[EDITOR’s NOTE: The following article was originally published in 2003.

Due to the popularity of the one of Tom’s previous articles, How To Break An
Olympic Bar, and the fact that there’s a new generation of club owners, we decided to reprint this classic].

How To Bend
an Olympic Bar By Tom Lincir,
President and Founder,
Ivanko Barbell Company

This is why since the very beginning complaints became non-existent.

A bent Olympic bar in a club
of my career in manufacturing Olympic I believe 200,000 PSI tensile
weight room can be a turn-off bars, the same questions from customers strength with a yield strength close to
have been repeatedly asked: “Do you that is the ideal for a commercial gym or
that nullifies the considerable make a bar that won’t bend when you team use. Ivanko Olympic bars are made
drop it?” and “Do you have a guarantee in the USA and are currently 195,000 to
investment made in quality
against your bar bending?” The problem 220,000 PSI. We plan to increase to a
equipment and furnishings with these questions is the true answer is higher level in the future.
not a simple answer. So, to get a “really straight” Olympic
everywhere else. Not only does it First of all, most Olympic bar raw bar that will not bend later on, we have
steel does not come straight from the to start with 200,000 PSI steel bars,
look shoddy, but a bent bar will mill. By this I mean “really straight.” then bend them straight. Along with
This is because the allowable tolerance grinding for roundness, straightening is
try to rotate to reach stability with
for straightness from the steel mill is not the most expensive operation we do with
respect to gravity. This defect can good enough for a first class Olympic bars. Some bars come with an even bend
bar. We believe first you must make a bar along the length. Others are bent only
be immediately felt by the user, “really straight.” Then you have to make on one end. The worst and most difficult
it strong enough to stay straight. bars are twisted in a bent spiral. A bent
especially with exercises such as
Secondly, years of testing and field bar is not straightened by just bending

power cleans that involve rotating experience have indicated to us that any it back in the opposite direction. It must
Olympic bar with a tensile strength less be bent back to a point determined
the bar. than 195,000 PSI is not strong enough by an experienced press operator to
for commercial use. Usually experience relieve stress. Then it must be bent
In researching this article, I found in
is the best teacher. Early on, we kept back the other way to straightness.
my old files from 1977 correspondence
increasing the PSI of the tensile strength Most manufacturers will not even
with steel mills and physicists asking
and yield strength with each production attempt to straighten a twisted bar
for information on how to increase the
run. We noted as the tensile strength was because it is very time consuming and
strength of round bar material so that
increased the complaints of bent bars few have skill and know-how to do it.
it would stand up to the common abuse
decreased. When we finally reached the This is especially true when the material
that was bending the Olympic bars
200,000 PSI level and above, bending is 200,000 PSI steel.
of that era. In those years there were
thousands of bent Olympic bars, all over
the place. Every gym had one.

30 NATIONAL FITNESS TRADE JOURNAL

 When I was originally researching
this article, Eleiko claimed a maximum
THE ONLY “BENT” BARS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER
Ivanko makes a pair of extremely precision, commercial-quality US-made Olympic
deviation in the entire length of the EZ-Curl bars. I believe these are the finest EZ-Curl bars on the market. They’re
bar not to exceed .5mm (0.0197 in.). not the cheapest, but they represent the best long-term value. Built to the same
Ivanko’s standard is .25mm (0.010 in.). exacting standards as our American-made OB-20KG Olympic Bar, these bars
Anything better than 0.020 inches is have deep bends, which allow the user to relieve stress on his wrists. You will
notice the difference between this bar and all others, at once. Available in black
“really straight.” “Really straight” bars
oxide (OBZ-55) or stainless steel (OBZS-30). See our website for more details.
are “fully functional.” Regular readers of Interested Journal readers can obtain these bars direct from us by e-mailing
my articles know I am a strong proponent [email protected].
of “fully functional” products. [See, e.g.,
“What is a Fully Functional Urethane
Grip Plate” (NTFJ, 2003)]. This means
straight bars and round plates. Anything
less leads to “performance frustration.”
The above explanation is important. If you

4
realize that we have to bend a bar straight, Another common way to bend a test” on 11 Olympic bars to determine
it’s easier to understand that you can also bar is to do bench squats, which the best bar to sell to serious power
bend a bar crooked, or out of straightness. are deep knee bends stopping rack trainers. Jim was the head
when the buttocks touches the bench. of research and development for
HERE’S HOW BARS GET BENT: The bending occurs when you can’t finish Universal Gym Equipment, the major
the last repetition and get stuck in the strength equipment manufacturers at

