Universal Design Review of Olympic Barbells

While now ubiquitous in commercial gyms and recreational use, the invention of the
Olympic barbell has empowered and changed modern day strength sports and bodybuilding.
While only 100 years old (Heffernan, 2019), it is credited towards launching the current fitness
revolution we witness today and enabled the progress of the silver and golden era bodybuilders
to the physiques they produced. The key design feature of the barbell that differentiated it from
previous standard iron bars was the implementation of loading sleeves with free spinning. This
allowed for easier loading of plates (a 2-inch central hole being significantly easier to maneuver
for weighted plates), as well as eliminate the movement of the bar in one’s hands due to the
spinning of the weights. These standardized weight and lengths allow for the cheap mass
fabrication and makes resistance training accessible to those of all socioeconomic backgrounds.
This also fixed the difficulty of modifying barbell weights of globe barbells that were previously
dominant (Heffernan, 2019).

This rapidly enabled elite lifters to make enormous strength gains as they could train heavier and
harder more accessibly, which lead to barbells breaking under the massive loads they trained
under (Heffernan, 2019). This has since been rectified by implementing advanced material
design of high tensile strength steel, but knowledge of the weight limit of one’s barbell is not
inherently obvious and requires familiarity with the manufacturing specifications. In general, the
rest of the Olympic barbells advantages is its flexibility, one can train all muscle groups to peak
performance with just this implement and associated plates, its customizability, its use is
intuitive but depending on application the barbell can be stiffened, lengthened or even bent for
better performance, and its tactile grip intuitively informing, and aiding the user in use.

Figure 1 Demonstration of Variety of Olympic Barbells now Commercially Available

 The Olympic barbell does have several disadvantages that limit its use, and these
primarily relate to injury risk and biomechanical stress. The fixed angles are harsher on joints
than unilaterally moving implements such as dumbbells or cables, and like dumbbells its
resistance curve is not uniform and is dependent on gravity which limits exercise selection. This
harshness has led to curved implements or, for squats, padded and cambered implements, which
are generally described by elite powerlifters as easier on shoulders and elbows (Fringe Sport
Longhorn Buffalo Bar Review 2023 | Garage Gym Reviews, 2019). Additionally, due to the
barbell being a free weight the risk from injury is much more significant compared to machines
or cables and thus reduce accessibility to injury-sensitive groups such as the young and elderly.
While use is intuitive, best form typically requires time and/or coaching to develop best
personalized form that respects individual biomechanics as human proportions differ
significantly from person to person and thus impact movement patterns.

Barbells are advancing in the training offerings they demonstrate, and act as an essential
platform for new technologies. Velocity based training can be used to minimize athlete fatigue,
while maximizing athlete hypertrophy and/or strength and power outcomes (Lawton, 2021).
Literature on barbell movements is easy to implement in training programs as specific
movements are more universal than alternatives such as machines. Due to the integrative nature
of barbell movements, they shall also continue to dominant the high-performance segment of
athletes who wish to maximize their ‘functional’ or athletic performance. Barbell’s ubiquitous
nature means that effective training programs can be shared and implemented to people
worldwide, while knowledge of how to train effectively or with correct form is easily accessible
online. Future smart barbells can also better inform its users about use and form which would aid
them in their fitness journeys.

However, these smart ‘fit-tech’ product developments are not limited to barbells and are
sure to, with time, advance to machines and other implements. Machines are increasingly smart
with lower skill and safety requirements (Bonilla et al., 2022). Barbells are also more
inaccessible to those with disabilities, as it generally the requires the of both hands, and balance
makes the use of single-leg difficult for lower body exercises. Also, due to the nature of its
resistance curve, even tension cannot be maintained on the muscles throughout an exercise which
can lead to poorer muscular development (Nunes et al., 2020). Finally, as trainees wish to
advance to more advanced training methods, such as drop-sets or accentuated negatives, the use
of barbell implements become even more challenging.

Overall, Olympic Barbells provide a cheap accessible platform that act as a mainstay in
any serious training facility. While they cannot satisfy specific niches, they do act as a means for
the majority of people of all backgrounds to use the instrument with very little instruction: for
which may explain why avid gym goers, ‘meatheads’, are not reputed for their intelligence. This
demonstrates the thoughtful engineering that fitness enthusiasts put into its design.
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S., Stout, J. R., Kreider, R. B., & Petro, J. L. (2022). Exercise Selection and Common

Injuries in Fitness Centers: A Systematic Integrative Review and Practical

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Fringe Sport Longhorn Buffalo Bar Review 2023 | Garage Gym Reviews. (2019, June 21).

https://www.garagegymreviews.com/fringesport-longhorn-buffalo-bar-review

Heffernan, C. (2019, March 16). The Untold History of the Barbell. BarBend.

https://barbend.com/history-of-the-barbell/

Lawton, H. (2021, September 22). What is Velocity Based Training? GymAware.

https://gymaware.com/velocity-based-training/

Nunes, J. P., Jacinto, J. L., Ribeiro, A. S., Mayhew, J. L., Nakamura, M., Capel, D. M. G.,

Santos, L. R., Santos, L., Cyrino, E. S., & Aguiar, A. F. (2020). Placing Greater Torque

at Shorter or Longer Muscle Lengths? Effects of Cable vs. Barbell Preacher Curl

Training on Muscular Strength and Hypertrophy in Young Adults. International Journal

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