olympic barbell

HI

this is a rather silly question but im rather confused.

im in stage1 & i was wanted to ask is the olympic barbell and the barbell used for the squats the same thing?

Hey there!

Well if you are squatting 45 pounds, you can use the barbell. I do.

An Olympic barbell weighs 45 pounds. When I started stage one I squatted 20 then 30, then 40 and finished with an empty barbell. The other barbells were the ones in the gym already "pre-made". (at my gym they are usually on the squat rack)

So I'm up to squatting now with an Olympic barbell. If I started with that, I probably still wouldn't be walking. After squatting for 15 reps, 2 sets of 20 pounds the first time I couldn't walk for 2 days. No lie.

What are you squatting now?

hey again!

im squatting at 20! bouy it kills i can barely move!!!

well done to you for going on till 45!! thats really good! u must  be well pleased!!!

when u do the deadlift what weights do u do?im still on 10 which is not impressive. fingers crossed ill be able to up it up.

Enjoy ur rest cos stage 2 gets harder...u deserve it :)

I work out at home, and I don't have an olympic barbell.  I have a "standard" barbell that weighs about 15 pounds (and is rated up to 200 lbs -- I don't think I'll be outgrowing it anytime soon). 

I use it for squatting and I'm up to 65 lbs.  But I only do front squats -- no squat rack. 

As for deadlfts I am up to 120 lbs. 

I would be very surprised if you can squat more than you can deadlift.   Are you sure you're doing them right?  Just curious because generally people can deadlift a lot more than they squat. 

ya i use a regular bar for my squats. i think mine is 20lbs. its long to fit my sqat rack (i work out at home too)

i squat 65lbs as well and deadlift 100lbs

Original Post by ricecake84:

hey again!

im squatting at 20! bouy it kills i can barely move!!!

well done to you for going on till 45!! thats really good! u must  be well pleased!!!

when u do the deadlift what weights do u do?im still on 10 which is not impressive. fingers crossed ill be able to up it up.

Enjoy ur rest cos stage 2 gets harder...u deserve it :)

 I started just deadlifting the barbell (45 pounds). I finished at 75 pounds. (stage 1) I took it slow and I constantly have to remind myself to lift with my legs only. (I have a very bad lower back) So, even though I feel I can lift more, I am taking it in 10 pound increments.

My goal is to deadlift my body weight. I am half way there now. Well, maybe if I get to my goal, I'm a little more than half way there.

10 pounds with the barbell is 55 pounds. Is that what you mean?

I am done with nrolfw and moved on to nrol.  I am squatting 100 and deadlifting 115.  I started with the olympic bar and just 2.5 weights at each side which was 50 pounds all together.  Keep at it, you WILL get stronger!

wow yogagal & chelslaw thats awesome! keep up the great work and hope u are getting the results you want and deserve!

thanks igloogal for ur quick reply...i knew i could count onyou :)

all these numbers are confusing me!

so lets get to the basic (yeeah i know,,,,the joy of being a newbie :P)... for the squats and deadliftss, we are using two different types of barbells. the standard barbell for squats which i googled and i believe weighs 10kg right?

then there's the olympic barbell for deadlifts that weights 45lbs right?

and finally when  you add different weights on the standard one, do u count the original weight (10kg) into your workout + the weights u add?

imusing the normal barbell for both squats and deadlifts,,,but it is weird that i can squat more than deadlift? hmm maybe on monday ill increase the weight.

sorry for all these ever too many questions!! and thanks in adavance to any one who can deconfuse my brain! haha

ricecake - You use the same barbell for both deads and squats - whatever one you have access to.  There are different types of barbells.  The olympic one is a standard size.  It is 45 pounds by itself & it has wider posts where the weights fit on.  The matching weights have a larger hole in the middle than weights that fit a non-olympic barbell.  The non-olympic barbells can vary in weight.  You should try to find out which kind you have by googling pics.

& Yes, count the weight of the barbell and the weights attached.

