrug bar can be used to perform the exercise it was named for shrugs, which aims at the entire middle back and upper traps. A shrug bar can also be used to carry out bench presses, military presses, lunges and squats.

To perform the lift it following is the way to go about it:

Start in squatting position, standing upright with feet shoulder-width apart and place the shrug bar on your traps.
Inhale and shrug your shoulders as high as possible imagine shrugging to your ears.
Pause for a moment then lower your shoulders, exhaling as you do.

If you want to build mass in your upper back and traps this is a perfect way to do it. And with time you will realize that performing shrugs has lessoned the need for a barbell pad when you position the bar on the traps for performing squats.

In general you have two types to choose from a screw-on style collar that operates like a big nut and washer combination, or a spring-loaded collar. Now, when it comes to weight collars usually people’s peace of mind comes in the form of the self-locking spring-loaded kind. These spring collars are held in place by springs that lock the plates tightly in place and are only released when you do it manually.

Spring collars are also the most suitable and inexpensive way to secure weight plates on a bar. All you do is load your plates on the bar, squeeze the handgrips, slide them onto the bar end and let go them into locked position. Spring collars are also just as simple to remove. You just squeeze the handles together and slide the collar off to take away or change your plates. Heavy-duty steel spring collars with rubber grips are usually sold in pairs, but be aware that different sizes may be needed for Olympic bars versus standard weight bars.

A few derelict weightlifters at the gym ignore the rules and lifting without using weight collars at all. This could be very dangerous for a person. You could imagine how cool you’d feel if your weight plates slid off your bar and fell on your foot, or even worse injured another member of the gym or destroyed the gym’s equipment. So always lock down your plates with collars is very important and close to the top of every gym’s membership rules.

A standard bar and complete set of plates works the same as a complete set of dumbbells, but rather then shifting to an entire new set of dumbbells when you want to change weights, you simply change the plates on either end of the same bar and lock them in place with weight collars or clamp.

If you have little money to indulge with, you can still put together a decent set-up with a standard bar and a variety of weight plates. From there you can add more plates, a bench or an extra barbell when you have the money.

Really, the only reason you’d need more than one standard bar is if adding or removing plates can help your workout. More than one standard bar would also permit you to load plates for 2 exercises, giving your muscles a break from continuously changing the plates.

If you read fitness magazines then you’ve probably heard some disagreements when it comes to standard bars versus Olympic bars. The main distinction between these two types of bars lies in the diameter of their holes. For example, standard plates have 1-inch holes and use slightly smaller plates; while Olympic plates have 2-inch holes and use somewhat larger plates. Also the weight increments for standard plates are slightly dissimilar from Olympic weights.

According to fitness gurus with a standard bar and plates your workout is compelete, but if you’re into serious weight lifting or power lifting competitions you may want to splurge for the Olympic set.

Weight collars are just as significant in your home gym as they are at commercial gyms, but first, you need to know what kind of weight-holding collar you want. Most typical weight collars just screw on similar to a big nut and washer. However, the better quality ones offer a self-locking device that’s held in place by springs that lock the plate’s tightly in place and only release them when you do it physically.

Weight collars are available in heavy-duty steel and aluminum designs. If you’re buying collars online just be aware that some of the clamp or screw-on collars are Olympic bars and standard bars precise.
You should expect the following essentials from the weight collars:

• A collar should reduce risk of injury caused by a plate sliding.
• A weight collar should scratch your bar as little as possible.
• A collar should come on and off easily in order to change your weights quickly.
• Weight collars should never be bulky or else lifters won’t use them.
• Weight collars should be durable enough to withstand the abuse of weight lifting.

Although a combo bar might be another attempt to design a curl bar under a different name, but it sure offers a more comfortable alternative to performing traditional bicep/triceps curls, dead lifts, squats, bench and shoulder presses with a straight barbell.

After using a combo bar you’ll notice an absence of any stress placed on my lower back. Also, combo bars offer more than one grip option so you can isolate the bicep or triceps muscles in particular.

Typically people use a combo bar when they are performing bicep/triceps exercises on a preacher curl bench. If you can’t image what a preacher curl bench looks like, then picture sitting behind a reverse podium or a reverse music stand. The preacher curl bench has an angled pad that you to place the backs of your arm firmly against, while your chest presses flat touching the other side.

The pad supports your triceps, but also stops you from swinging your arms, separating your bicep muscles completely from any supporting muscles that would make the exercise easier on them. Fitness gurus recommend a combo bar or an easy curl bar for performing any isolating bicep exercise. People tend to experience sharp pains in wrists and forearms when performing these with a straight bar, hence fitness gurus can tell you from experience that whenever they have used a combo or curl bar it takes the pressure off and doesn’t get in the way of them working their biceps to the full potential.