Strength Training with Only One Barbell
Oct 15th, 2007 by Mehdi Tags: Exercise, Home Gym, Strength Training, Weight Lifting
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I bought my home gym in 2004. Three months passed between the time I received my barbell, plates & dumbbells and when I got my power rack.
I didn’t want to train in a commercial gym anymore, so I decided to train at home with what I had. Without a power rack & bench. Strength training with only one barbell.
Who is This For? Examples in which strength training with one barbell is better:
- Your gym has no Squat Rack or Bench.
- Your gym has only smith machines.
- You want a home gym but you’re low on budget.
- You want a home gym but you lack space.
Squats. Without a power rack, the problem is getting the bar on your back, front shoulders or overhead; depending on the squat variation. Some solutions:
- Back Squat. Get the weight on your back using the Steinborn Lift.
- Front Squat. Power Clean the weight onto your shoulders & squat.
- Overhead Squat. Snatch or Clean & Press the weight overhead.
Back Squats allow you to lift the heaviest weights. Front Squats are the best replacement for Back Squats. And Overhead Squats are a full body exercise which will get you strong abs & healthy shoulders.
I prefer the Power Clean + Front Squat. You’ll never stress your legs maximally this way, because the Power Clean is the limiting factor. However squatting at a lower intensity is better than no squatting. And you still have Deadlifts.
Deadlift & Barbell Rows. You don’t need a power rack for Deadlifts, Bent-Over Barbell Rows & Pendlay Rows. Deadlifts allow you to stress your body with heavy weights. Barbell Rows will work your back hard in absence of Pull-ups.
Overhead Press. My power rack is not big enough to Overhead Press inside it. It also doesn’t have external safety pins. So I Power Clean the weight on every set onto my shoulders & press from there.
Overhead strength is the limiting factor unless you lack technique on the Power Clean. You’ll lose strength cleaning the weight although I’ve been doing this for so long it feels weird pressing overhead without cleaning the weight first.
Floor Press. The Floor Press is a great alternative to the Bench Press when you don’t have a Power Rack & Bench. Floor Press work your triceps more: you’re only doing the top part of the movement.
Variations. You can do the Beginner Strength Training Program I & II using only one barbell. But there are plenty of other exercises you can do. Examples:
- Zercher Squats, Jefferson Squats, Hack Squats, etc
- Halting Deadlift, Romanian Deadlifts, etc
- Close Grip Floor Press, Push Press, etc
- Lunges & Step-ups.
- Unilateral movements using one barbell
As a beginner, one barbell will help you build muscle & strength. Once you get more experienced, a Power Rack is the first investment you should make.
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hi,
what if its an ez-bar instead of a normal barbell? i suppose most of the exercises will be affected due to grip position?
thanks! awesome site btw
nosmirk,
You can get a very good 1500lb.-rated olympic barbell for less than $200 new. You can get a still fairly decent quality but lower weight rated olympic barbell new for probably about 2/3rds that. You can find them used at a garage sale or on e-bay for even a fraction of that. If you have the room get a barbell and forget about the ez-bar. I can’t imagine trying to learn some of these lifts with one given the bar angles. If you have weights for the e-z bar, they are probably standard size (1″ diameter inner hole) rather than olympic (2″ inner hole), so you’d have to look for a standard barbell instead of an olympic barbell. They are usually shorter, as well, if space is a consideration. Standard barbells are also likely much cheaper, and although the quality will be lower, this shouldn’t be an issue until you are lifting very heavy.
Dissapointingly short article, but a good topic.
DaveM has given you a perfect answer below. Point of the article is that you can do a lot with only one quality olympic barbell & plates. Minimum investment. You can’t squat with an ez bar, so best is to invest in an olympic barbell.
I write with the goal of conveying ideas, never with the goal to get a minimal amount of words. Using 1000 words to say someting that only needs 100 words, is wasting your time Flying Fox.
I don’t care about the amount of words, I don’t even care if you use full sentences.
Its just too short, I’m sure there’s a lot more to say about training with only a barbell.
Feel free to add your insight Flying Fox. I encourage it. That’s what comments are for.
A few examples:
-you say something about zercher squats, jefferson squats, hack squats,… . How about explaining something about them and how to do them without a rack. For example, how should you get the bar in position doing zerchers?
-how about some more exercises. Someone who comes to this site looking for ways to train with only one barbell, will want to find many exercises. Side press, deadlift variations, muscle snatches, static holds, plate loaded lateral raises,… .
And before you say something like “we’ll save that for another article” (wich you say a lot), all these short little articles only make the site more complicated. You don’t have to write entire books, just try to be a little complete.
