What should I buy if I want to start Olympic lifting?

Olympic lifting – lifting a barbell loaded with weights on each side – has grown in popularity over recent years, and for good reason. Do a quick Google search and you’ll find lots of expert blogs from the likes of Team USA and the International Weightlifting Federation, all outlining fantastic reasons why we should all be including a bit of Olympic lifting in our workout regimes.

Let’s quickly summarise the benefits before we take a look at what you need to buy to start Olympic lifting – the equipment you will need.

An impressive array of benefits

The overall objective of Olympic lifting is to get stronger, not to visibly build bulging muscles: it is dedicated to power and control, not aesthetics. We’re talking improved full-body strength: core, legs, glutes, back, shoulders, arms and grip. You also burn a lot of calories in a fairly short space of time, making this a great workout to decrease body fat, increase strength, boost muscle mass and maximise your training time.

It’s also a great way to improve athleticism, with snatches and clean & jerks – and even the more basic gym lifts such as the squat, deadlift and shoulder press – great for developing speed and strength and, with it, power. If you’re looking to run faster or jump higher, Olympic lifting is for you.

Olympic lifting also produces significant force on the legs, spine and arms, which stimulates the body to lay down new bone and improve bone density. That’s great for women in particular, helping prevent osteoporosis and protect against bone fractures.

And then just a quick skim over a few other benefits before we come on to discuss equipment: we’re talking improved co-ordination, mental and motor skills as a result of very precise movements that require focus; enhanced endurance in high-intensity workouts; and improved flexibility as well as stability in everyday movements as well as in the gym.

All the equipment you need

If these sound like benefits you’d like to get from your own training, or that you’d like to introduce to members at your gym, the good news is that Physical Company has everything you need to get started.

The first thing, of course, is a bar, and our Pro Olympic Bars are the perfect choice for everyone from beginners to serious lifters. These premium grade Olympic Bars use precision bearings for a smoother rotation and are finished in a durable, brushed chrome. Choose from a 5ft bar weighing 13kg, a 6ft bar weighing 15kg, or a 7ft bar weighing 20kg – all with a 30mm grip. Maximum loading is 317kg on the 5ft and 6ft bars and 680kg on the 7ft bar, with the latter engineered for balance and durability and coming with knurled handles for an enhanced grip.

Speaking of loading, the next thing you’ll need are weights, and we have plenty of options to choose from here.

Our Rubber Bumper Plates are high performance yet economical, drop-tested over 10,000 times and available in 5kg–25kg. Alternatively, if you want a premium solution that will stand up to the toughest lifting environments, you should be looking at our PU Competition Plates. These have been drop-tested over 40,000 times, so we really can guarantee their robustness!

Fractional Plates are a great addition if you want to be able to add small increments of weight, from 0.5kg to 2kg – perfect to very gradually increase the load to help the lifter reach their maximum weight.

Finally, any bar + plates combination will require a tough pair of lockjaw collars to secure the plates in place; we can highly recommend our durable, user-friendly Hex Lockjaw Collars with their one-hand fast locking and releasing system.