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How Much Does A Barbell Cost?

Muscle Insider

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Along with your squat rack, a barbell will be the centerpiece of your home gym. That means it's crucial to research various barbells to find the best one.
As a part of that research, you not only want quality, but you're going to need one that fits your budget and best suits your lifting-style needs.
To help you with this purchase, we're going to go over just exactly how much a barbell costs so that you can make the best decision for your home gym.
Table Of Contents

What Is A Barbell?
Features That Will Affect Barbell Pricing
How Much Does A Barbell Cost?
Barbell Price By Type
Costs Of Specialty Barbells
How Much Do Weight Plates Cost?
FAQs


What Is A Barbell?
A barbell is generally the primary apparatus used for free weight lifting. It's composed of a solid piece of straight steel used to hold weight plates to adjust a load for weight lifting.
This straight bar will have various forms of knurling to help with grip. Sometimes a bar will have aggressive knurling across the whole bar, while others may have light knurling on small sections.
On both ends, the barbells will be collared. These collars allow you to load weight plates to barbells to adjust the load.
On most barbells, these collars will also spin to prevent the bar from wanting to spin due to inertia built up from the weight plates. This is especially true on Olympic bars and a big factor behind why they're used when Olympic lifting.
Features That Will Affect Barbell Pricing
Barbells are relatively simple pieces of equipment—a piece of metal to hold weights. However, there are actually quite a few different factors that can affect the price range of a barbell. Here's a list of some factors to look out for.
1) Quality And Craftmanship:
Quality simply refers to how well the barbell has been constructed. You could be dealing with a budget bar that may fall apart before a year but only cost $150. On the other hand, you could buy a top-quality barbell with a lifetime warranty that costs over $600.
The good thing is that the quality barbells are generally worth it if you're a serious lifter. We always recommend you buy the best quality barbell you can afford.
2) Material:
This isn't much of an issue anymore, as most barbells are made out of steel now. You might be able to find an iron bar if you really try, but just stick with steel.
3) Finishing:
A bare steel bar is going to be your cheapest option. However, most barbells will come with some sort of finish to help fight off corrosion. The three main options in cheapest to most expensive are:

Zinc
Oxide
Cerakote
Stainless Steel


The price range can be up to $70-$100 when comparing the zinc to stainless steel options.
4) Types:
Different barbells come with different costs based on their purpose, and some require greater quality or craftsmanship. For example, a power bar is built to withstand excessive force over and over.
In comparison, let's say you buy a general lifting bar. While it can still take some abuse, it won't be built for that specific reason. It's important to first figure out what type of barbell to buy and then find one within your category that aligns with your price point.
How Much Does A Barbell Cost?
To answer this question, you must define what you need in a barbell. Price ranges are as follows:

Budget Bar:


Along with your squat rack, a barbell will be the centerpiece of your home gym. That means it's crucial to research various barbells to find the best one.


As a part of that research, you not only want quality, but you're going to need one that fits your budget and best suits your lifting-style needs.


To help you with this purchase, we're going to go over just exactly how much a barbell costs so that you can make the best decision for your home gym.


Table Of Contents


  • What Is A Barbell?
  • Features That Will Affect Barbell Pricing
  • How Much Does A Barbell Cost?
  • Barbell Price By Type
  • Costs Of Specialty Barbells
  • How Much Do Weight Plates Cost?
  • FAQs



What Is A Barbell?
A barbell is generally the primary apparatus used for free weight lifting. It's composed of a solid piece of straight steel used to hold weight plates to adjust a load for weight lifting.


This straight bar will have various forms of knurling to help with grip. Sometimes a bar will have aggressive knurling across the whole bar, while others may have light knurling on small sections.


On both ends, the barbells will be collared. These collars allow you to load weight plates to barbells to adjust the load.


On most barbells, these collars will also spin to prevent the bar from wanting to spin due to inertia built up from the weight plates. This is especially true on Olympic bars and a big factor behind why they're used when Olympic lifting.


Features That Will Affect Barbell Pricing
Barbells are relatively simple pieces of equipment—a piece of metal to hold weights. However, there are actually quite a few different factors that can affect the price range of a barbell. Here's a list of some factors to look out for.


1) Quality And Craftmanship:
Quality simply refers to how well the barbell has been constructed. You could be dealing with a budget bar that may fall apart before a year but only cost $150. On the other hand, you could buy a top-quality barbell with a lifetime warranty that costs over $600.


The good thing is that the quality barbells are generally worth it if you're a serious lifter. We always recommend you buy the best quality barbell you can afford.


2) Material:
This isn't much of an issue anymore, as most barbells are made out of steel now. You might be able to find an iron bar if you really try, but just stick with steel.


3) Finishing:
A bare steel bar is going to be your cheapest option. However, most barbells will come with some sort of finish to help fight off corrosion. The three main options in cheapest to most expensive are:


  • Zinc
  • Oxide
  • Cerakote
  • Stainless Steel

The price range can be up to $70-$100 when comparing the zinc to stainless steel options.


4) Types:
Different barbells come with different costs based on their purpose, and some require greater quality or craftsmanship. For example, a power bar is built to withstand excessive force over and over.


In comparison, let's say you buy a general lifting bar. While it can still take some abuse, it won't be built for that specific reason. It's important to first figure out what type of barbell to buy and then find one within your category that aligns with your price point.


How Much Does A Barbell Cost?
To answer this question, you must define what you need in a barbell. Price ranges are as follows:


 
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