Loading a Barbell on the Floor?

[Mark D]

I'm sure this is a total newbie question, but that's OK because I'm a total newbie.

 

Is there a technique for loading a barbell that's on the floor, for instance for rows or (especially) deadlifts?  I haven't found a jack or low stand that would hold the bar at the proper height for deadlifts or rows, so my options seem to be:

 

- Put barbell on floor, load plates, lift up end to get them right on the collar before adding clamp.  Repeat other side.

 

- Put barbell on rack.  Add a pair of the largest plates to be used.  Move to floor, continue loading plates.

 

It seems sliding the plates along the rubberized floor could be a pain.  Is there a trick?

 

(Someone will tell me a trick that'll have me smacking myself in the head, just like when I learned the trick of rolling a tire onto my toe to get it on the hub when changing a tire.)

 

 

 

 

[jdanger]

Lifting up the end of the barbell is the normal procedure. Once you've got a decent amount of weight on the bar the protip is to shim the bar with a small change plate. Basically put a small change plate on the floor right next to the first couple of loaded plates then roll the bar and plates up onto the change plate. This will lift the bar off the ground enough to slide on more plates. Works for unloading too.

 

[TurtIe]

I generally just load a single 25kg/55lb on either side on a power rack and then lower the bar onto a set of 2.5kg/5.5lbs plates on the floor to load the rest. Once it's done, I'll roll the bar to the floor for my set, and then when I want to add more/less weight, I just roll it back up to those two plates. Last set, I'll unload everything and then lift the bar with the single plates back to the lowest rung of the power rack to unload. 

Exactly 0 struggling with the rubber floor required.

That said, I would not recommend this until you are at a point in your lifting journey that a 70kg bar is a warm-up weight.

[El Exorcisto]

Like jdanger said, roll the plates you already have loaded up onto a 2.5lb or similar small change plate. For the first pair of plates I put it on hooks set low on my rack because I can't be bothered with bumper plates wanting to slide along rubber stall mat.

[Dradis]

I've never understood why the 5/10/15/20/25kg plates at my gym are all the same circumference. Surely if they made the lighter ones just marginally smaller you could (un)load the bar up easy peasy once you had your biggest plate on each end.

 

I like the rolling onto mini plates idea. I sometimes wonder whether the effort of loading and unloading the bar impacts my deadlifts. Now i can find out

[Karl UK]

I made myself a couple of stands to raise the bar to standard 9" off the floor (actually 9-and-a-bit" to allow a standard plate to slide on).

 

 

 

No use if you train in a gym though....

 

Cheers

 

Karl

[Papa Raf C]

I've never understood why the 5/10/15/20/25kg plates at my gym are all the same circumference.

It wish the plates in my gym were the same circumference. It would help a lot in practicing form consistency with different weights.

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[KAllen]

wear low cut shirts...then guys will help you out willingly.  Oh wait, you're a dude...never mind.

 

I've used the plate method several times.  However, luckily my gym has a couple of deadlift jacks so if they are being used close, I'll ask if I can borrow. 

[Lupus In Fabula]

To the OP: Thank you for asking this. I've recently started with deadlifts and I feel like such a doofus as I'm struggling to maneuver plates onto the grounded bar. I self-consciously think that all the big dudes are watching and thinking, "Man, she can't even put the weights on the bar without a struggle. What's she doing thinking she can deadlift?" It's nice to know that 1) others have this problem and 2) there are easy solutions. Thanks again.

[Mark D]

To the OP: Thank you for asking this. I've recently started with deadlifts and I feel like such a doofus as I'm struggling to maneuver plates onto the grounded bar. I self-consciously think that all the big dudes are watching and thinking, "Man, she can't even put the weights on the bar without a struggle. What's she doing thinking she can deadlift?" It's nice to know that 1) others have this problem and 2) there are easy solutions. Thanks again.

 

It's not so much a matter of strength, as it's awkward.  Gotta hold the bar up in one hand, hold the plate in the other, line bar up with hole (no, I'm NOT going there....), slide plate onto onto bar and keep it from sticking on the floor until it's all the way on.  Then repeat on the other side.  All while bending over/kneeling.

 

My gym has a platform for Romanian deadlifts (I think that's what they're called), it has stands and fixed hooks, but the hooks are either too high or too low for deadlifting from.

 

I guess if no one is using the power rack I could put the hooks way down, load the bar, then deadlift it from the hooks to the floor and do my deadlifts in the rack.  One set of deadlifts doesn't take too long, and the rack seems to be the most under-used piece of equipment in the gym.

[wildross]

The plates are all the same size so the bar doesn't get bent when it is set down on one skinny plate with a bunch of heavy stuff on the end.  That said, most bars have enough slop in the bearings that I can put a plate over the end, lift up slightly and then scoot it over.  

 

Or just use the hooks on the outside of the rack for the loading the first set, or the small plate idea...

[blackwatch]

For around $10 (probably plus shipping), you could get a DeadWedge, which works well.

[Fayt]

If you have a belt, you can wrap it around the plates and roll it over. That is what I have done to get plates on the bar. It gives about 10-13mm of space to load.

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[Mark D]

For around $10 (probably plus shipping), you could get a DeadWedge, which works well.

 

You know, i suspect I could make one of those in about ten minutes from a scrap of 1x4 or 2x4.

 

In fact something like Karl UK has, with a ramp, would mean you could place the empty bar on it, load it, roll it down, lift, then roll it back up to unload it.

 

Hmmmmm.  I wonder if the gym would let me make a set and leave them there.  There's already a couple boxes that are obviously home-made.

[blackwatch]

Yeah, I'm sure it could be done and done easily and well . Sometimes I just like to buy gear.

[Mark D]

Yeah, I'm sure it could be done and done easily and well . Sometimes I just like to buy gear.

 

I'm just the opposite, I'll do-it-myself it at all possible, partly because I'm frugal (OK, cheap) and partly because if I make it myself I know how well it's made.  If/when I ever have place for a home gym I'll probably build my own power rack and bench.  Knowing me it'll be sufficiently overbuilt that it could double for lifting up the car so I can rotate the tires.  I expect world-class power lifters would look at it and say "That's a little overbuilt, isn't it?"

[blackwatch]

Nothing wrong with doing it yourself. I don't always have the resources, but sometimes I do. Usually that is for car work and the like.

Sometimes I'm just a fool for marketing.