This bar has completely changed my workouts, since the “day my shoulder exploded”. With it I can really get in a good lower chest workout using the decline bench, without the shoulder pain I used to have. First the vital statistics:

• It measures 53 1/2 inches between the collars – which means that you can use it in your standard power rack. For those of your who primarily work out at home – I don’t have to tell you what a bonus this is. None of us wants to be the dork that died with a bar on his neck.
• The angles are not too severe. Unlike a lot of curl bars that look like a letter Z, this one has less radical angles, and they are spaced properly for benching.
• The bar has proper Olympic sleeves and bearings. Your standard plates will slide right on with no problem.
• Black, hardcore finish. It’s just so metal dude.
• It has proper knurling in the grip area. Enough that you can keep hold properly, but not so much that you feel like you’re arm wrestling a file.
• It weighs exactly 35 pounds. Yay. I just count it as a plate. This is a bigger deal than you might think. I some bars that weight 7 or 13 pounds. At my age, you are looking for incremental improvements, and keeping a proper workout log with careful sets, reps and weights is crucial.

I use this bar two ways: as a close grip bench press bar and for curls. Either way it helps with my shoulder, and takes the strain off of my elbow as well.

Here is a typical chest workout where I use this bar in my “finisher”:

After the always recommended warm-up, and a few light sets:

• Dumbbell incline bench presses 4×8 with your 12 rep max
• Rest for 3 minutes
• Dumbbell incline flys 3×8 with your 12 rep max
• Rest for 3 minutes
• Close grip bench presses 3×8 with your 12 rep max – but take the last set to failure. I use the decline bench here to get in a good lower chest workout.

Move though this workout routine quickly, resting only long enough between sets to be sure that you can get the next set. You will find that your rest periods will be a little longer towards the end of the routine – that is OK.

If you have shoulder pain when doing regular bench presses, or are just in the market for a really nice quality EZ curl bar, I recommend that you go with this one. York’s reputation is deserved, and their customer service is outstanding.