Barbells consist of a metal bar with either a fixed or adjustable weighted plate on the ends. They're used during strength training workouts to provide a resistance that will overload your muscle groups while performing movements, and thus stimulate increases in muscle strength and growth. Barbells are available in most fitness gyms and are also available for home purchase.
Using Barbells
Barbells are designed to either be held in both hands or placed on the back of your shoulders. When completing upper body exercises, the barbell will be held in your hands. Be sure that your hands are evenly spaced so that weight distribution is even. When completing lower body exercises, the barbell will be placed on the back of your shoulders so that gravity's pull on the weight goes directly through your torso.
Benefits
Barbells can be used as the element of resistance for nearly any exercise. Unlike when working out on machines, completing strength training exercises with free weight implements like barbells requires an additional element of balance and coordination, which causes surrounding stabilizing muscles to be recruited. Because of this, the improvements in strength from training with barbells transfers better to sport and daily life movements. According to Loren Chiu of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, barbells allow you to work with much heavier loads. In addition, working out with barbells burns about 11.5 calories per minute, the highest rate among weighted implements.
Exercises
There is no problem getting a full-body strength training workout in when using barbells. Lower-body exercises include squats, lunges, calf raises and step-ups, which you can do while placing the barbell on your shoulders. Deadlifts are done with the barbell in front of you. Upper body exercises include chest presses, bent-over rows, shoulder presses, upright rows, bicep curls, lying tricep extensions and overhead tricep extensions.
Considerations
One downfall of working out only with barbells is that your upper body exercises will always consist of both of your arms working together. Because people have a more dominant arm, the more dominant arm will have a tendency to take on more than half of the resistance. Implementing dumbbells into your workouts will require both of your arms to work independently and make your less-dominant arm take on the full resistance itself.
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