Why is it that people...

Rucifer · Post by **Rucifer** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:52 pm

Don't like to use the clips on barbells when they are bench pressing. Or sometimes I see it with squats too. To keep the plates from shifting. Is there some benefit that I am missing or something?

Post by **stuward** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:00 pm

It's easier to dump the weight off if they get stuck at the bottom. Probably it's more for convenience, especially during warmups where you change the weight a lot.

Pauly420 · Post by **Pauly420** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:01 pm

laziness, i do it all the time. Unless im maxing out i see no need because as long as your form is perfect the weights tend not to move alot.

Rucifer · Post by **Rucifer** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:13 pm

Yea I edited my first post- I mean to keep plates from shifting, not barbells. But I guess that does make sense. I'd be worried though- cause my left side I always seem to push up first, maybe its stronger or something who knows. Very rarely do I keep the barbell at a 180 degree angle the entire lift.

Rik-Blades · Post by **Rik-Blades** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:16 pm

Stupidity...the human condition.

Same reason people dont wear seat belts, it will never happen to them because they're perfect! (Not).

Seriously, how long does it take to slide a collar on? a second?

Post by **Jungledoc** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:06 pm

When you're lifting under 80 or 85% you're likely to be using pretty good form, and not rocking around. The weights are unlikely to shift. When I'm shoulder pressing by cleaning the bar from the floor I bounce all around and the weights shift a lot, so I almost always use collars. On heavy DLs I can really feel it if the weights shift unevenly, so I also tend to use collars then. But bench, not going real heavy I never do. On rare occasions I bench a bar without a spotter around, and my thought is that if I really had to I'd tip the bar and dump the weight on the tile. Actually, there are a couple of dimples in the tile already, so I'm not the first one with this idea.

Post by **Ironman** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 9:42 pm

I have never had a problem with it, so I don't use them.

hoosegow · Post by **hoosegow** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 11:58 pm

I've had cause to use them several times. Twice fairly recently. Once while I was squatting at a 24-hour Fitness I was visiting. The bar was one of those really slick ones. I was in the middle of a warm up set of 135. The left plate all but slid off. Someone was gracious enough to catch it and slide it back.

The other time I was squatting 455. The bar slipped down my back on my last rep and I couldn't get it up on the pins. Just as I was about to just squat down on the rack, someone saw what was happening and ran and grabbed the barbell. He grabbed one side and it was all I could do not to lose it. If I hadn't had collars on, they would have slipped off and someone could have gotten hurt.

The only advantage I can see by not using them is if you are lifting alone and have to dump the weights like Doc said.

Post by **ironmaiden708** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:06 am

Rik-Blades wrote:Stupidity...the human condition.

Same reason people dont wear seat belts, it will never happen to them because they're perfect! (Not).

Seriously, how long does it take to slide a collar on? a second?

Excuse me? So not using collars on a bar equates to stupidity, I must be one of those morons then. No, not a chance. Not wearing a seatbelt is downright stupid you gain no benefits by not wearing it other than getting out of your car 2 seconds faster. Collars if you are benching alone allows you to dump the plates instead of trying to crawl out and potentially causing injury.

Rik-Blades · Post by **Rik-Blades** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 6:23 am

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bYcGwMht6L8&NR=1

and

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=MRP_VvW6n ... re=related

No collars is fine if you train completely alone. Trouble is, when you're in a gym and in trouble, people will jump in and try to help you and probably earn themselves a broken foot (or lose teeth!). I still mainain it's generally a dumb ass idea.

Pauly420 · Post by **Pauly420** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:36 am

nobody really comes near me when im lifting unless i ask them to. Maybe in UK gyms cant afford enough space to spread out equipment *shrug*

Skull_Crusher · Post by **Skull_Crusher** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:31 pm

ironmaiden708 wrote:
Rik-Blades wrote:Stupidity...the human condition.

Same reason people dont wear seat belts, it will never happen to them because they're perfect! (Not).

Seriously, how long does it take to slide a collar on? a second?
Excuse me? So not using collars on a bar equates to stupidity, I must be one of those morons then. No, not a chance. Not wearing a seatbelt is downright stupid you gain no benefits by not wearing it other than getting out of your car 2 seconds faster. Collars if you are benching alone allows you to dump the plates instead of trying to crawl out and potentially causing injury.

Agreed. If youre lifting alone and going heavy the stupid person is the one with collars on! Only time i ever use them is when im lifting light and fast, its almost assured ill get some shifting then. But these are with a weight amount thats so light i know i can get out without dumping if need be.

pdellorto · Post by **pdellorto** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:41 pm

Skull_Crusher wrote:Agreed. If youre lifting alone and going heavy the stupid person is the one with collars on!

Even when I lift alone, I always keep collars on. I figure there is much more inherent risk in having a plate slide - and then needing to adjust to the weight imbalance - on a limit lift than there is from ditching.

I'd rather have to ditch the bar than worry that if I pull or push too hard on one side I'm going to have shifting weight. If I wanted shifting weight, I'd go lighter and go for a sandbag or heavy bag.

If ditching is really not possible, I go for dumbbells or a lift with no "dumping" concerns - deadlifts, rows, one-arm DB pressing, etc.

I don't think you're an idiot for skipping collars, but I don't think I am for insisting on them when I lift, either.

Blue Running Man · Post by **Blue Running Man** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 1:15 pm

I saw some guy lose a 10 off the left side when benching yesterday. The bars at my gym are very slick. Normally I don't have a problem with weight shifting but these bars must be greased up or something. I found out the hard way, on day 1 warming up with 135 bench almost lost it.

From now on, I always use collars. However I would rarely use them at my past gyms. There are some lifts where they are required, there are some lifts where they are not necessary. It would depend on the user, and his experience with the exercise and equipment to determine if collars are necessary.

Skull_Crusher · Post by **Skull_Crusher** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 1:20 pm

pdellorto wrote:
Skull_Crusher wrote:Agreed. If youre lifting alone and going heavy the stupid person is the one with collars on!
Even when I lift alone, I always keep collars on. I figure there is much more inherent risk in having a plate slide - and then needing to adjust to the weight imbalance - on a limit lift than there is from ditching.

I'd rather have to ditch the bar than worry that if I pull or push too hard on one side I'm going to have shifting weight. If I wanted shifting weight, I'd go lighter and go for a sandbag or heavy bag.

If ditching is really not possible, I go for dumbbells or a lift with no "dumping" concerns - deadlifts, rows, one-arm DB pressing, etc.

I don't think you're an idiot for skipping collars, but I don't think I am for insisting on them when I lift, either.

I guess it matters how balanced you are. I dont have any issue of one side of the bar going higher and having weights slide. Ive never had a plate even come close to sliding off on its own. Like i said they move sometimes when i go light but thats just because of the speed im lifting at. But even then, it just moves slightly. Or maybe i just have a good bar or something..