Here's a good question that several people have sent in:
"Which thick bar size should I choose?"
Before I give my answer, let me give you some background. Back home we have two
thick bars which were manufactured by a company that is now out of business.
They are seven feet long and 2" and 3" thick respectively, the thing is that each of
them was made from a solid piece of steel, no welds.
They are knurled and the bar ends are turned down so Olympic plates fit on them
and they are true works of art.
The problem is that they ARE solid, with the 2" thick
bar weighing 92 pounds and the 3" thick bar weighing 107 pounds. The thick
handle combined with the immense weight makes some very good exercises all but
impossible.
Yes, you can do presses (if you can clean the bar to your chest) and you can
definitely do deadlifts (about all you can do with the 3" bar) but what else?
The answer is "not much" which is fine if that's all you want to do with them. I,
however, like to do a variety of thick bar exercises which makes these particular
bars somewhat "problematic" if you see what I mean.
Insofar as choosing the actual diameter of your thick bar, any will do, and even
a small increase in the diameter of the bar will greatly effect ALL lifts you can
do with it. Years ago an old timer told me that many people are making a mistake
in that they should be training with progressively thicker handles in addition to
training with progressively heavier weights.
I whole-heartily agree with that one.
Now, as for our thick bars, they range from 1-3/8ths inch thick all the way up to
a full three inches, but all the while keeping the overall bar weight under 50
pounds.
The rotating sleeves are also a nice touch in case you're doing any dynamic quick
lifts (and it makes a BIG difference) You can find out more info on them right here:
Black Iron Thick Bars
And just to give you something to think about:
"... [John Y] Smith's hands looked like iron claws. Years of one handed deadlifting
with thick handled barbells had so thickened Smith's finger tendons in the palm
of his hand that those same tendons stood out like the webbing on a duck's feet... "
- Mike Brown, Iron Claws Grip Course
Train hard,
John Wood
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A look at the 2-3/4" Black Iron Strength thick bar
One-arm Deadlifts are a great exercise for building grip strength...
... So are one-arm snatches
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