This is a full review of the Elite Power Bar by American Barbell. This bar is one of only two semi-affordable, IPF-spec, stainless steel power bars currently on the market. In this review I will not only cover the specifications and features of the Elite, I will also compare it to that other semi-affordable, IPF-spec, stainless steel power bar.
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This is an in-depth review of the new Eleiko NxG Performance Weightlifting Bar. This bar is offered as premium, less expensive alternative to the Eleiko IWF Training and Competition weightlifting bars for the sole purpose of training the Olympic lifts.
I get asked fairly often whether or not I still like a particular piece of equipment reviewed in the past, or whether or not that piece of equipment is still a good buy. Well I thought it might be fun to go back and revisit some of my old reviews and see exactly where these products are today, and how well they’ve held up. Did my opinion change? did they last? are they still contenders? and so on.
Anyone who owns a bare steel bar probably already knows that it takes regular oilings and brushing to keep these raw bars free of rust. We all know it, but not everyone does it; or at least not as often as they should.
If you are one who tends to neglect this minor chore long enough for oxidation to take over your bar, this article will show you a quick, easy way to deal with that rust and get your bar looking new again, and with very minimal effort.
In this review I’ll mostly be covering the Cerakote Bella Bar 2.0 because that’s the bar that I have in front of me, but since both the Bella and the Ohio are unchanged save for the “new” Cerakote finish options, you can safely apply anything relating to the Bella’s Cerakote finish to the Ohio Bar as well. So in a way this is two reviews; one for the Bella Bar itself, and the other for Rogue’s application of Cerakote.
In this review I’ll be looking at the new Vulcan Soft Cube, a premium version of the soft plyo box. Soft plyo boxes are the same size and shape of a wood plyo box, but rather than being plywood they are made of a heavy-duty, firm foam, and are then wrapped in a durable vinyl cover. They were designed as an alternative to wood plyometric boxes for athletes who are tired of scraping their shins up when a jump is missed.
In an effort to control the length and size of my original barbell buyers guide, I’ve decided to create a separate guide for powerlifting bars. In this way I can cover a larger variety of bars and offer more information about each individual bar.
Eleiko recently announced the NxG Collection; the newest generation of world-class Eleiko barbells. This extensive guide is my attempt to consolidate all there is to know about both the NxG Collection, and the entire Eleiko barbell line-up.
When I heard that Vulcan Strength was going to offer an EZ curl bar, I was intrigued. When I finally saw the specifications and the very low $139 price tag of that curl bar, I knew that I had to get my hands on one and check it out. So I did, and this is my take on it.
Have you seen the new Dumbbell Bumpers from Rogue? What do you think about them?
These colorful rubber discs are designed specifically for use with Rogue’s DB-10 and DB-15 Dumbbell Handles. They are offered in six different increments ranging from 10 to 55 pounds (the same as regular bumper plates) but they are only 9″ in diameter. In addition to being compact and just bad ass looking, they appear to be far more cost-effective than buying pairs of Rogue Change Plates; which is what many have been doing.
The IronMaster Super Bench has been a fairly popular adjustable economy bench over the years. Used mostly in home and garage gyms, it’s one of the few decent alternatives to commercial-grade adjustable benches for beginner to intermediate lifters. It’s versatile, strong, relatively affordable, and for the average lifter the pros tend to outweigh the cons.
This is a review for the Vulcan Professional Olympic Bar, one of the most competitively priced high-performance Oly bars on the market. Priced at only $599, the Pro boasts a ton of premium features including high tensile and yield ratings, great whip, smooth spin, and a beautiful, industrial chrome finish. While it should be obvious that this is a lot of bar for the money, most lifters are still going to want to know how well the Vulcan Professional compares to the heavyweights.
I don’t always want to dedicate 1000-plus words to each and every product I purchase. I also sometimes want to highlight a new product without having to actually purchase it. That is why I occasionally do articles like this one. I can announce some new products of interest and do reviews for products that don’t need a whole lot of dissection and analysis all in one consolidated post. In this article I’ll be discussing the following products:
This is an in-depth review of the Rep Fitness Adjustable Bench; one of the few adjustable benches that manages to pull off flat, incline, and decline without costing a fortune. It has a wide range of settings, comfortable pads, and a strong, heavy-gauge steel frame. It’s not a commercial bench, but it’s solid, versatile, and priced attractively for the home and garage gym market. Could it be the ideal adjustable bench for your gym? We’ll see!
The Thompson Fat Pad is a replacement pad for flat utility benches and commercial benching stations. It was developed by legendary powerlifter and equipment guru, Donnie Thompson, in an effort to overhaul the simple, narrow pads typically found on benches. Essentially, Donnie wanted to create a pad that maximized power in the bench press while simultaneously reducing the risk of bench press-related injuries – and after many years of research and testing, the Fat Pad was born.
