Here’s how you determine what length of barbell you need.
Table of Contents
Quick Chart of Olympic Barbell Lengths
| 7 ft bar | 6-6.5 ft bar | 5 ft bar | |
|---|---|---|---|
| inside shaft length | 51-52″ | 46-52″ | 33-35″ |
| sleeve length | 15-16″ | 10-12″ | 9-10″ |
| weight | 44 lb (20kg) or 45 lb | 28-35 lb | 25 lb |
| power rack compatible | yes | some bars | no |
Best Overall Choice: 7 Foot Barbell
A 7 foot barbell is usually around 51-52″ long between the shoulders / inside collars. Each of the sleeves is about 16-17″. Add another couple inches for the shoulders (the thick parts that stop the weights you slide on) and you have about 86″ or 7ft.
This is generally the length of barbell you should get to do most barbell exercises, including squats, deadlifts, bench presses, curls, and several other accessory movements.
Your height does not matter much. A 5ft tall user can use a 7ft barbell the same as anyone else.
The Best Barbell Length for Bench Pressing
If you are using a bench with attached barbell holders like in the image above, measure the width of the rack to the outside edges of the steel tubing as shown. This will determine what size barbell you need.
The shoulders of the barbell (that you slide weight plates up against on the sleeve) need to be farther apart than this measurement, so that the collars are sitting on the outside of both posts. This makes it so there is no interference when you rack the barbell and when you load and unload weight plates.
For any olympic-width benches, which is the case for most high-profile or chain gyms in the US, the above measurement is going to be about 47-49″ wide on all of them. To fit it, you generally need a 7ft barbell, which has about 51-52″ of shaft, leaving a couple inches of slop in either direction for safety when re-racking the bar slightly off-center.
The same goes for power racks, in the section further below.
Back in the day, bench press units were made like the above, where the barbell holders were only wide enough to get your head between, and would grip the barbell outside the holders instead of between them. In the pic he’s using a 7ft bar. You could use a 5ft or 6ft bar also, which would actually be easier because it wouldn’t be in as much danger of getting off balance. Any serious bench press units today are not made that narrow. You can still find somewhat narrow ones like this, but they are the cheap variety in sporting goods stores that you should not be buying. The major disadvantage of a narrow rack is it makes for a horribly unstable barbell when you’re loading each plate on one side at a time.
Barbell Length for a Power Rack or Squat Rack
Virtually all power racks and squat racks (half racks) made in the last 20 years are 47-49″ wide to fit a 7ft barbell, as above.
A few 6ft barbells like the Rogue C-70S will also fit on a power rack, referred to as “rackable” 6ft bars. As you can see from the pic, it’s much like a 7ft barbell but with each sleeve cut short by 6″. It won’t hold as many plates, and of course due to being shorter it is a bit lighter.
For Independent Squat Stands
Independent squat stands are 2-piece semi-portable designs that you adjust to whatever distance apart you want. They are a different matter. The best way to use these is set them to olympic width just like a squat rack and use a 7ft barbell. You’ll have to measure the distance and put markers on the floor.
You can set these to any distance apart you want. Be careful that they don’t get in the way of your feet if you’re squatting off them. As you can see in the pic above, they can get in the way pretty easily, even with a 7ft bar. For that reason these kinds of stands are not recommended, and even less so with a short bar that would force you to bring the stands closer.
Barbell Length for Women
There are a lot of women’s bars made nowadays. These bars are around 6ft long, rackable as described above, and most notably they have a thin 25mm shaft, which is easier for women and anyone with smaller hands to get a good grip on compared to a 28-30mm shaft that most 7ft bars have.
Technically these 25mm bars are women’s olympic weightlifting bars. Olympic weightlifting refers to the snatch and the clean-and-jerk, both done by lifting off the floor and not a rack.
Women who are not doing olympic weightlifting can simply use any 7ft bar. They can opt for a shorter bar if the starting weight of 45 lb is too much. For pressing movements like bench pressing or squatting, the 25mm shaft offers no advantage and is generally less comfortable.
Short Barbells for Accessory Work
Occasionally lifters like to have an extra 5ft barbell for lighter accessory work away from the power rack. These accessory movements might be things like curls, tricep extensions, or rows. These 5ft bars are less awkward to move around and serve the purpose fine.
Standard Barbells
I’ve excluded standard barbells from this article, because they’re generally just used in cheap home gym setups or for lightweight (5-40 lbs) barbell group training classes. Like olympic barbells, the length of a standard barbell is anywhere from 5ft to 7ft.
Can you recommend any bars with greater than the standard 51.5 between shoulders? My rack seems wider than most (51”) so standard bars are problematic. I have found squat bars that are wider but they also have a bigger diameter which will be a detriment to other areas like deadlifting.
