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Okay For Men To Use The Women's Bar?

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Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,793 ✭✭✭gymfreak


    DylanJM wrote: »
    It is inappropriate/rude if there is a women olympic weightlifter that cannot train because some guy is hogging the only women's bar in the gym because he won't use a regular bar.

    It's as simple as this, women use a 25mm bar in competition and therefore should only use a 25mm bar in training. Men only use a 28mm bar in competition and therefore should only use a 28mm bar in training.

    IMO women's bars should only ever be used for the olympic lifts, variations of the olympic lifts, pulls, squats, push presses and overhead presses. They shouldn't be used for anything else. They should especially not be used for benching, heavy deadlifting or god forbid curling.




    No, they are specifically designed as women's barbells and are made to the spec outlined by the IWF. The IWF rulebook has spec for bboth a women's bar and a men's bar.

    That pretty much sums up everything I was about to say. :)

    Perhaps the point that people are missing here is the fact that it's a weightlifting bar.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,887 ✭✭✭WHIP IT!


    rubadub wrote: »
    It's as rude/inapproiate as a woman using the "mans" bar, i.e. not in the fucking slightest bit.

    You'd swear its changing rooms people are going on about, or like its some legally defined term.

    I would call a man a cunt if he told a woman to move off say a rowing machine with 28mm handles and tell her to use the one with 25mm handles as its the "womans machine".

    If barbells were only designed today I doubt they would term them like this. They have been around ages so the term seems to have stuck to describe the different specs. It would make more sense to term them around their actual specification. In work we have work gloves, size 6, 8,9,10. The size 6 are often referred to as "the womens gloves", simply because they are small and people might not be familiar with sizing, but some women wear larger ones and some men wear the size 6.

    I prefer working with a shorter bar myself, i.e. the plates closer together.

    I would say they have catered to the needs of people with smaller hands, like the OP who said he has small hands. Just like the unisex work glove people did.

    Hang on, Hang on, Hang on, I'm confused..... can I go into the Ladies' changing-rooms now or what??


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,468 ✭✭✭DylanJM


    gymfreak wrote: »
    That pretty much sums up everything I was about to say. :)

    Perhaps the point that people are missing here is the fact that it's a weightlifting bar.

    Yes, I think you're right gymfreak.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,386 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    gymfreak wrote: »
    Perhaps the point that people are missing here is the fact that it's a weightlifting bar.
    I think many are missing the fact that the vast majority of people in gyms around the country who are using barbells are not competing in olympic weightlifting.

    So to them it is primarily seen as a barbell suited to smaller hands. If it proves to be very popular then maybe, just maybe, the gym should consider buying another piece of that particular bit of equipment.

    If the gym is very well recognised as a olympic weightlifting training gym then there is a bit more of an argument. But I would not think it crazy that someone training with competition in mind might prefer training with a different bar than what they will use in competition, be it smaller or bigger. Just like some might train using other devices or techniques etc which may be illegal in actual competition, in any sport.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,563 Mod ✭✭✭✭Amirani


    This "women on average have smaller hands than men" is beyond stupid. I don't see how that is in anyway relevant when a man with small hands or a woman with big hands is choosing a bar to use. People have a tendency to do this and it makes no sense - if you have perfect information on front of you i.e. the size of a person's hands, then why would you rely on some generalised imperfect information?

    Obviously if this is some Olympic weightlifting gym, it's different. If it's just a regular gym though, people should use whatever makes them comfortable. I have smaller hands than my girlfriend, so I'm not sure why that bar would automatically be more appropriate for her.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,390 ✭✭✭Stench Blossoms


    DylanJM wrote: »
    It is inappropriate/rude if there is a women olympic weightlifter that cannot train because some guy is hogging the only women's bar in the gym because he won't use a regular bar.

    What if a powerlifter wants to use the squat rack but there's a body builder in there doing bicep curls?

    First come, first serve.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,793 ✭✭✭gymfreak


    What if a powerlifter wants to use the squat rack but there's a body builder in there doing bicep curls?

    First come, first serve.
    There are plenty of bars in a gym.

    There are less than plenty mens weightlifting bars in a gym.

    And there is certainly far less that plenty female weightlifting bars in a gym.

    It's a weightlifting bar, it's designed for snatches and cleans. A ladies bar is designed so that women can hook grip it. I can not hook grip a mens bar and therefore can't snatch or clean it.

    I'd be very surprised if gyms around the country have a ladies weightlifting bar floating around the floor. I know UL arena has exactly one ladies bar, quite a few mens bar and then a lot of normal bars. I guess I'm pretty lucky that UL are informed enough to lock away all the weightlifting bars, but that they are available on request.
    I have witnessed the staff at UL take the ladies bar away from people who werent using it for snatches/cleans.

    In saying that I have absolutely no problem in sharing the bar with whoever and I'd assume most people would be very reasonable if I asked to train in with them.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,390 ✭✭✭Stench Blossoms


    What if a guy has small hands and needs to use the ladies bar?

    The question asked was "Is it rude/inappropriate for a guy to use the 'women's bar'?" and no I don't think it is. Like everything else in the gym it's just another piece of equipment.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,818 ✭✭✭Inspector Coptoor


    This is going round in circles so I'll try 1 more time and then I'm out.

    If you're not a girl who trains principally for weightlifting you shouldn't be using a women's WL bar.
    It's thicker at 25mm and lighter at 15kg.

    These bars are designed to be used on platforms and with bumper plates.

    These bars should not be in any rack or bench as the knurling can be damaged.

    This type of bar can be used in squat stands for front squat training to complement clean and jerk/snatch training.

