Has anyone purchased / used barbells like this one: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/JMQ-Adjustable-Dumbbell-Set-Weig…
Im going crazy without going to the gym and want to buy a 40kg set.
Curious to see thoughts/ experiences / alternatives.
Barbell recommendations please
RickyPoontang on 14/08/2020 - 09:18
Comments
They're plastic coated bars. Really crap feel.
Also looks like sand filled plastic weights. Really crap.
I agree. These cement filled weight plates don't have a long working life which is why they are cheaper. Unfortunately the price of iron weight plates has skyrocketed since Covid. Second hand prices used to be about $2/kg, now you see them up to $10/kg. So as a short term bandaid for a gym replacement it might be the best you can do.
Such a difficult time to buy workout equipment :-(
Pandemic pricing is a real thing, especially for workout gear. Supply vs Demand, and you know you'll be paying higher than ever prices for these things. But stock availability is also a major issue and probably your first problem. Most retailers are selling out faster than they can stock them.
With regards to barbells, a few things to consider:
- Olympic bar or non-standard. The Olympic bars conform to a standard (length, weight, diameter, etc). Olympic bars need to be pair with Olympic weight plates which also conform to similar standards.
- Budget - you get what you pay for and quality varies greatly. Cheaper ones will be less durable, knurling not as good, lower quality bearings, etc.
- As a package, consider what kind of weight plates you will be using. Bumper plates (which you can drop if you want, more expensive), uncoated iron plates (can rust, but cheaper)
- weight plates are also in short supply and expensive to buy now. Stay away from the really cheap/nasty concrete ones.I did get a couple of things from Rebel Sports recently. Mainly because they had stock. But props to them, I don't think they're really doing any price-jacking during this 2nd lockdown.
Most of us who used to go regularly to gyms would probably be most familiar with olympic barbells / weight plates from the Australian Barbell Company. Not saying they are the best, but they seem to be the most common ones used in aussie gyms. These are commercial grade and generally go for around $400 - $500. That might give you a rough idea of what to expect in terms of cost vs quality.
Getting a kettlebell blew my mind!
Thought they were just some hipster crap, but they DO very nice for the home workout, start at a 16KG
This is if youre a free weight kinda guy
Second this. A kettlebell can give you a great workout and is very versatile. I also started on a 16kg, but it got light pretty quickly for KB Swings. Still very useful for single arm snatches, squats, lunges, presses etc etc.
and my 2 year old toddler loves deadlifting with it :)
I don't have a huge amount of experience with buying weights, but I would not be looking on Ebay or any website. Shipping is usually done by weight so it would be a huge expense to ship. I would just buy some from Kmart (bigw…etc) or if you want better quality look at something like RebelSport.