Wife is asking me to put her on a program - Should I buy a smaller barbell for her?

[JLB105]

I have a B&R bar 2.0. I also have a pair of 10lb technique plates that should help her with pulls from the floor.

Do you think she could use this bar? or should I look into buying something else that she could use.

She has never done any real weight lifting, and certainly hasn't done any real barbell training.

Anything else I should consider?

[Jeff Illingworth]

It depends on your wife's age, how big her hands are, etc. If she has smaller hands, the smaller diameter women's bars can be handy for pulls, but not necessarily vital). The bigger issue will be with presses and bench presses where a lighter than 45 pounds bar makes getting started and making progress easier. If you have kids, are likely to have kids, or are likely to ever train kids (or very detrained/older folks), getting a light 15 pound or so technique bar can be more useful.

[Nardaq]

My wife and I each have our own bars for Olympic lifting, pressing and random fucking around, and we have an OPB for power lifts. She uses the smaller bar for pulling too. Highly recommend.

[simplesimon]

I got the Rogue 10kg Junior bar, same distance between sleeves so it can be racked in a power rack. Sleeves are shortened so at most it can hold about 200lbs of iron but that's probably plenty for her for a while.

[kpsmiley]

I bought my wife a 15lb bar from Rogue so that she would be able to press and bench.

Unless your wife can press and bench with your B&R bar, I would look into a lighter bar to start. When her press and bench numbers start moving up, then I would look into getting a woman's bar.

Maybe a Woman's B&R bar?

[MattBraunstein]

The other thing to consider is the aggressiveness of the knurl. My wife thinks that even the ohio bar has some pretty aggressive knurl and does not like it. That is another consideration in looking at another bar.

I ended up buying a cheap northern lights 15lb technique bar. Fits in a rack and some pretty weak knurl. She loves it. She is ~100lbs and has never trained in her life, so she started her presses pretty close to the bar weight anyway.

[thejosef]

I got the Rogue 10kg Junior bar, same distance between sleeves so it can be racked in a power rack. Sleeves are shortened so at most it can hold about 200lbs of iron but that's probably plenty for her for a while.

That's exactly what my wife uses too. The knurl is pretty tame also, which she likes. Great bar for ladies, especially those just starting out.

[Matt Stacks]

They also do make a 15 KG women's B&R bar, fwiw.

[Dave_M]

If you are going to be training at the same time, you'll want a second bar regardless of whether it is a 10 kg, 15 kg, or 20 kg. My wife is fine with both our 20 kg B&R or 45 lb. Ohio Power Bar weight and knurl-wise, but she started at a commercial gym and is pressing 88 lbs. and benching 126 lbs. for 5x3.

Perhaps more importantly than the appropriate bar, you'll want to have micro plates down to .5 lb. increments.

Most importantly, you should not coach your wife. My input is limited to "nice set!" and programming modifications (mainly validating her decisions) when she asks.

[bubbafat]

Most importantly, you should not coach your wife. My input is limited to "nice set!" and programming modifications (mainly validating her decisions) when she asks.

This guy knows what's up.