Joined a new gym last night. Hilarious

[Bill Anders]

Here's a mystery perhaps someone here can solve for me...why the fuck does the second bar in this photo exist?

Because some people are afraid the the center knurling will allow the pad to rotate when they're doing their high bar squats.

[CommanderFun]

Because some people are afraid the the center knurling will allow the pad to rotate when they're doing their high bar squats.

Weird, it's not showing the photo in the post for me. Anyways, the one WITH the center knurling was the one that confused me. The knurling comes in WAY more than a bar typically does and the ring markings are also brought in more. It's the most baffling shit I've ever seen. It's like someone was just designing a bar having looked at one once. "Yeah, it has those ring markings on it, gotta put those...somewhere".

[Bill Anders]

Weird, it's not showing the photo in the post for me. Anyways, the one WITH the center knurling was the one that confused me. The knurling comes in WAY more than a bar typically does and the ring markings are also brought in more. It's the most baffling shit I've ever seen. It's like someone was just designing a bar having looked at one once. "Yeah, it has those ring markings on it, gotta put those...somewhere".

It wasn't in the post for me either, but when I hit "Reply with Quote", the HTML showed up with the link. So I just copy/pasted that in a new window to see it.

As far as that bar, cheap stuff designed with no regard for actual use. Typical in a globo gym.

When I was still going to one, one owned by a long-time friend, he apparently got a deal on several bars, so replaced the decent ones that we had. I went in for a workout and couldn't find any with center knurling. Texted him and asked WTF? He had no idea that there was a need for the center knurling. Thankfully he still had the old ones, although they were in the bed of his pickup truck and had been exposed to several days of snow and rain. But after that, we had one bar, rusting, that was good for squats.

[dalan]

A lot of cheap general use bars have the rings in weird places, usually they're too far in. I don't know why. I wouldn't think it would cost any more to put them where they go.

[Steve Cox]

I've heard a few times, and believe I've also read that bars with no center knurling are for people who want to do cleans or Olympic lifts and worried the knurling might take skin off their faces or throats. Don't know if that's true, just passing on.

[CommanderFun]

A lot of cheap general use bars have the rings in weird places, usually they're too far in. I don't know why. I wouldn't think it would cost any more to put them where they go.

I just want to know why it happened. Why did someone think the ring markings needed to be so far in on each side?

[Matt James]

I've heard a few times, and believe I've also read that bars with no center knurling are for people who want to do cleans or Olympic lifts and worried the knurling might take skin off their faces or throats. Don't know if that's true, just passing on.

It's more of an issue on the snatch. Center knurling tends to catch on things at the jump.

[Bill Anders]

It's more of an issue on the snatch. Center knurling tends to catch on things at the jump.

I've recently reintroduced power cleans into my programming. Although it's not an issue with the knurling on my bar, racking the bar with this winter's beard growth has introduced an interesting feedback loop.

[VNV]

It's more of an issue on the snatch. Center knurling tends to catch on things at the jump.

It also helps those of us with poor clean technique. Bar crash is less painful without center knurling. Absence of center knurling also helps with poor press technique, when the bar scrapes the nose. Notice a pattern?

A bare bar center would also help when my bald head scrapes the bar as I get under it for the squat. I’ve transferred a layer of skin to the center knurling recently (cheese grater OPB). I guess age is impacting my spatial awareness. The pattern continues. Still won’t give up the center knurling for the squat.

[Bill Anders]

Absence of center knurling also helps with poor press technique, when the bar scrapes the nose. Notice a pattern?

That's not poor technique, that's just a skin layer away from perfect technique.

A bare bar center would also help when my bald head scrapes the bar as I get under it for the squat. I’ve transferred a layer of skin to the center knurling recently (cheese grater OPB). I guess age is impacting my spatial awareness. The pattern continues. Still won’t give up the center knurling for the squat.

I just ducked extra far under the bar for my first squat work set. Ouch!