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Barbell Bar length for Bent Press

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Ive been considering about getting a barbell for bent presses since thats cheaper for me than buying a heavier ketttlebell.

Options are 160cm (5.3ft) and 180cm (5.9) in length.

So my question is: would 20cm in length make much of a difference when it comes to balancing a barbell with 1 arm overhead??

id prefer the longer bar as it has more room for plates.

cheers
 
Shawn90 said:
So my question is: would 20cm in length make much of a difference when it comes to balancing a barbell with 1 arm overhead??
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It does, at least for me.
When I joined a gym for my PTTP run this year I tried out side and bent pressing with a bar, because the gym doesn't have KBs. They had three different lenghts. I didn't measure them, but just from guessing the smaller ones were probably 200cm and 180cm or 180cm and 160cm. The big one was a standard 220cm.
The shortest one was definitely the easiest to use.

Shawn90 said:
id prefer the longer bar as it has more room for plates.
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Of course I don't know the specifics of the bars you're looking at, but going by my experience with the bars in the gym, even if you use those super big bumper plates you'll at least get 2x 45s and 1x 35 or 25 on either side. Together with the bar that's going to be 25-35lbs you'll still get a total weight of around 280lbs.
Now I don't want to discourage you, but staying realistic, do you see yourself ever bent pressing more than 280lbs?
Hopefully yes :) but then you can still get the thin bumpers (e.g. the colored bumpers Rogue uses at the crossfit games).

Why not a standard 220cm bar? It's going to be a bit harder to use for bent presses, but you could use if for all the other lifts aswell.
Granted you can also deadlift or press a smaller bar, but once you decide to do squats or bench presses in the rack you can't use it anymore, because the smaller bars don't fit into the rack.

Another option would be a loadable dumbbell.
Something like this: Olympic Dumbbell Handle with rotating sleeves - Black Zinc Plated
Used with plates like this: 5kg Fractional Steel Plate chrome
The sleeve lengths are 18cm and the plates are extra thin (1,5cm). You'll get 10 plates (50Kg) on eath side and still have place for a good strong collar (like those 2,5Kg Oly lifting collars).
Together with the dumbbell you'll end up with ~110Kg (242lbs).
You can even get the extra thin 10Kg plates and load up to over 200Kg on the single dumbbell. Any plate that's heavier than 10Kg will have a diameter that's going to interfere with the bent press movement, because they will probably hit your body at some places.
 
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Steve Freides said:
@Shawn90, IMHO, if you're buying your first barbell, get a standard one. A shorter bar for the bent press is nice, too - I own both.

-S-
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Standard is 200cm ?? Also what does imho stand for ? havent figured that one out lol.
I have a curl bar and 80kg if iron to load it with. So I'm looking for a normal straight bar, options are 160. 180, 200 cm, thats 5.3ft, 5.9 ft and....... 6.3 ? Those bars can hold 200kg max. Plenty for me. :)

@Kettlebelephant
my bw is 65kg currently thats like 140lbs. so no 280lbs isnt realistic. id say 1.5x bw is more realistic. 90/100kg . 198/225lbs. If i want to deadlift I need alot more iron so a cheap gym up town would be better then ;)
I like your olympic dumbbell suggestion. Hadn't thought of that. I have 2 normal dumbbells.. for like 12 years, they are my first :)) but no suitable plates to go higher than 20kg on each. I have 4x10kg and 4x5kg plates . they r for olympic bars actually. I used those because they are cheaper than smaller ones of equal weight.

So you guys would actually recommend 200 cm ? My main worry would be balancing the bar. But if the differences in length aren't that huge, and 200cm is do-able ... then oke.

googling olympic dumbbells too :p
 
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From USA PL rule book:

The bar shall be straight, well-knurled/grooved and conform to the following dimensions:

  1. Total overall length not to exceed 2.2m.
  2. Distance between collar faces is not to exceed 1.32m or be less than 1.31m.
  3. Diameter of the bar is not to exceed 29mm or be less than 28mm.
  4. Weight of the bar and collars are to be 25kg.
  5. Diameter of the sleeve not to exceed 52mm or be less than 50mm.
  6. There shall be a diameter machined marking (or the bar taped) so as to measure 81cm between

    marking (or tape).

    -S-

 
I have a 180cm I used for bent pressing (and will use again in the future). I also have a loadable dumbbell, but I don't like it for bent presses since the 10kg plates are to big to comfortably transition from front to back rack positions. It is also not long enough for enough 5kg plates. If you go the dumbbell route tests it for comfort before you purchase it.

I assume short barbell will be more comfortable for bent pressing, but maybe no diverse enough for other lifts. The 180cm works well from bent presses and deadlifts.
 
In my experience, a longer bar is actually EASIER to balance for one-arm presses (my experience is more with side pressing than bent pressing). You just have to find the right balance point to grip. Don't center your hand on the bar. Center a point closer to the base of your pinky finger. When you find the right spot, the bar balances perfectly and you can lift with a loose grip or even an open hand. The long bar also tends to be more stable in the right groove. By contrast a dumbbell is MUCH harder to keep in the groove, and a shorter barbell or kettlebell in the middle.
 
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Shahaf Levin said:
have seen people squat and deadlift them... But those probably never heard of the bent press...

Come to think about it, these were not squats and deadlift in any thinkable standard...
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First gym I joined ( and the last ) didn't have straight bars. Just 3 EZ-curl bars. At some point I self-taught both the deadlift and the squat with these bars (bless youtube) Max weight on those bars are 80kg right. I quit that gym 3.5 years ago. About 1.5 year ago I went to a different gym once with a friend and pulled a 130 kg deadlift once and 122 kg sumo squat for 8 reps at a bodyweight of 60 kg, although at home all i used was my EZ-curl bar & calisthenics.

I don't see the problem ;)

To be fair about 42kg of the squat was strapped around my waist, not loaded on my back :p

I'll definitly go for the 180cm bar. No need for racks ;)
 
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@Steve W. I've been doing a lot of single arm barbell presses, oh presses and armbars lately. I really like them, I'll have to try the center with the pinky thing. Sometimes I get it perfectly centered and sometimes not so much.
 
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