As far as squatting more than deadlifting - it is usually the other way around.  People usually can deadlift more.... but I am sure that is not always the case.  Try to add some weight to your deads and see how it goes.  I know when I first started out, I kept adding weight with every workout, even if it was just 2.5 on each side (5 total).  Remember to always keep good form!

Hey rice cake, have you figured out the barbell dilemma yet? I know it's so confusing!

If you are squatting 45lbs or more, yeah use the Olympic bar. I couldn't at first because I was a weakling. LOL~ so, good for you . . . keep it up!!

hey igloogal!

thanks alot for ur replies....together with yogagirl's input i think its making sense now!

didnt manage to go to the gym today because i had such a horrible migraine, i had to sleep. so ill be doing it tomorrow.

thanks again guys!

have a nice evening!xxx

Original Post by karozel:

I would be very surprised if you can squat more than you can deadlift.   Are you sure you're doing them right?  Just curious because generally people can deadlift a lot more than they squat. 

Really?  I can squat a LOT more than I can deadlift, I think because I've been doing squats and leg presses for a long time but am new to deadlifts.  For 15 reps I can squat 95lbs, but I can only deadlift 50lbs for 15 reps.

apophenia, I don't think that "experience" matters that much. Are you sure you're doing deadlifts right? Pushing with the legs, not the lower back. What's your limiting factor? Mine has always been the grip, I remember the time when I couldn't hold on to 95 lbs, now I deadlift 125-135 (and squat 105-110)). Do you let the bar down all the way between reps? That second or two helps relieve the tension in the arms/hands.

Maha, I'm not sure what the limiting factor is, though I'd guess it's probably grip-related.  And I touch the bar to the floor, but don't rest it there between reps, so that may be a factor, too. 

Also, I'm using the gym's pre-weighted barbells, which I have to haul off a rack, for deadlifts.  If I can't pull a barbell off the rack because it's too heavy for me to lift & then carry to a spot where I can do deadlifts, then I figure I'm not going to be able to deadlift it either, so that's one reason I've been using the 50lb barbell.

Thanks for the ideas, though--I'll pay more attention to what I'm doing when I do deadlifts again on Friday, and see if I can figure it out.  I had just never heard that you should be able to deadlift more than you can squat before.

Wait, when you're pulling it off the rack, you're probably lifting it with your shoulders. When deadlifting, you lift with your legs. There's a HUGE difference.

Just a comment from real life. We moved 2 weeks ago and unloaded the truck all by ourselves (my husband and I). So the two of us dragged our massive king sized mattress from the truck, through the main level, onto the spiral stairs and into the master bedroom. I don't know how much it weighs, but it's A LOT. We crisscrossed it with cable rope to make it possible to get a grip. So I noticed that I had to grip the rope as low to the ground as possible and deadlift. If I gripped the rope around knee level, I could NOT lift my end of the mattress. Placing my arms 10 inches lower made a huge difference in what muscles got involved in the lift. So my point is, if the bar on the rack is higher than it would be on the floor, than your not being able to lift it off the rack is not an indicator of your deadlift strength.

Hey!  I managed to find an oly bar that wasn't caged up and put some weights on that for my deadlifts this time.  And dang if I coudn't deadlift more than I thought!  I was doing 75lbs, which isn't as much as my squat, but my grip was about to give out by the end of the set.  Still, that's a lot more than 50!  Thanks for the tips!

That's a very good start! I bet you'll be deadlifting 100+ in no time at all.

Check out these 2 links.

https://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/s ports_body_training_performance/how_much_can_ you_lift_wimp

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/Str engthStandards.html

The first one shows (approximately) how much you should be able to lift based on major moves. It says that people normally can deadlift 140% of their back squat weight. Bear in mind that this is the true back squat, where the front of the thigh is parallel to the ground (usually people lower themselves to where only the bottom of the thigh is parallel to the ground, which is not a full squat). I made this mistake in stage 1, where I thought I squatted 95 lbs, where in reality I was nowhere near that. I now squat 95 relatively easily, but sometimes have hard time finishing a set of 8 proper squats with 105-110 lbs. And no, I can't deadlift 140 lbs yet, I'm at the 125 - 135 mark depending on the # of reps