Barbell questions

W

wannagrow

New Member
Hey guys,

I have finally gotten what I needed for home exercise equipment, that is, a squat rack, barbell and plates.

I keep everything in my garage. Is there a possibility that my barbell will rust over time?

My barbell is, I believe, made from steel and is coated with chromium..

Thanks.

PS. Its a 20 kg olympic bar, 86 inches in length
PSS. I weighed it this morning and it weighed 19.6 kg for some reason.. How did it lose weight??
 
With the chrome coating it should not rust unless the coating is removed (hard contact with rack). Its pretty much unavoidable so it will probably eventually rust. You could oil the bar where the coating comes off but dont let it compromise your grip. Most chrom bars are cheap bars so I wouldnt worry about them. If it becomes useless, just buy another. There are tolerances in machining. The cheaper the bar the bigger the tolerances. Its probably 20kg+/-2kg. You just happen to have a bar that is 19.6kg.
 
Btw, weight the plates too. If there is a big weight difference between the plates try drilling the heavier ones to get them as even as possible and minimize balance problems.
 
Putting a dehumidifier in the garage helps too, but shooting the equipment with light oil and wiping it down keeps it clear. For grip areas, constant use tends to keep things up until you stop. Paint all unprotected surfaces. I have grip tape on my bar (electrician's cloth tape) and that protects that area while adding grip.
 
All of my bars and plates have some rust on them. Its nearly impossible to prevent exposing bare metal on the bar and rack where is hits the rests. Also, dragging the plates on and off inevitably leads to nicks and scratches.

It's just happens...
 
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(wannagrow @ Aug. 03 2008,11:38)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">PSS. I weighed it this morning and it weighed 19.6 kg for some reason.. How did it lose weight??</div>
Over the years I've worked for several health clubs. One of them had me weigh the plates one time. You would not believe how inaccurate the weights are. Dumbbells included. Some of the 45s were 1/2 pound off. That may not sound like much, but when you have one that's 1/2 heavy on one end, and another that is 1/2 pound light on the other...you notice. We used to think it was just left/right discrepancies in strength.
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We just grabbed some masking tape and marked how much each plate weighed. Then you would just try to match them up as best as you could when you loaded the bar.
 
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