Steel is an alloy made from iron and carbon plus other alloying elements in various amounts to improve its mechanical properties compared to raw iron. Spring steel is usually a higher alloyed steel and has a higher yield strength compared to its counterpart, meaning it will have more elasticity (whip) during the lift. 

Spring Steel is generally not as brittle and has a higher resilience when bending, meaning it'll bend during the lift but go back to its original shape. Our Ultra Bars are made from spring steel, making them ideal for whippy movements such as the Olympic Weight Lifting movements and CrossFit.

Hard chrome: One of the most durable of the finishes. It stays shiny, doesn’t chip, and doesn’t rust except in the most hostile of conditions. Once the bar has had the knurling cut into the shaft, it is then submerged into a bath of deposit chrome. 

Bushing and Bearings affect how much the sleeves spin, which is important when performing Olympic lifts such as the clean and jerk. A smooth spinning sleeve will minimise the torque rotation on your wrists as you perform the lift.

Our barbells use a mix of bushings and bearings depending on the design the barbell. A good quality bushing will be made from bronze, as materials such  brass and steel are a cheaper, less effective material. Our barbells only use bronze bushings, such as The Wolverson Olympic Bar.

Whip is the elastic energy a bar holds when a lift is performed, in other words how much the barbell flexs during the explosive part of a lift. There is no official rating for ‘whip’, some athletes may disagree with how whippy a bar is! Whip only comes into play during heavier lifts, as it can take a heavy load for the bar to whip.

A bar with high whip will bend during the lift and then return to a straight position, bringing the weight with it. This can help the lifter with heavier weight, as the whip can assist with the movement of the weight.

A skilled lifter will use the whip of the bar to their advantage, helping propel the weight upwards. A whippy bar is ideal for Olympic lifting and CrossFit and is less desirable for powerlifting, as the whip of the bar can become more unstable during static lifts. For example, if you are performing a heavy squat, you would ideally not want a whippy bar as this could have a negative affect on your balance during the lift.

Knurling is the crosshatch pattern on the shaft of the barbell, which is designed to increase the friction between your hands and the barbell, improving your grip. There are different types of grip with different depths, the deeper the knurling, the more aggressive it will be, thus giving you better grip on the bar. If you use an aggressive knurled bar frequently, it can be rough on your hands.

To help you decide, we've rated our barbells with 3 different types of knurling; passive, medium and aggressive. Passive and Medium knurling's are ideal for high repetition movements and won't tear your hands up! Our aggressive knurling is useful when performing heavy, static movements such as the deadlift, this knurling is featured on our Power Bar.

The standard sleeve length for a 7ft, 20kg Olympic barbell is 16” (406mm), but we do sell compact barbells with a shorter sleeve, such as the Compact Bar with a 30cm loadable sleeve. The shorter the sleeve, the less weight plates you will be able to load onto the bar, you must also take into consideration the collars that will be required on the end of the sleeve.

As a rule of thumb, a men’s barbell weights 20kg and has a bar shaft diameter of between 27-29mm and is 7ft 2" (2.2m) in length. A Women’s barbell usually weighs 15kg, has a bar shaft diameter of 25mm and is 6 ft 5” (2m) in length. A youth barbell weighs 10kg, has a bar shaft diameter of 25mm and ranges between 60-67” in length (this size reduction is off the sleeves).

There are 2 types of the marking on barbells, these are the power lifting and Olympic lifting rings. The inner ring is for power lifting, these rings are 81cm apart from each other, the outer ring are for Olympic lifts and these are 91cm apart.

The majority of our bars, including the Ultra, Wolverson  and Infinity bars have dual markings on them. These bars will allow you to perform both the explosive Olympic lifts and the slower powerlifting lifts all on the same bar, making them ideal for CrossFit and garage gym settings.

A centre knurling is used for additional grip when performing squats, the knurling will help grip your upper back and help the bar become secure. Multi-purpose bars such as the Wolverson Olympic Bar does not have a central knurling, but the Power Bar does have one. 

Training bars are typically lighter than standard barbells and have a smaller diameter, making them easier to grip and control. This can be especially helpful for children or those who are new to weightlifting. Training bars are also great for practicing technique and building confidence before moving on to heavier weights.

Technique bars are similar to training bars but are designed to help with specific exercises, such as the snatch or clean and jerk. These bars often have different grip positions or markings to help with proper hand placement and technique.