What is a Barbell Stand?

A barbell stand is a common piece of equipment in many home gyms or mainstream membership gyms. As the name indicates, the barbell stand is used to hold barbells and barbell equipment for your workout. Capable of holding an entire gym’s worth of barbell weights, the stand can keep organized a variety of different bars and the many plates that can be used with weight lifting equipment.

A complementary piece to your barbell bench, the barbell stand is usually a vertical rack that holds barbell sets horizontally, one above the next. Usually holding between four and eight barbells, the stand allows enough room for you to easily remove each bar, even with weights left on the bars. Other barbell fitness equipment like clamps and plates can be held separately on hooks or knobs on the sides of the barbell stand.

One of the biggest space consumers in home gyms and other gyms, the barbell stand can condense home gym equipment into a small space, allowing more room for the actual barbell exercises. Racks can fit conveniently into the corner of a room, and allow sturdy support for the heaviest equipment, holding it conveniently above the ground.

The barbell stand is capable of holding a variety of different bars, from the longer squat bar, to the shorter curl bar, to the more common bench press bar. Weights can be left on the bar when positioned on the rack properly. If heavier weight is left on one bar, it should be complemented with heavy weight on the reverse side of the barbell stand.

Barbell stands are best positioned on carpet or other padding, so as not to damage the floor, and can be spaced anywhere in the gym. Some barbell stands feature one-sided designs that serve as interesting decorative pieces. The one-sided design slants backward and holds weight only on two legs, but uses the design to take up less space and hold the weight.

Another popular type of barbell stand features one piece that holds all of the weight plates, organized by size from heaviest on the bottom to lightest on the top. To compliment this first piece, a second barbell stand piece allows all of the barbells to stand straight up in one holder, similar to an umbrella stand.