Epic FAIL


If your barbell EVER looks like this, you FAIL. Learn how to load the bar. Learn how to take care of the equipment in your gym. Get some Hitechplates (the most excellent gray and white plates on the squat racks behind the bar) if you need to train with < 95 lbs from the floor.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Tracy,

Can you explain exactly how this bar was loaded incorrectly? It looks like the collars aren't snug enough against the weights or is this just crappy training plates that warp (or both)?

Alex
12:16 AM
Tracy Fober said…
Yes, Alex, these plates are not optimal for lifting from the ground. Here's what I wrote to another person on Facebook:

If you are going to repeatedly lift < 40 kg from the ground, you should use good 5 kg and 2.5 kg training plates (Hitechplates, Eleiko, Werksan) that hug the collars of the bar and support the weight of the bar when it is on the ground. Good training plates allow the bar to sit evenly on the ground for lift off. The rubber 10 lb plates/plastic 5 lb plates are not structurally sound enough to support the weight of the bar. This is is especially true of the weight is going to be repeatedly dropped or left overnight on the bar. This will eventually destroy the skinny 10 lb/5 lb plates.

Other than that, proper loading of the bar means the heaviest bumper/iron plates are always loaded first, then the lighter iron plates are added in sequential order, with the number side facing out. Weight should always be stripped from the barbell after use.
4:49 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A System of the Absurd

Charge for wellness checkup blood tests @ St. Lukes Hospital: $1142.20. Amount written off by hospital as negotiated by Anthem BC/BS: $967.20. The insurance company pays NOTHING for this service. Amount patient required to pay: $175 Does any of this make sense? Does $1142.20 represent the true cost of doing the testing for the hospital? What if I had requested to pay cash for the whole thing? Same charge? BTW, my mom's hospital bill (Des Peres Hospital) for her same-day surgery (rotator cuff repair)--ready--$33,000. Not sure what her insurance is going to cover yet, but she was at the hospital from 8 am to 5 pm, and in actual surgery less than 2 hours. Never admitted to a room, just in and out burger style. The surgeon had 8 similar surgeries on the schedule that day. Bonus!
Read more

Form and Function

Image
Way back in 2002, I scanned these images by Howard Schatz from Sports Illustrated (October 14, 2002). A fascinating array of elite female athlete physiques, heights and weights, eh? These are some of the women featured in his book Athlete --a very cool pictorial essay that celebrates athletic form and function.
Read more

It's About Preparing People, not Preventing Injuries

ACL injuries do not happen in a void. People sustain injuries when their infrastructure is unable to manage a specific set of physical circumstances. To describe the mechanism of the injury without the context of the person and their level/type of sport, is to miss valuable insight. In sport, we prepare the person, to the best of our understanding, to meet the physical demands of that sport. We do not just work to prevent one particular injury; we prepare athletes to navigate the total sport physical environment. By "we" I mean the coaching and support staff -- specifically the athletic development staff.  Athletic development (AD) coaches prepare athletes through the development of physical literacy and movement competencies via movement progressions. It is more than strength, power, agility; it is the acquisition of knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviors to manage themselves within the entire sporting environment. At the higher levels of sport, AD coaches coordinate wit
Read more