Gym Talk

I recently ordered and received a fancy 10 mm powerlifting belt from Pioneer (aka General Leathercraft). I’ve been wanting to do more with the Garage Gyms branding for a while now and I figured putting the site name across my favorite power belt was a great place to start. Now that I have it in my hands, [...]

Is there truly a benefit to having a stainless steel barbell over a bare steel bar? Is stainless steel really rust-proof or does it just take longer to rust? Why am I paying all this extra cash for stainless if I still have to “maintain” my stainless steel bar? If you’ve asked yourself any or [...]

I absolutely love the Ohio Powerlifting line; both the Ohio Power Bars and the Ohio Deadlift Bar. I have both of these beasts in raw, unfinished steel, and both of them are on my ‘never sell these bars’ list. The natural feeling of the raw steel combined with the deep, aggressive knurl makes for two incredible training [...]

A month or two ago on Craigslist I stumbled upon somebody selling the Infinity/Monster Lite Rogue Monolift Attachment; the version that’s compatible with my rack. I wasn’t really in the market for a Monolift and I wouldn’t go so far as to say I needed a Monolift, but they were in perfect condition and being [...]

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, [...]

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. The Performance WL Bar is functionally no different than its more expensive big brothers. It [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. If you would like a refresher course on the basics of [...]

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. In this guide I will go over the changes and upgrades have been made to the Eleiko barbell [...]

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″ [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]