How to Improve Cold Hard Steel Free-weight

My most favorite product is free weights, simple, hard, cold, inflexible molded steel- free weights. Just about impossible to break, and will last a life-time. Personally, used plates and bars are as good as new except that used are not so shiny and pretty and as long as they are not bent.

Since I was 17, I have been lifting weights in one form or another. It is difficult to find something about that needs changing. One could be making them more rust resistant. Not everyone lifts in the perfect environment so, if you work out in a basement as I do; moisture has a way of affecting them. If you work out in a basement as I do; moisture and humidity has a way of affecting them.

You need to spray and wipe them down with WD-40. It does get a bit messy grabbing a bar that is oxidizing and your hands are coated with rust. Since I do the laundry anyway, I just wipe them on my pants but I know others don't have that luxury.

Rust can make a smooth rolling sleeve on the ends of an Olympic bar stick and that becomes an issue of balance. It is good to shoot some WD-40 down through the caps and spin the sleeve around a few times. Another item but not of major concern is the knurling. Old bars naturally have much smoother or almost no knurling after years of use.

On the other hand, there are some bars that are not advised for those weak-gripped; letting the bar slide in their hands because the knurling is so deep and sharp it will scrap your hands raw and bleeding in no time. For many people, the knurling is not important, but for those who lift heavy or compete, that knurling comes in real handy when your hands sweat and your chalk is gone. Less aggressive knurling would be a nice improvement.

Maybe galvanized rubber could be applied to the edges of plates that are also affordable so that when you drop the bar you won't wake the dead or crack the floor if you don't have gym flooring. There really is not much more that can be done to this simple tool. Bars come in many shapes and sizes while the plates also are vary by weight; some by color, size and coating for those who seem to have an issue with the standard black and gray.

Other than rust inhibition, there is nothing else I can think of that has not been done. The best innovation is making plates hexagonal with hand grips on each side. This increases safety when handling plates on and off bars. Those who have dropped a 45 on their foot know exactly what I mean. The grips allow for greater flexibility; using the grips and not making a weakening grip a safety hazard such as front plate raises or using light plates for warm-ups.

This article went a bit off topic; out of the box but it was necessary since talking about rust prevention was not going very far.