    Most cheaper bars in gyms are 32mm power bars, with less bearings in the sleeves meaning they don't spin as well, and are fine for squatting, benching and deadlifting.

    Most people who use a proper "men's" 28mm bar after using a 32mm bar would comment on the difference and would think the women's bar is ridiculously thin.

    This really is a moot point in 90% of gyms in the country as they wouldn't have a ladies bar, not would they spend the money on a proper one OR the bumpers and platforms to go with them.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,386 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    What if a guy has small hands and needs to use the ladies bar?
    Maybe find another pastime, apparently everyone doing olympic lifting is planning to compete under rules. So even though the OP has small hands and is using a bar specifically designed for those small hands he shouldn't use it. Feels more natural to him, has improved his PBs -but should stick to the bigger one.

    Same goes for a woman with no plans to compete with massive hands who finds the female bar "ridiculously thin", -just stick with what feels less natural & limits your enjoyment and capabilities.

    You'd think they could simply just give the choice in competitions. I see some contest rules where U13 year old boys were to specifiy which they prefer. Would most men be at an advantage using a ladies bar? if not then I doubt there would be much objection.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,553 ✭✭✭dylbert


    To be fair I don't think anybody told the op he can't use the bar, we're just to explain how a ladies Olympic bar is a pretty spicific piece of equipment. All female weightlifters use ladies bars and it's not a simple case that they can just use a mans bar instead,


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,588 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    rubadub wrote: »
    I prefer working with a shorter bar myself, i.e. the plates closer together.
    Just on this point.
    The plates aren't closer together. The shaft is the same length (1310mm). The difference in length is made up in the sleeves. (415 vrs 320)
    gymfreak wrote: »
    Perhaps the point that people are missing here is the fact that it's a weightlifting bar.

    I mentioned that was one on my reasons for using. Thoughts?
    Mellor wrote:
    My gym has (older) standard bars, power bars, and ladies oly bars. I use the power bars usually, but I use the ladies Oly bar for cleans, snatches. I do t think there's anything wrong with that.
    Reason being, the power bar isn't an Oly bar. It makes sense to use a dedicated Oly bar if it's there. Plus my hands aren't the biggest, I find it more comfirtable.
    There's more than one if them so can see it being an issue.
    DylanJM wrote: »
    It's as simple as this, women use a 25mm bar in competition and therefore should only use a 25mm bar in training. Men only use a 28mm bar in competition and therefore should only use a 28mm bar in training.
    Yeah obviously. If somebody was training for comp, they should be using the comp bar. Completely agree.
    IMO women's bars should only ever be used for the olympic lifts, variations of the olympic lifts, pulls, squats, push presses and overhead presses. They shouldn't be used for anything else. They should especially not be used for benching, heavy deadlifting or god forbid curling.
    As I said, that's all I use them for is oly lifts. (On a platform, with bumpers)
    I use that bar because it's a dedicated oly bar, with proper bearings. As opposed to the power bars.
    This is in a chain of commerical gyms, not a weightlifting gym. The bars are there for an option for women generally, not weightlifting specifically. In case you are wondering why there are only womens oly bars.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,894 ✭✭✭UCDVet


    I tried to have a look today to see how many of each bar they have, but I had a lot of trouble. I think there might only be one ladies bar in the whole gym. Today, it was a fairly big guy using the only one I saw.

    Anyway, lots of good points, but given that I think there is only ONE in the gym, I'll go out of my way to avoid it (rather than waiting forever to wait for the bar to be available).

    Still, it really did feel a lot nicer for deadlifting. I was able to get a lot more weight on before switching to the 'over-under' grip or whatever they call it (even after accounting for the bar being 10kg lighter). The whole thing felt a lot better. I've noticed a lot (well, a few) guys using chalk and/or straps when they deadlift. I wonder if they'd also find the ladies bar more comfortable.

    Oh well. Thanks for the info everyone.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,553 ✭✭✭dylbert


    UCDVet wrote: »
    I tried to have a look today to see how many of each bar they have, but I had a lot of trouble. I think there might only be one ladies bar in the whole gym. Today, it was a fairly big guy using the only one I saw.

    Anyway, lots of good points, but given that I think there is only ONE in the gym, I'll go out of my way to avoid it (rather than waiting forever to wait for the bar to be available).

    Still, it really did feel a lot nicer for deadlifting. I was able to get a lot more weight on before switching to the 'over-under' grip or whatever they call it (even after accounting for the bar being 10kg lighter). The whole thing felt a lot better. I've noticed a lot (well, a few) guys using chalk and/or straps when they deadlift. I wonder if they'd also find the ladies bar more comfortable.

    Oh well. Thanks for the info everyone.

    A ladies bar is 5kg lighter.

    Just a thought but maybe a ladies bar won't be training your grip as well as a men's bar anyway?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,588 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    dylbert wrote: »
    A ladies bar is 5kg lighter.

    Just a thought but maybe a ladies bar won't be training your grip as well as a men's bar anyway?

    Probably wouldn't be.
    Just based on the fact that fat bars and fat grips are one way to train your grip.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,894 ✭✭✭UCDVet


    dylbert wrote: »
    A ladies bar is 5kg lighter.

    Just a thought but maybe a ladies bar won't be training your grip as well as a men's bar anyway?

    Ahh - sorry. Yes - you are correct. 5kg, not 10!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 16,115 ✭✭✭✭Nervous Wreck


    How come no ones made a dirty joke about women being able to "fit their hands around it"? You call yourselves sexist? Shenanigans.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,802 ✭✭✭✭Alf Veedersane


    How come no ones made a dirty joke about women being able to "fit their hands around it"? You call yourselves sexist? Shenanigans.

    'Cause it's the small bar...


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