A list of barbell exercises you can do at home or at the gym. When you are designing or choosing your next exercise routine, you should include some exercises using a barbell. You may choose to use the 7-foot 20 pound standard bar, an Olympic bar or that smaller EZ-curl bar as your equipment. Most gyms feature an Olympic barbell which is 45 pounds usually located near the bench press. Using a barbell allows you to train both limbs or equally at the same time. For example, when you do a barbell military press you work both shoulders at the same time with equal weight. When doing a barbell bench press, you exercise your left and right pectoral muscles simultaneously.

Your workout should include at least one exercise using a barbell for most of your muscle groups. Using a barbell helps give your muscles endurance, strength and size if you desire.

Barbell are also great because you can change the weights to fit your needs. You can add as little as 2 ½ to 100 pound Olympic plates to each side.