I'm just through a few conversations in different places about bars and plates used in IPF/USAPL competitions and those recommended for use in training for IPF/USAPL meets. I was talking on FB with
@Dr. Michael Hartle, head of our barbell program at StrongFirst, and
@Rif, master SFG and former US team powerlifting coach. I also started a thread on the New Jersey chapter FB page of the USAPL, and an email dialogue with a Rogue representative. Here's what I learned:
Bar
Rogue makes an IPF-certified bar, the Ohio Power Bar, link here
Rogue 20KG Ohio Power Bar
The Rogue representative told me they use the more expensive of the two bars, the one in stainless steel, in the competitions they themselves sponsor, so that's what I just ordered for myself. I think we can say with some certainty, however, that if you aren't interested in competing, and for most people, even if you _are_, you can get by with the least expensive version of their Ohio Power Bar, which is 45 lbs.
The bare steel, 45 lb. bar costs $250; the stainless, 20 kg bar costs $450, and there are more expensive versions of the 45 lb. bar and a less expensive version of the 20 kg bar, so I believe you have 5 choices in all.
In the meantime, for yesterday's deadlifts, I used an old Texas Power Bar I have here, which is similar to the Ohio Power Bar and quite different from the Okie DL bar I've been using. The Texas Power Bar is thicker, and it bends less. Note that my Okie DL bar bends with my training weights of ~300 lbs, but the stiffer bars, I was told to me, won't bend until about twice that much weight is on them.
Plates
Apparently 100 lb. and 50 kg. plates used to be used in various federations and still are by some. Because these bigger plates keep the weight closer to the collars, lifts done with heavier plates, all other things being equal, will provide _less_ benefit to the lifter. Therefore it's a recommended option to use thinner plates when possible if you're interested in duplicating meet conditions.
USAPL/IPF has been using thin 25 kg plates of late instead of 50's. One assumes this is because they're easier to manage while still being thin enough not to confer an advantage to the lifter.
Other
I find earlier mentions on our forum of the Ohio Bar not having center knurling - all five versions shown on their web site now seem to have center knurling.
Conclusion
If all this doesn't make sense to you, consider what happens when you deadlift and the bar bends: you are effectively performing a deadlift as if the weights were raised off the floor - it's easier for most people. When the bar bends, you've pulled an inch or two but most of the plates are still on the ground. Therefore, anything that lets the bar bend and/or puts the plates further away from the center makes a deadlift _easier_ for a lifter, and anything that makes the bar stiffer and/or keeps the plates closer to the center makes a deadlift _harder_ for a lifter.
Bar diameter is easier to understand - the thicker the bar, the more challenging it is for the lifter's grip.
People seem to feel that training with a bar that mimics the competition's relative stiff and thick bar is more important than using the competition's thinner plates, so I elected to stick with my current assortment of plates but get the IPF-approved bar.
For my part, I will continue to ask meet directors what DL bar they'll be using, and do the last part of my pre-meet training with whatever bar I have that mostly closely mimics what I'll use in competition. The Okie DL bar is legal, and used, in the WNPF, the APF, and the AAU, based to my personal experience, and is not approved in the USAPL/IPF.
-S-