1
There is a misconception that an bottom position with no alternative but that time. He tested Uddeholm, Eleiko,
Olympic bar will bend if the plates to throw the bar off your shoulders. The York, Ivanko, Superior, Hastings, Texas
are loaded on a bar that is left on loaded bar will drop three to four feet Power Bar, Malone, and Billard. His test
a narrow bench press overnight. That’s before hitting the nine inch wide bench consisted of dropping weight-loaded
highly unlikely. But it’s a rumor that I in the center of the bar. This will “take Olympic bars from a three-foot height
hear time and again. out” all but the best bars, and it does not onto 1-1/4” diameter heat-treated
do the bench any good either. power rack safety bars. He started

2
All the imported bars from China with 350 pounds and increased

5
have a very low tensile strength Bars rarely bend from dropping the weight until the bar developed a
and lower yield strength. Their when the plates hit first. It permanent bend. Seven bars developed
bars can be bent by doing an explosive almost always happens when the bends ranging from 1/2” to 3” in the
deep knee bend with 300 pounds and bar hits first, such as on a power rack. 350 – 700 pound range. Eleiko and
reversing direction fast. This makes me wonder why, with all the Udeholm made it to 700 pounds
great designers around, none of the gym before bending. Two bars made it to

3
Bars made from American steel equipment manufacturers can design and 1100 pounds without developing bends:
of 130,000 to 150,000 PSI will manufacture a shock absorbing power the Ivanko OBX-20KG and the Hastings
hold up on light floor exercises rack, or a power rack designed so that if Manganese Alloy bar. The Ivanko bar
and bench pressing but are usually bent a loaded bar drops, the plates hit first. at that time was made of 185,000 PSI
by dropping them on the floor or on the steel.
power rack. And this is often the fault of Back in 1987, a strength equipment All of this reminds me of an
the power rack design as much as it is of designer by the name of Jim Sutherland interesting story. Over 15 years ago, one
the strength of the bar. conducted what he termed a “serious of the biggest manufacturers of gym

SPRING 2012 | 31
equipment sent us a purchase order for else in order to be perceived as a first order to offer it at a “competitive price.”
2,000 power rack stop pins. They said class operation. An Olympic bar made
they would pay us $20 each. (A $40,000 from high tensile strength steel that is COMING NEXT:
order was a lot in those days). There straightened to a high tolerance may cost Our next article will be an installment
was a notation on the P.O. that read, more, but you only have to buy it once. of ASK TOM IVANKO. Please send
“Must be made from Ivanko Olympic bar And club members will be able to see your questions on gym equipment &
material.” I called the buyer and asked, and feel the difference. freeweights to [email protected]
“Why do you want us to use our Olympic
bar material for the stop pins? Aren’t FURTHER READING: Ivanko Barbell Company was founded by Tom
you afraid that the rigidity will cause You can find a host of articles like this Lincir in 1967 and is the most respected
the Olympic bar to bend on impact?” on my website www.ivankobarbell. manufacturer of professional and commercial
He replied, “That’s no problem. We com. Thereon, I cover not only Olympic grade barbell and dumbbell products worldwide.
don’t guarantee the Olympic bars!” We bars, but urethane, plates, dumbbells, Your comments or questions are welcome.
refused the order. It was the wrong thing and other fitness equipment. Whether Contact Tom at [email protected] or write
to do on principle. Unfortunately, that’s you’re specifically interested in Ivanko to: (P.O. Box 1470, San Pedro, CA 90733
the way much of the industry thinks products or not, I encourage you to read U.S.A. }
today. Instead of doing what’s best for these articles to acquaint yourself with
gym owners, they do what’s best for the tenants of quality before you buy For product information, pricing, and
themselves. new equipment for your facility. In our newsletter sign-up, see our website
A bent Olympic bar has no place in many articles, I discuss the “tricks” and ivankobarbell.com or call (310) 514-1155.
a facility that has invested in top quality “shortcuts” manufacturers use to lower
equipment and furnishings everywhere the quality of free weight product in

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32 NATIONAL FITNESS TRADE JOURNAL