*Rather than simply posting all of the survey results from the prior week, this blog is moving towards a “weekly deep dive.” We’ll take one survey question or theme and focus on that exclusively. All other survey results will be discussed on the podcast & included in a monthly insights report designed for those that work in the industry – January Home Gym Insights Report (for example). This report will include survey results, trends I see, product ideas, other thoughts, industry news, and more. It’s a paid subscription for those interested in getting inside reporting on what’s happening in the home gym world – check it out.
Alright. Now to the article.
Introduction
When I asked the @garagegymexperiment followers how many barbells they own, a whopping 80% said they owned multiple!
That number is actually on the rise as well. In 2022, it was also pretty high, but only at 67%.In addition, we saw more than a 50% jump in people owning “four or more” bars. If you tell that to someone on the street, they’d think you’re crazy, but you’re not alone if you love barbells.
In another survey, 78% said that owning barbells was underrated. That’s up 16% from the year before.
That said, most veteran home gym owners end up owning multiple barbells. However, “variety and specialty bars” are the most popular reason.
In the following sections, I’ll break down some of the reasons people own multiple bars.
Supersets
A superset is when you perform multiple different exercises back to back without much rest. These are great workout options if you’re short on time or just trying to be time-efficient.
In a commercial gym, you may find someone doing this with a wide variety of equipment, such as strength machines, dumbbells, cables, etc. However, you may not have this versatility in a home gym. Therefore, multiple barbells will be an excellent option because of their versatility.
Multiple People Training
It’s unlikely to find a home gym where only a single person utilizes it at all times. Last May, our surveys showed us that only 35% have a single person utilizing the home gym.
Therefore, you may find certain people within the household with different barbell preferences. For example, if a husband and wife have a home gym, the male may prefer a 28.5 or 29 mm bar, whereas the female wants a 25 mm bar.
Or, if multiple people want to train simultaneously, numerous barbells make it easier for everyone. There is no need to strategize about who gets the barbell and when.
For example, Andrew Towers of GORX Fitness said:
“We have guests that rent rack time with a friend or two – it’s nice to have multiple bars. They can set up with their own station and get after it together. Same goes for when we do semi-private training sessions. Prevents bottlenecks in programming.”
Variety
Some bars are better for specific movements than others. A power bar will be better for the bench, squat, and deadlift than an Olympic weightlifting bar that uses bearings. Therefore, many will grab several different bars to optimize certain lifts.
In addition, one may have a certain knurl preference for certain lifts. For example, someone may like a bar with a deep knurl when doing heavy lifts vs. a more passive knurl for high reps. For many, that is a good enough reason to grab a bar – especially if you’re training for a strength sport.
Specialty Barbells
On the Garage Gym Experiment Podcast, Chris Duffin stated that specialty bars.”
“Allow us to get into positions to maximize our training by reducing (one) being in positions of putting strain on joints and connective tissue that can’t adapt to the stresses because there are adaptive structures and non-adaptive structures as well as actually improving the patterns of the muscle tissue that’s firing during that which is going to reduce the potential for reduced mobility as well as our recovery.”
Not only are specialty bars easier on the body, but they are also a nice change of pace from straight bars, and certain programming methodologies may call for them within their workouts.
Collectors
With all that being said, some are just collectors. These are the people who, instead of stamps, cars, or Pokemon cards, collect barbells.
They’ll have barbells lined up to the ceiling and more bars than they know what to do with.
About 13% said they consider themselves barbell collectors.
Conclusion
Thus, it is not crazy to own more than one barbell! It can actually help in many ways.
And while you’re neighbors may not quite understand, you are not alone if you own multiple!
We’ll ask again later this year or early next year to see if barbell ownership continues to increase.
