Barbell exercises

How to train with a barbell

A barbell holds both hands on one bar, so you can lift more weight than with any other free weight. Plates go on in small steps, which makes it easy to add load week by week. That is why the squat, bench press, deadlift, row and overhead press, the lifts every strength program is built on, use a barbell.

In Muscla’s gym plans the barbell lifts are the standard choice for each pattern: barbell squat, bench press, barbell row and Romanian deadlift come first in the session, when you are fresh, and get two warm-up sets before the work sets. The day then continues with lighter exercises.

The bar asks for good form. Learn each lift with an empty bar or light weight, and squat and bench inside a rack with the safety arms set just below your lowest point. Beginners in Muscla start some patterns with easier versions, such as the leg press or the dumbbell bench press, and move to the barbell once the movement sits.

On every barbell page you find the steps, common mistakes, sets and reps by goal, and the strength levels where we have them.