When you lift do you count the weight of the bar in on any of your lifts?
I dont. Reason being is that i have always believed it to be a “Counter- wieght” meaning that because it is spread so evenly that it doesn’t need to counted.
Do you include the bar on your numbers? and if so - how much does the bar YOU use weigh?
A counter weight? When I am bench pressing, I definitely press the weight of the bar too.
The bar at my gym weighs 45 pounds or approximately 20 Kg.
Ofcourse you count it - you’re lifting it aren’t you?
Normal bar weighs about 7kg, the ones that come with the cheaper bench press.
Olympic bar weighs around 20kg, or 45lbs, as far as I remember.
If you were pressing a imaginary bar… you wouldn’t count the weight! Let me drag in your average soft college chick and have her do the bar -_-
count the bar weight otherwise you are not calculating % and volume correctly
you need to look up the definition of “counterweight”
[quote]Magarhe wrote:
count the bar weight otherwise you are not calculating % and volume correctly
you need to look up the definition of “counterweight”
[/quote]
Ok …
counterweight
noun
verb
WordNet? 3.0, ? 2006 by Princeton University.
Doesn’t help that much! anyway just wanted peoples personal preference, thanks.
I dont count the bar when I calculate my lifts. So i bench press 55kg worth of plates on an olympic bar (20kg) so i can really bench 75kg - 165lbs! Yay!
“personal preference” suggests that there is something subjective here. There isn’t. The bar gets lifted, and is part of the total.
Unless by “bar” you are referring to a part of a machine and not free weights, in which case there may be some leverage involved; also, it could be difficult to know how much you are actually moving when there are no plates involved. Some manufacturers apply labels that tell what the “starting resistance” is.
Judges in competition count the weight. You should, too.
[quote]TShaw wrote:
Judges in competition count the weight. You should, too.[/quote]
Yeah, that pretty much hit the nail on the head
Yes, you are supposed to include it. Unless it’s styrofoam. And it ain’t a counterweight. If there were bars that weighed 400lbs, most people would struggle to lift them irrespective of how ‘evenly distributed’ the weight is.
Looks like if I start counting the bar then my numbers will be going up so it can only be a plus I guess…
[quote]wings_931 wrote:
Looks like if I start counting the bar then my numbers will be going up so it can only be a plus I guess…[/quote]
yes. welcome to the real world
There is no real worls here…just a net forum.
If you peel your eyes away from the screen you have been staring into and look around - THAT is the real world.
You gotta count the bar. If I bench 100lbs on a 40lbs bar in one gym and in my travels I go to a new gym and their bar weighs only 12lbs I need to consider it.
Otherwise if youre at the same gym all the time it makes no difference weather you count it or not. As long as progress continues.
I dont count an EZ curl bar, but thats not so important.
[quote]Andrew Dixon wrote:
You gotta count the bar. If I bench 100lbs on a 40lbs bar in one gym and in my travels I go to a new gym and their bar weighs only 12lbs I need to consider it.
Otherwise if youre at the same gym all the time it makes no difference weather you count it or not. As long as progress continues.
I dont count an EZ curl bar, but thats not so important.
[/quote]
Thanks for the response - you seem to be one of the only people around here who has their head screwed on at all!
By “balances another weight”, the definition quoted above does not mean another weight rests on it. It means another weight doesn’t move because of the weight of the counterweight.
Anyway, who gives a fuck if you count the weight of the bar. As long as you’re adding plates, you’re doing fine.
Hahaha!! If you lift it, you count it. It’s really that simple.
[quote]BigRagoo wrote:
Hahaha!! If you lift it, you count it. It’s really that simple.[/quote]
Whoa, you lost me! I only count it if I lift it? Can I at least add a few reps together to give me a higher number? I was really hoping to break a 1000lbs squat this weekend by squatting 250lbs 4 times. 
[quote]wings_931 wrote:
Thanks for the response - you seem to be one of the only people around here who has their head screwed on at all!
[/quote]
This coming from someone who though the bar acted as a counterweight.
Nobody gave you incorrect info, and yes, some fun-poking was required because it was kind of a stupid question.
[quote]wings_931 wrote:
When you lift do you count the weight of the bar in on any of your lifts?
I dont. Reason being is that i have always believed it to be a “Counter- wieght” meaning that because it is spread so evenly that it doesn’t need to counted.
Do you include the bar on your numbers? and if so - how much does the bar YOU use weigh?[/quote]
You shouldn’t count it. Moreover, since the weights on one side of the barbell counterbalance the weights on the other side, you shouldn’t count them either. For a legit lift with real, not counterbalanced weights, just load the barbell at one end only, that should count.