Nothing But The Barbell

Minimal Equipment, Maximum Results

Tips and Suggestions for Designing and Implementing a Home Gym Workout with Nothing but a Barbell

     You really don’t need much equipment to get great results from training.  In fact, sometimes the more equipment you have—an array of barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, benches, racks, and other implements—the worse your results.  Why?  Too many choices.  After all, you can go to almost any big, corporate gym anywhere in America—gyms with all of the machines and weights you can imagine—and see that most trainees aren’t getting good results.  So, yeah, I often think this is because lifters have too many choices.

     You could cancel your gym membership today, head to your local sports store and buy nothing but an Olympic barbell set with no more than 300 pounds, and get great results with only that barbell.  Oh, you’d also save a lot of money in the long run, too.  You’ll probably spend $300 dollars for that one piece of equipment—give or take a few bucks—but it’ll last you a lifetime.  At the start of this century, I did just that and I still train with those weights.  Of course, I eventually added a lot more to my home gym over a couple of years, but you don’t need anything else.

     Why do a lot of guys go to prison—not all jails have a huge weight yard like you see in the movies—and come out so jacked?  Well, the first reason is lack of free will.  They don’t have all of the options in life that those of us who are “free” have.  (This isn’t the place for philosophizing, but I must mention that “freedom” to do whatever you want often leads to slavery.  Make yourself a “slave” to discipline, however, and you will experience true freedom.)  The second, and it’s a causal contingent of that lack of free will, is because they train each and every day with whatever minimal equipment they do have, or lack of any equipment whatsoever.  You can do the same thing yourself with very little equipment.

     For this article, we’ll discuss training with, literally, nothing but one barbell.  You can, of course, add in bodyweight exercises such as pushups, bodyweight squats, and whatnot, but that’s outside of the scope of what I wish to discuss here.  Because, believe it or not, there are enormous benefits that can be reaped from just using the barbell for your entire program.  Even at the house, you can give yourself too many options, end up doing too much, and not getting the kind of results you would have gotten from only focusing on barbell work.  We’ll also start with the assumption that you only have 300 pounds, which might limit you from doing really heavy barbell training, such as deadlifts.  Also, these suggestions will work for you even if you are already quite strong.  Perhaps you can deadlift 500 pounds.  No problem.  You can still train with no more than 300 pounds and still get fantastic results, and still train heavy by selecting the proper movements.

     When I write nothing but the barbell, I mean it.  No bench of any sort.  No rack, or any other implement, that allows you to unrack the barbell from it.  Just a barbell on the ground.

     There are great benefits from doing this.  For one, it means that every single lift you do will, at the very least, start with one of the “big 4.”  If you don’t know what I call the big 4, it’s the idea that, in order to get great results, no matter your goals (whether you want to simply look great in your underwear or want to be the strongest dude walking the planet), you must do these 4 things each and every week in your training: squat heavy things, pick heavy stuff off the ground, press heavy weights over your head, and drag or carry heavy implements.  If you do the big 4, you will get great results.

     You may have noticed that the big 4 doesn’t require any benching or curling.  There are a lot of guys who go to the gym and only train their chests and arms.  They want muscular chests and big arms because those, at least in their minds, though in our culture as well, are symbols of what makes a man “manly,” so to speak.  Of course, most good programs do include some benching and curling movements, but they aren’t the first things.  Those are secondary, or even tertiary, in order of importance for the real lifter.

     If you want to make serious gains, the first thing you must do is work the muscles of your legs and back.  Both of those muscle groups are important, and work in accordance with one another.  Heavy squatting movements work your back, and heavy pulling movements work your legs, too.  The muscles on the rear of your body are more important than those on your front when it comes to mass, strength, and power.  After squatting and pulling, overhead work comes next in importance.  But overhead training—when it’s done standing—also works your back and legs to a great extent, along with your “core” muscles, another important aspect.

     The best movements to start with in your barbell-only workout are the quick lifts.  Variations of power cleans, snatches, and high pulls have a great benefit in that they involve all of your leg and back muscles.  When it comes to snatches, you, in fact, end up with 3 of the big 4 in one singular lift.  To put it simply, they involve a lot of muscle groups at one time, and they are the muscle groups that matter.  Although it’s outside of the purview of this essay, they are also great for athletes.  Even if you’re not an athlete, and are only after aesthetics, they are still beneficial.

     So, start your barbell-only workout with at least one quick lift variation.  Even better would be two, though you might need to start with just one, especially if you’re not accustomed to doing any of the quick lifts before.  Use either the power clean, the power snatch, or the high pull.  Do the “regular” version of these 3 to begin with.  Once you’ve adapted to them, you can start doing either hang variations of all 3 or flat-footed versions.  Flat-footed quick lift variations are little-used, probably because the lifter is forced to not use as much weight, but they might be the best modification for the bodybuilder.

