A power bar is built for three lifts and nothing else. The shaft is 29mm, which is the standard diameter across powerlifting federations, and the extra millimetre over a weightlifting bar makes it noticeably stiffer. That stiffness is the whole point: under a maximal squat you want the bar to stay where you put it, not oscillate.
About the photographs. Product photography on this page is illustrative. We are licensing real images of each bar and will swap them in per product as they arrive — until then the pictures show a generic unbranded bar of that type, not the product named beside them.
The same 12 bars as a table, on the figures that decide it.
Every figure is the manufacturer’s or retailer’s own published specification. An em dash (—) means they do not publish that figure — it is never a number we have guessed. “Tensile” is tensile strength in thousands of PSI. “Rotation” is bushings, needle bearings, or both in the same sleeve. No prices are listed here, deliberately: check the current price with the shop.
Including the answers that tell you this is not the category you want.
You can, and it will be worse at them. The sleeves spin slowly, so the bar resists rotating in your hands during a snatch or a clean, and there is almost no whip to help you. It is also usually fully centre-knurled, which is unpleasant in a front rack. If you only occasionally dabble in the Olympic lifts, a power bar is survivable; if you train them properly, get a bearing bar.
Whip is how much the bar bends and keeps bending under load. On a deadlift bar, whip is desirable — you pull the slack out and the plates leave the floor a fraction later, which makes the lift easier. Under a squat or a bench press, whip is a liability, because a bar still oscillating when you start to stand is a bar fighting you. Power bars are built to have as little of it as possible.
Almost never. Calibration means the bar weighs 20kg to within about fifty grams rather than to within two hundred. That matters when a record attempt is being ratified; it does not matter in your garage. Spend the difference on plates or a rack.
Steel grade, knurl machining consistency, straightness tolerance, finish and whether the maker has paid for federation approval. The honest answer is that the gap between a good £250 power bar and a £900 certified one is almost entirely accounted for by certification and tolerance, both of which only matter if you compete.
The other 6 categories, and what each is built to do.
A 28mm shaft on needle bearings, so the sleeves spin fast enough to let the bar turn in your hands through a snatch or a clean. Marked to IWF grip spacing.
See the olympic weightlifting bars →11 barsOne bar for everything — 28mm to 28.5mm, dual knurl marks for both grip standards, moderate spin. What most home gyms and most mixed-training gyms actually need.
See the multipurpose bars →8 bars15kg, a 25mm shaft and 201cm overall — the IWF specification for women’s weightlifting. The thinner shaft also suits anyone whose hands struggle to close round 28mm.
See the women's 15kg bars →5 barsA 27mm shaft and a longer span between the sleeves, so the bar bends before the plates leave the floor. Aggressive knurl, no centre knurl. Not for squatting or benching.
See the deadlift bars →3 bars32mm to 35mm and 25kg, fully knurled and deliberately stiff. The extra diameter keeps a heavy bar dead still across your back instead of oscillating.
See the squat bars →5 barsLight bars for learning the lifts, and 6ft bars for garages where a 7ft bar will not fit between the walls. Lower load ratings — check them before loading up.
See the technique and short bars →