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What are some practical and safe ways to store your barbells? Here are the 4 Best ways to keep your barbells safe and in the best condition possible.
Leaving your barbell on the rack is perfectly fine, but if you need more space to store barbells, there are plenty of holders that make storage convenient. Horizontal wall holders are the best solution that’s the best for your barbells. Other options are a floor holder or a vertical wall hanger.
Keep reading to take a closer look at the different types and recommended models below.
Contents
The Best Barbell Storage Solutions
1. On the Rack
The simplest and cheapest way to keep your bar safe is to put it on the power rack. Just clean it after use and you’ll be good. This isn’t always possible for various reasons;
- You want to do other things in the power rack and a bar would get in the way.
- You’ve got a foldable power rack
- There’s more than one bar in your gym.
- The bar is too short to store on the rack.
Can you use a short barbell in a home gym? Find out in this post.
If none of those apply to you, there is no reason to get another way to store your bar. Your rack will do perfectly fine. If it’s not possible, try one of the following solutions.
2. Horizontal Wall Mounted Barbell Rack
This type is a good option for people with two or three barbells. You just mount two little brackets on the wall and you’ve got the option to store 3 -6 bars horizontally. If you’ve got short bars, you can mount the two brackets closer together and they’ll fit perfectly fine. And even if you have a mix of short and long bars, you can make it work.
Another benefit of this type is that you can mount it as high as you want. This can help you mount it in a safe place. The higher the rack is mounted, the safer your bars are, up to a reasonable level of course.
According to most barbell manufacturers, storing them horizontally is best and these simple brackets are the easiest and cheapest way to do that outside of leaving the bar on the rack.
For a home gym, a 3 bar horizontal rack is likely enough. This Yes4All barbell holder can store 3 barbells horizontally and is plenty strong enough.
- Easily wall mounted
- 2 pairs of barbell holder with both room for 3 bars.
- Installation hardware included
- 440 lbs. max capacity
3. Vertical Floor Barbell Holder
A common type of barbell holder is the floor standing one. It consists of a heavy base plate with some short, hollow metal tubes which the sleeves of the barbell can slide into. No mounting is required. Just put it in a place you like and it’s ready for use.
There are different types that can handle different amounts of bars but in the end they’re all pretty much the same. The one difference is that some allow you to lock a bar in place. This can be useful in a public gym where you want to prevent the general public from using your personal bar. At home, that might be useful to prevent children from playing with your toys.
This 5 bar barbell stand on Amazon is a great deal. It’s simple, fits 5 bars and you can even bolt it to the floor for extra stability although it’s not necessary. This type of equipment is very simple so it’s hard to go wrong with any model.
4. Wall Mounted Barbell Hanger
Another wall mounted option is the hanger type . This type allows you to hang the barbell by its collar. It’s super simple and gets the job done. This type is available in different versions that hold from just a single bar up to five. It’s a single piece of metal you have to mount to the wall with two screws.
Just hang it high enough that the bottom of the longest bar doesn’t touch the floor and you’re done.
For home gyms a 4 bar hanger is good since most people don’t really have a whole collection of bars. You might have a long, short, a specialty bar and still have one space left open. Check out this mount with space for 4 bars on Amazon. It’s very reasonably priced and ships for free. Even if you don’t have four barbells, you can use it to hang resistance bands, jump ropes, etc.
The benefit over a horizontal rack is that; A. you need less width in your gym. B. you only have to mount one bracket instead of two.
- Easily wall mounted
- 2 pairs of barbell holder with both room for 3 bars.
- Installation hardware included
- 200 lbs. max capacity
- 4. 5mm thick steel construction: constructed of 4. 5mm thick steel plate and covered with a Black paint coating finish
What To Look For In a Barbell Holder?
Barbell holders are a very simple piece of equipment. There isn’t really that much to look out for. There are a few things a barbell storage solution should (or shouldn’t) do;
- Fits your barbells: Most holders are for Olympic barbells (2″ sleeves). 1″ sleeves might fit too loosely in the floor standing holders.
- Stable and sturdy: Flimsy holders don’t feel good and might not actually last that long.
- Comes with correct mounting hardware: Check if all the mounting hardware to mount the holder is important, some don’t have the hardware included.
- Doesn’t damage your barbells: A rubber or plastic cover over the contact points helps prevent scratches on your bars.
In the end it’s a pretty simple piece of equipment. There’s not too much that can go wrong with it. As long as it doesn’t drop your bars randomly or damages them with normal use, you’re good.