     Quick lifts have made a bit of a comeback in recent years.  Forgotten for decades by the average trainee, you can, most likely, trace their resurgence to CrossFit and similar “functional” workout routines.  When you see them in gyms these days, however, they are usually performed with Olympic “bumper” plates.  Bumper plates are fine for weightlifters, but the lifter who is looking for the maximum in muscle mass is better off doing them with standard plates.  With bumper weights, you just drop the weight at the top, taking away the eccentric portion of the lift, and also, therefore, taking away a lot of the muscle-building effects of the movement.  When training at the house, then, make sure you control the weight and set the barbell down without dropping it.  Besides, you don’t want to crack your garage cement or the floor of the weight room in your house.

     Because your form can degrade quickly, no pun intended, on the quick lifts, keep your reps to 5 maximum.  Yes, I’m well aware that in “functional” training circles, you see quite a bit of high-rep power cleans and snatches.  It’s not a good idea.  Not even for experienced lifters who have great form, but even less for lifters who have yet to perfect the form needed for maximal lifts.  So, keep your reps at 5 or less.

     If you’re brand new to quick lifts, start by simply doing progressively heavier sets (ramps).  Work up to 1 hard, but not-all out set, whatever your set/rep range.  Do 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, or anything similar.  You can also do ramps of 5s, followed by triples, or ramps of 5s, followed by triples, followed by doubles.  You can also just start with triples or doubles and slowly work up to a hard (but, once again, not all-out) set.  You might do 8 to 10 sets of triples or doubles, for instance.  Even though the sets are high, the total workload won’t be.

     Once you have adapted to them, you can do more top-end sets.  You might do 5 progressively heavier sets, then 3 to 5 sets (or whatever rep range) with the same weight at the end.  So, various set/rep schemes might include any of these: 5x5, 6x3, 7x2, 5x5,5,3,3,2, 6x3,3,3,2,2,2, or anything of a similar bent.  You can also work up to a top-end set, and then drop down and do some straight sets with a lighter weight.  So, you might do 6 progressively heavier triples, then drop down to whatever you used on, say, your 4th set and do 3 or 4 more triples with that.

     One good idea is to decide on a total number of reps you might do for a lift, such as 15, 20, or 25 reps.  No matter the exact number of sets or reps, just stop whenever you reach that total number.

     When you are finished with your quick lift(s), move on to overhead work.  The simplest movement would be the military press.  On it, use the same kind of set/rep range that you utilized for the quick lifts, though you can also push your reps slightly higher, since you don’t have to worry about form degradation.  You can also add back-off sets with a higher rep range, as well.  So, perhaps you do 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, then do 2 or 3 back-off sets of 8 reps to finish.

     On the military presses, play around with some different grips.  Typically, at least to start with, use the grip that you use for your power cleans.  After a few weeks of that, go to both wider and/or narrower grips.  This will ensure not just complete shoulder development, but will help with whatever weak point you might have in the press.

     In addition to the military presses, you can do behind-the-neck presses, Bradford presses (alternating back and forth with military and behind-the-neck), and push presses.  It’s good to start with the military presses, then switch over to push presses once you begin to get fatigued.

     You can also combine your cleans with your presses by setting the bar down on each and every rep.  Do this as a stand-alone movement, or when you’re finished with both your regular cleans and your overhead work.

     After your quick lifts and overhead work, you can do some rows and/or curls.  Bent-over rows are good.  Do them with both wide grips and close grips, overhand and underhand.  You can also do some upright rows.  They get a bad rap these days as supposedly being bad for your rotator cuffs, but they were a favorite of old-school bodybuilders, especially in the so-called “Golden Era” of Arnold and his Muscle Beach brethren.  When you’re finished whatever rowing movements you decide to utilize, move on to barbell curls.  Once again, you can do them with a varying width of grips, and you can also do reverse curls for more forearm involvement.

     Upon completion of your rows and/or curls, you can also do some lying movements on the ground.  These are optional, and I wouldn’t even bother including them at first.  However, you may want to add them for more total development or to simply stave off boredom.  Floor presses are good.  As are pullovers.  You can also do some lying triceps extensions if you need even more triceps work, though these may not be necessary if you’ve already done overhead presses, floor presses, and pullovers.  That’s a lot of triceps work, even if it's indirect, as is.