I’m going to have to disagree with Flying Fox. The number one rule of web writing is to keep it short and to the point. If you start putting in extra information, your article loses its direction and you end up with a 4-page post that nobody reads. As it is, if somebody is interested in the topic, they can easily find supplemental information (a more complete list of exercises, how-to instructions, etc.) on other posts about those specific items.
Just my two cents. Keep up the good work, Mehdi.
Amazing! I was just wondering about this haha. I’ve been using a machine someone gave to me which has cables and weights and has various things I do like presses, flies (Or whatever they’re called), leg extensions, and pull downs. I’m getting bored of this though and I decided I should invest in some type of free weights, preferably a barbell. The only problem is that I don’t have enough money to spend in a whole set plus bench, definitely in the future I will get a bench though. I’m wondering what I can get for at most $60, and if there are any recommendations. I don’t think I need an olympic set or whatever of 1500 lbs. since I’m a beginner, I just want to invest in something good for the price that I can later build upon (Ex. Buy more weights/plates/whatever they’re called in the future if I need any). Thanks!
$60 won’t get you pretty much anything more then dumbells. Save up for it. It’s an investment that’ll last you your whole lifting life.
I wouldn’t do a clean-power clean with a cheap “standard” barbel…you should do it with a quality Olympic bar.
I think it’s fine.
You are letting clear that you can train with just one barbell and plates…most of the people don’t even imagine they can even perform really good trainings lifting stones, chains…they think they need a static bike to warm up, then a stupid machine to get “blood in the muscle”…
Of course, you could say you can perform hammer curls with an Olympic plate…but…that’s bullshit. That’s something “extra”…there are 1.000 stupid exercises…and there are around 12 REAL exercises…Rows, Squats, Deadlifts, Press (bench-overhead), Cleans (powercleans). If Mehdi starts saying 1.012 exercises, nobody would read this, it would be a 5h&t…I like the style of this web. Its simple, easy to understand, quick and to the point.
If you want lots of exercises check ExRx…
60 bucks ain’t gonna do the job.
Try to get at least a 700 Lbs tested OLYMPIC barbell. Why?
Cause Olympic barbells are safest for explosive lifts, and even for normal lifts. That’s thinking in future…at least you are a total newbie and you may quit in 1 year…
Plates? Get 2×20KG (44-45 Lbs) rubber plate, a bumper…so, you can just trow it and it ain’t gonna break something, or brake itself…lol
Now, you have 20KGx2= 40 KG+20KG barbell = 60 KG (around 130 Lbs). Then get some 10 KG (20-22 Lbs) plates, maybe another rubber ones would be better. Then a 5, 2.5, 1.25 and 0.5 KG metal plates.
Another think you can do if you don’t wanna spend in bumpers is to get a pair of used rims and tires, just a little bigger than 20 KG plates, make it fit with the bar, and there you go! bumpers for less money.
BTW, i have a real trouble…ain’t got space, and if I train here, the neighborhoods will call me to stop the noise…lol…so, I’m screwed until i live in a house…
Alright thanks man! I guess I’ll save up then, about how much should I save up for? You got a rough estimate?
You can get a 1,000 pound rated olympic bar new for around $100. Maybe not top quality, but for about $50 you can get a slightly better & heavier rated bar. Again, you may be able to find a good used bar for less, but you may not know what exactly you are getting that way. I think my 1,500# rated Texas power bar cost closer to $200 w/ shipping.
Also, remember that when you see a weight rating for a bar, that is a static measurement. It means you can put the bar on a stable support and load it with that much weight. So, while you may be thinking, I’ll never get close to 1,000 or 1,200 or 1,500 pounds on a bar, when we lift we are putting dynamic not static stress on the bar. In other words, when you actually use the bar as intended, its weight capacity is less than stated. How much less is a question I don’t have the answer to, but it isn’t that much more in the scheme of things to move up a step in quality.
Ok I understand. Goal of the article was to make readers understand you can do the beginner strength training program without power rack/bench. This is a hot topic: lots of questions on the forum/comments/email. Didn’t add additional exercise technique is too much info for this article.
Listen to Vassili & daveM, Jorge. Invest in a quality bar. You only buy this once, it’s an investment. Better results & safer.
If you wanna save money, you should really take a look to used/damaged tires and used plates. But I think you shouldn’t try to save money with a cheap bar…It’s like a car…would you save money buying a cheap engine or a cheap paint?
Cool tips, Mehdi! I plan to one day have my own home gym and I will start out with a BB first. I have found myself many times annoyed by the gy atmosphere. I would train at home with handstand pushups or weighted chins and dips at the local playground for months to take a break from the gym.