Thread: Buyin a Bench for home

The bars are going to be the same thickness unless you move to another type of bar, a normal 7 foot Olympic bar is going to be 44/45 pounds just like the one you showed. 500 pounds is the standard, they will hold more but you may damage the bar. I've had 600 on one and it bounces around quite a bit.

Why does it say max 300lbs for a squat? Plenty of people in my gym use those standard bars for 315-500lbs squating.

Maybe because of the bounce issue, who knows.

Originally Posted by Seanp156

Why does it say max 300lbs for a squat? Plenty of people in my gym use those standard bars for 315-500lbs squating.

I think the bounce issue would be one reason also. The other being that the bar is carrying the weight from the center of the bar when doing squats. In a bench press or dead lift application, the bar would be supported farther away from the center of the bar. Less stress on the bar, less chance of bending the bar IMHO.

I didn't even think of that, excellent point.

Yeah, I thought of that... I wonder if it's safe to use those standard bars for that much weight when squating...