Alright, let’s talk about this PowerBlock barbell thing. My garage gym was getting seriously cluttered with plates everywhere. Looked messy, and honestly, swapping plates for different lifts got old fast. I stumbled across the idea of an adjustable barbell, kinda like those adjustable dumbbells everyone seems to have now.
Getting Started With It
So, I decided to pull the trigger on the PowerBlock barbell. The box arrived, pretty heavy as you’d expect. First thing I did was haul it into the garage. Unboxing it wasn’t too bad, mostly pulling out foam and plastic wrap. The bar itself felt solid right away, which was a good sign. It came with the weight blocks already loaded onto the storage stand, or cradle, whatever you call it.
Figuring out the weight change system was the next step. It uses those selector pins, similar to their dumbbells. You slide the pin into the slot for the weight you want. Seemed simple enough. I picked it up empty first, just the bar. Felt okay, bit thicker than my old standard bar maybe? Then I tried adding some weight. Lined up the carriage thing, slid the pin in for, say, 60 lbs total. Clicked into place. I lifted it off the stand. Felt balanced, no rattling which I was worried about.
Using the Barbell Day-to-Day
My first workout involved a few basic lifts. Bench press, overhead press, and some rows.
- Bench Press: Felt pretty normal. Easy to rack and unrack from my setup. Changing weight between sets took a few seconds longer than just throwing plates on, ’cause you gotta put it back in the cradle, pull the pin, slide it, put the pin back. Not terrible, but noticeable.
- Overhead Press: Again, felt solid. The balance was good, no weird shifting.
- Rows: Worked fine here too. Grip felt decent, maybe a little smooth for my liking when hands got sweaty, but manageable.
Over the next few weeks, I used it for pretty much everything – squats, deadlifts (Romanian style mostly, wasn’t sure about dropping heavy traditional deadlifts with it), lunges, curls. Loading it up towards its max weight was straightforward. Just keep sliding that pin down the stack. It definitely saved a ton of space. No more piles of plates looking like a junkyard. That was the biggest win, for sure.
Some Thoughts After Using It
Okay, so what’s the real deal after using it a while? Space saving is huge. That’s the main reason I got it, and it delivered big time. Going from an empty bar to a heavy weight, or vice-versa, is way quicker than stripping down a traditional bar loaded with lots of small plates.
But, it’s not perfect. Changing weights quickly for something like drop sets? Forget it. You gotta rack it, change pins, unrack it. Takes too long. Also, the feel… it’s not quite a standard barbell. The diameter, the way the weight sits in the blocks, it just feels a bit different. Not bad, just different. Took some getting used to. And yeah, the cost. It wasn’t cheap upfront compared to a basic bar and used plates you might find.
Overall though, for my home gym where space is tight and I’m usually just doing straightforward strength training, it works pretty darn well. I unpacked it, set it up, figured out the pins, and started lifting. It does what it says on the tin. Saves space, feels solid enough, and lets me get my workouts done without tripping over iron all day. Pretty happy with the move.
