I'm not your mother clean up your own mess and slip it off the pole
Written: Dec 08 '04 (Updated Dec 08 '04)
Product Rating:
Pros: Olympic quality; indestructible.
Cons: Uncomfortable to carry; hurts if I get my fingers caught.
The Bottom Line: Cap's Weights are not my favorites. I've used them and would use them if there were no other choices.
jo.com's Full Review: Cap Barbell Olympic Weights OP (5, 10, 25, 35, 45 ...
I am reviewing Cap Barbell Olympic Weights OP (5, 10, 25, 35, 45 lbs)
What is an Olympic Weight?
An Olympic weight is really no different than any other of its type except that they claim to be more accurate. In other words 5 pounds in an Olympic weight is supposed to actually be 5 pounds and not 4 and three quarters. You will see another difference as well and that is in the design. The Cap Olympic Weights have a rim and do not have a flat surface. The standard weights have a flat surface.
As I have said in other reviews Cap uses the term barbell after its name. This is not a barbell. A barbell is a long, straight pole like bar (though some are curved but I do not call them barbells either- the ez curl, for example). A barbell in the weight training world is what you would put the Cap Weight on.
About the Cap Weight:
As you can see the Cap Weight comes in a variety of weights. I have never seen a plate heavier than 45 pounds though I have seen them at 2.5 pounds. Cap Plates (The weights are called plates.) are made of cast iron, have black with white letters and fit Olympic sized weight bars. In a gym or in a fitness store barbells come in different lengths. Longer isn't necessarily better; just different. Olympic sized are the longest and are used for squats, for example, rather than barbell curls. Olympic sized barbells will be too long to comfortably do a bicep curl with however putting on an Olympic weight is fine. They are truly indestructible. Though they may rust if you keep them in the rain for long periods I can't imagine anything that can be done to them that would hurt them. In fact gyms have rubber mats so their floors don't get ruined by weights.
Most of the time if you are putting on more than a very light weight or if you are doing an exercise that may not need it (The Smith Machine, for example and I will be glad to explain what that is or review it at some point.) you will have to put some type of cuff on the barbell to keep the weights from falling off or moving to the side. If you are buying these for home make sure you have 2 cuffs of some sort.
The hole in the Weight is a bit larger than the bar so it can slide on easily. I have no problem with the Cap Weights going on easily. They do.
The first gym in which I worked had the Cap Weights I am reviewing. Cap Weights are still around. My current gym has a couple of different brands. The Cap Barbell Olympic Weight is not my favorite. For one thing these are iron. You can find plates that are coated with rubber making them much more comfortable to handle and less noisy when placing them back on the weight rack.
Another reason is the ablility to being able to handle them. When I was working in gyms one of my jobs was to make sure all the weights that the guys (sorry but they were the ones to leave 3, 45 pound weights on each side of the bench press for me to pick up after them. I think they got a kick out of watching me clean up after them. The fact is that although Cap Weights have rims so theoretically one can grab them under the rim, that is not the ideal. It is not the ideal knowing that there are easier to use Weights on the market.
Troy makes weights/plates that have spaces in the plate to hold on to. Other brands do as well including a whole rack at my current gym. I find putting on and taking off 45-pound weights after awhile difficult. If you weigh 350 pounds and are a bodybuilder, the 45 pounds will feel easy. For me at 130 pounds though I can squat quite a bit of weight and can and do move the weights around I prefer the weights to have handles.
An advantage to buying, for example a 35-pound (rather than buying a barbell with fixed weights) weight is that you can take it on and off your barbell however that can be a disadvantage for the same reason. Some people would rather not be bothered taking weights on and off. If you are buying these for home, a stack of plates take up a lot less room than dumbbells each of which weigh different amounts. Barbells with fixed plates as I just mentioned have weights that do not come off. If you choose these you would need a whole set of them. I would prefer one barbell and a set of 15 pound weights and a set of 25 pound weights if I were to buy them for my basement.
The cost of these varies depending on where you buy them. The 5 pound plate will cost you less than $3.00; the 10-pound less than $6.00; the 25-pound about $13.00; the 35 about $19.00 and the $45 pound weight will cost you about $25.00.
Some thoughts from Jo, Your Personal Trainer:
Whatever your thoughts are about Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding: The Bible of Bodybuilding leave them aside for a moment. He happens to have won more bodybuilding titles than anyone in the world. From his book he says that although he isn’t against machines our muscles were designed to overcome the pull of gravity rather than to work against machine resistance so the greatest gains you& will make will come from using barbells (and dumbbells).
We will look at a few exercises for which you will use the Cap Barbell Olympic Weights. The purpose of the flat bench press is to build mass and strength in the pectorals (chest muscles) front delts (deltoids or shoulders) and triceps (the back of your arm that flaps in the wind). Lie on the bench with your feet on the floor for balance. Some people like to put their feet up on the bench for back protection. The verdict is inconclusive so do what feels best. Your grip should be in a position that as you lower the barbell to your chest, your hands will be wide enough apart so that your forearms point straight up, perpendicular to the floor. Lift the bar over your head and hold it at so your arms are outstretched. Lower it slowly and with control. Please if possible have a spotter when doing these. A spotter is someone standing in back of you to help you either lower the bar, catch it or just offer support if it is needed.
You can do bent over barbell rows for your back. This thickens the upper back. It also helps widen the upper back. You will stand with your feet a few inches apart and hold the bar with a wide over hand grip. Bend your knees a bit and bend forward until your back is close to parallel to the floor. Keep your back straight and head up (make sure you are not feeling a lot of tension in your neck), let the bar hang at arms length. Trying to only use your back muscles lift the bar up until it touches your abdominals, then lower it again.
The last one is one of my favorites. I do not use an Olympic-sized bar for this. I use a shorter one and put plates on it. It is called a Skull Crusher and unless you are using a weight that is really easy you really must have a spotter. You will lie on a bench holding the barbell with your grip forward. You can start with your arms extended if you are not on a bench with a rack (places to put the barbell). Lower the barbell so that it comes close to your forehead making sure your elbows are pointed forward. If you point them to the side your chest muscles will come into play. This is a fantastic tricep exercise. Then lift the barbell up again and continue. If I am doing this with a heavier weight than I am comfortable with I make sure my husband is right behind me and even has his hand over my forehead. Your spotter must be able to both prevent the bar from hitting your head and catch it if you fatigue.
My final thoughts on the Cap Barbell Weights:
These are not my favorite. In fact if I had a choice of these and just about any other I would pick just about any other. I find them uncomfortable to hold, uncomfortable to move and perhaps most importantly if I get my fingers caught under them they really hurt.
Please feel free to ask me a question or leave a comment.
Feel free as well to e-mail me privately if you have questions about weight training.
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