     Finally, at the end of the workout (perhaps you’ve been wondering about them already), you can do some squats and/or deadlifts.  For the squats, clean the barbell to your neck, and then press it behind your neck.  You can also simply do front squats and not even worry about doing any back squats since you won’t be able to use that heavy of a weight anyway.  This is the time when I would utilize higher reps.  Do 2 or 3 sets of 20 reps, perhaps even higher if you really want to test yourself, or do 5 or 6 sets of 10 reps or so.  Same thing for the deadlifts if you decide to use them.  I wouldn’t personally worry about deadlifting too frequently.  Perhaps at every 3rd or 4th workout.  That would be plenty.

     You can also finish your session with the old-school hack squat, named after the great strongman (as well as philosopher and true gentleman) George Hackenschmidt.  Stand in front of the barbell with it resting against your calves.  Squat down and grab it with either an over/under or a strict overhand grip.  Use the same kind of sets/reps that you would use for your squats and deadlifts.

     To give you a better visual understanding of everything we’ve discussed so far, here are a few example workouts, starting from beginner and moving to advanced.  Even if you have been training for years, but have never done some of the movements we’ve discussed, I would advise starting with the first workout.  After a few weeks, if you find that you need more work, at that point you can move on to one of the more advanced options.

Introductory Program

     Do the following on 3 non-consecutive days each week, such as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday:

• Power cleans or power snatches: 5x3, all progressively heavier sets.  You can select just one of these movements or alternate back and forth between each one or do 1 exercise for a few workouts followed by the other.

• Military presses: 5x5, progressively heavier sets

• Barbell curls: 5x5 - You can do these as progressively heavier sets, straight sets, or anything in between.

• Floor presses: 3x5, straight sets

• Front squats: 3x10-20, straight sets

     Do this program for 6 to 8 weeks.  At that point, you might then do the following program.

Basic Size and Strength Builder

     Once again, this is also a 3 days per week regimen.

• Power cleans: 5x5, all progressively heavier sets

• Power snatches: 5x2.  Once you are finished with the power cleans, drop down in weight and do 5 straight sets of 2 reps on snatches.

• Military presses: 5x5, 3x8.  Start by doing 5 progressively heavier sets, working up to 1 hard, but not quite all-out set.  When you are finished, drop down in weight and do 3 straight sets of 8 reps, utilizing a weight where you are only a rep or two shy of muscular failure.

• Bent-over rows: 3x5, straight sets

• Barbell curls: 3x5

• Floor bent-arm pullovers: 3x8

• Front squats: 3x10-20

• Hack squats: 3x10

Full-Body Split Program

     This is, yet again, a 3 days-per-week program.  However, on this one you will alternate back and forth between two different workouts.  For the 1st week, you would do Workout A on, say, Monday and Friday and Workout B on Wednesday.  The following week, you would reverse the order, doing B on M/F and A on W—rotate back and forth for the length of the program, but stick with it for 8 to 12 weeks.

Workout A

• Power cleans: 7x5,5,3,3,2,2,1, all progressively heavier

• Hang high pulls: 7x5, straight sets

• Military presses: 5x5, 3x5, same as the last program

• Barbell curls: 8x5, straight sets

• Front squats: 5x10, straight sets

• Suitcase carries: 2 to 4 sets.  To finish off your session, load the barbell with a fairly heavy weight.  Pick it up with one arm and walk with it as if you’re carrying a suitcase.  Make it hard but not all-out.  When you’re finished, switch arms and repeat to your starting point.

Workout B

• Power snatches: 7x5,5,3,3,2,2,1

• Behind-the-neck presses: 8x5.  Do 2 or 3 progressively heavier sets, then 5 or 6 straight sets of 8 reps

• Flat-footed cleans and presses: 5x5, straight sets.  Set the bar down on the ground after each rep, so that every single rep is a clean and press.

• Bent-over rows: 8x5, straight sets

• Floor presses/pullovers: 5x8

• Snatch-grip deadlifts: 5x10, straight sets

• Suitcase carries: 2 to 4 sets, same as Workout A

     If you want to, you can also add the suitcase carries to either of the first two workouts.

     I could have listed almost endless workout options, including some high-frequency programs.  In fact, you could attempt something such as my 30 Rep Program but only use the movements that we’ve discussed here.  But I hope that these give you a good idea of the kind of workouts you can do with only a barbell.  Of course, feel free to add some calisthenic movements to any or all of the programs.  However, don’t feel as if you have to do so.  You will get plenty big and strong with the workouts as written.  But, sure, feel free to add push-ups, chins, dips, or anything else to any of the above sessions.

     Maybe you already have a barbell, some weights, and nothing else to train with, but have thought it’s not enough.  It is.  You really can gain plenty of size and power with nothing but a barbell.  In fact, it builds nothing but brutal size and massive strength.