I can’t think of any other bars with a normal diameter. You could get sandwich J hooks, which will give you extra room because they are often narrower and stand off from the rack farther. To help the same issue on the safety bars, I think pin-and-pipe safety bars would be the most narrow for the same effect.
Can a 6 ft standard bar fit on a Olympic rack?
I don’t know of any that will fit right.
What can i if my Titian multibar is not fitting in my Rep PR 4000?
Not fitting in what way? The Titan multi grip bar i see is rackable.
Phew! Finally I found and article that cuts straight to the point minus all the necessary blabber. Thank you Davis this information was so very useful for me to make a decision on what bar to buy. :))
Hey sir,
I’m 6’0 tall skiny af. What length of barbell should i get for compound exercises? I’m a beginner with only aim to attain healthy BMI so that i look normal.
Your height doesn’t matter. Also see here for a lower starting weight if needed:
https://www.tworepcave.com/3222/how-to-pick-a-lightweight-training-barbell/
I am 4´10 and I want to get stronger how long should my bar be
Your height doesn’t matter. Also see here for a lower starting weight if needed: https://www.tworepcave.com/3222/how-to-pick-a-lightweight-training-barbell/
There’s another perfectly valid reason for a “shorty.” In marginal cases, it can help with basement height. Also, the best “shorty” bars aren’t any cheaper than standard length ones.
Using a dozen or two steel (not iron) change plates from Weight It Out or Micro Gainz, or using urethane “dumbbell bumpers” from Rogue on a shorty represents a great low-ceiling adaptation. It only works up to about 180 lbs, but that’s okay for many people. It also works with chains or elastics, to go higher.
The longer your bar is, the easier it is to hit the ceiling. Just imagine a bar that’s 20′ long, so it would look like a high-wire balance pole – absurdly long. The shaft length between the collars is still the standard 52″ size, but there’s eight feet of loadable sleeve on either side for this imaginary bar. Yes, this is a ridiculous exaggeration, but it’s just to get a point across.
Now imagine how precise your movement has to be if you’re doing a clean and jerk below a low basement ceiling. You can’t be leaning an inch to one side, or the opposite tip of the bar (10′ away from your head) will hit the ceiling. Make sense?
Conversely, if you have a slightly shorter than standard bar (still with the same 52″ shaft length between the collars), then you have slightly less chance of hitting the ceiling.
BTW, this isn’t an esoteric use. Most American men in a standard US postwar suburban basement will hit the ceiling with full-sized Oly bumpers, but many can get away with this modification.
…and weights of a shorter diameter.
Good points! I’ve banged my 7ft bars into the ceiling and other things sometimes too, and I’m sure a shorty would cut that down. I also discovered a critical problem when I tried using a rack-mounted vertical barbell holder with a 7ft bar under an 8ft ceiling.
I bang my standard 6ft bar into the ceiling as my gym is in the spare bedroom. Good job I saw this as I’m getting ready to get a 7ft Olympic bar and possibly high diameter plates. Maybe i can find some stubby plates..
A bunch of 10lb plates might work okay, up to a certain weight anyway. You could also hang chains or sandbags from the bar.
The main and in fact only culprit for me will be shoulder presses. But I guess I could alternate them between dumbbells and seated shoulder presses with the long bar..
Thinking about buying a 5ft Olympic barbell because of my height and being a beginner in lifting. Would a 5ft bar fit the standard squat rack?
No… Some 6ft bars will fit but if you think about it, a 5ft bar will not fit on a 4ft wide rack. There would be no space left for the bar shoulders, plates and collars.
Due to space constraints, I want to deadlift in my power rack. However, it’s very close – only 1″ of space on either side of the rack. I was thinking of selling my current barbell and getting a longer shaft barbell – something along the lines of maybe Rogue’s Deadlift Barbell, but ideally to be used for all my movements. I’ve had a hard time finding longer shaft barbells apart from rogue, and found your articles really helpful in the past – do you have any suggestions on this?
The only longer ones I know of are the deadlift bars and these squat bars
https://www.tworepcave.com/9314/specialty-squat-bars-comparison/
Have you tried getting a second set of collars, and putting that on the bar up against the shoulders before loading your weights? Then using your other collars outside of the weights, like you normally would.
It would keep the weight secure while leaving a gap between the collar and the weights, so you can easily avoid dropping your weights onto your rack.
My Squat rack is 45 inches wide and my standard 7 foot barbell does not fit The collars on the bars do not fit into the J-hook. Any suggestions on what size bar I should get?
I’ve never seen a 7ft bar that would not fit on a rack that size. Do you have a link to a place that sells it, or a pic?
Anyone know a fully stainless steel bar or hard chrome bar with 18inch sleeves? I only see Cerberus at 20inch but it uses zinc despite costing nearly £500