Do You Include The Bar Weight When Bench Pressing?

The bench press is an exercise designed to train your chest muscles and is often used as a test of upper body strength. When performing the bench press, the amount of weight you lift is typically calculated by adding up the weight of the bar you are using and the amount of weight you add to the bar with weight plates. Olympic level competition not only includes the weight of the bar and plates but adds the weight of the clamps used to secure the plates to the bar as part of the total amount of weight lifted, according to International Olympic Committee.

Bar Weight

The standard weight of most the common 1-inch barbell is 44 lbs.; however, most people round up to 45 because of the weight of the safety clips. Thicker bars that are greater than 1-inch in diameter can weigh as much as 55 lbs. while barbells with a circumference less than 1 inch can weight as little as 15 lbs. Ez-bars can also be used for the bench press and typically weight 35 lbs.

Bench Pressing

The bench press exercise is set-up so that a barbell rests on a rack just above the base of bench. Place your back flat on the bench so that your head is located under the bar. Reach up with your arms and grab the bar so that your hands are wider than shoulder-width apart. Lift the bar off of the rack and center it over your chest, along the line of your nipples. Bring the bar toward the center of your chest by bending at your elbows. Allow the bar to touch your chest and then push it back up until your arms are straight.

Bar Size and Training

The size of the bar you and how much it weighs can have an important impact on the types of results you can expect from training. Thicker bars require more grip strength than bars that are smaller in diameter, according to research appearing in the February 2007 edition of the "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research." Smaller bars are harder to control and balance and will cause you to utilize more of the stabilizing muscles in your triceps and shoulders.

Tips

When going into a weightlifting competition, you need to research the weight and diameter of the bar that is sanctioned for the competition so that you can train utilizing that specific bar. This will ensure that the adaptations you get from training will be relevant to the competition. You can also weigh your bar to get its precise weight. To do this, weigh yourself on a scale and record the weight. Next, grab the bar you are using and step onto the scale and record the weight. Now subtract how much you weighed with the bar in hand with your weight without the bar in your hand to determine the exact weight of the bar.