Weight Training: The Importance of Keeping Barbells Organized

If you have too much fitness equipment and not enough space in your home gym, you are not alone. It’s an age-old conundrum for most home gym owners.

It doesn’t matter how tidy you keep your gym, sometimes you can’t keep up. And if you don’t properly store your barbells, they will take up too much room on the floor and you risk the chance of getting injured. Furthermore, improper bar storage can cause harm to your beloved barbell, so all things considered, it’s critical to invest in the proper storage equipment.

Horizontal Storage

If you only have one bar, you can leave it unloaded on your rack’s J-hooks and call it a day. You do not require any specific storage solutions. But if you have more than one bar or don’t have enough space to put your bar in your rack, you’ll need to find another alternative. Most people consider horizontal storage to be the best option. The simplest solution to store your barbells would be to purchase barbell racks made of cast iron with a durable, black enamel finish that will protect both your barbell and your floor.

Bushings, bearings, or both can be found inside the sleeves of your barbell. Those anti-friction gadgets allow your bar sleeves to rotate freely. They are also built to withstand large loads in the form of weight plates put onto the bar when it is horizontal. In this manner, they can withstand a tremendous amount of damage.

These same tiny gadgets, on the other hand, are not meant to hold a lot of weight when the bar is in a vertical position. This isn’t what they were made for. Although bushings are more robust than bearings, neither is intended to carry a lot of weight vertically. If too much power is exerted in this direction, bearings can potentially break apart and fail entirely. If a bar is dropped into a vertical bar storage system carelessly, this can easily happen.

There’s also lubrication to consider. The lubricant surrounding your bushings and within your bearings will remain in place if they are kept horizontally. This isn’t always the case if the bar is turned vertically.

In all honesty, the lubrication issue shouldn’t prevent you from vertically storing your bar. To keep dirt out and lubricant in, most bearings are sealed. This is true independent of the storage angle. Because there is so little lubricant in bushings, to begin with, it is unlikely that it will completely come off. In the worst-case scenario, after a long time of storage, you may need to relubricate your sleeves. When the sleeves are stored vertically, the force imparted to them is the true issue. If at all possible, this should be avoided. The perfect place to put your barbell storage would be as close to the walls or next to your stationary bike stand.

Vertical Storage

You barely have enough place to keep your bars in the cramped locations you’ve carved out for your home gym, let alone keeping a 10 unit horizontal barbell rack. As a result, the majority of manufacturers have created vertical storage solutions. This option consists of a group of tubes, typically 9 that is placed on the ground. The ends of your bars are inserted into the tubes and kept upright at a 90-degree angle to the floor.

First and foremost, the tubes are long enough to properly hold your bar without bending it. The tubes on many less priced choices are so short that if you’re not careful, you risk ruining your bar’s sleeve. Second, UHMW plastic inserts are used to sleeve the tubes. This prevents metal-on-metal contact and prevents scratches on your bar sleeves. This functionality isn’t available even from certain well-known fitness manufacturers.

However, no matter which option you select, there are a few things you should never do when keeping our bars. Never put weight on your bar when storing it. If you have a good bar, it should be able to withstand the brief force given to it during a workout. Even the finest bars will bend over time if they are kept with weight on them.

Don’t leave your bar pushed up against a wall or in a corner. Use the vertical storage option that maintains the bar at 90 degrees to the ground if you’re going to store it vertically. The force exerted to the bearings or bushings in the bar sleeve will be minimized with this storage angle. When you lean the bar against anything, the sleeves will be at an angle. Over time, this angle, along with the weight of the bar, might cause damage to your bushings or bearings.

Do not store your bar on the ground. This places your bar in close proximity to any dirt or dust in the room. It also places your bar in the room’s most humid air, which is at floor level. The presence of dirt and dust in the bar sleeves will cause issues. Premature bar corrosion can be caused by high humidity. Both of these issues you can avoid simply by raising your bar off the ground.

Avoid storing your bar on anything that will allow metal on metal contact. Make certain that any horizontal or vertical storage option you select has protective elements in place to prevent any metal on metal contact. Metal on metal contact is the quickest method to scratch the finish of your bar. Scratching the finish is bad for keeping your bar looking great for a long time since the polish on your bar is what keeps it from corroding.

Think of it this way, you invest a significant amount of money in your home gym, and taking good care of it should be on top of your priority list to ensure that your equipment lasts a lifetime. Not only that storing your barbells in the correct spot will keep your gym or garage tidy and clean, but it will also safeguard your barbells from damage and premature wear and tear. Whether you choose vertical or horizontal barbell racks, making sure your equipment is stored properly is the most crucial factor to consider. These basic considerations will assist to guarantee that your favourite piece of home gym equipment lasts as long as you want it to and remains in excellent condition throughout!