CAP Barbell 300-Pound Olympic Set (Includes 7 Feet Bar)

After lifting in Jr. High as a football player, and for a while in college and not knowing a thing about weightlifting, I decided as a 37 year old to get back into weightlifting. I have been lifting for over a year now and I've been using the standard weights. The standard weights were good enough for a while, but I missed the quality weights that we had when I was lifting back in school, and I needed to rep more weight that what my standard dumbbell set would hold. I have had my eye on getting an Olympic weight set like this for a while now, and when a good deal on this set popped up on a Deal of the Day just before Christmas, I jumped on it. I was not expecting anything but a basic Olympic set. When the delivery arrived, I was surprised to see the high quality black barbell and the coated plates with he hand grips. I'm not sure why I didn't expect this, maybe I had not seen anything even close to this set with these features for this price. It was really a great deal. I use the weights every day... well, at least 3 days a week :) and they are really nice. I'm really excited to have them and don't tell my wife, but I'm actually looking to pick up a second set of these! Don't skip these if you're looking to upgrade from a standard barbell set.Pros: Olympic plates with what seems like powder coating. A nice looking black barbell. Delivery. Compared to picking this up at the store, this is really nice.Cons: They don't lift themselves. Eat right or these won't help you. :)Overall: I really think these are some nice weights for the DIY home gym guy, they could also make a nice set for any iron pumping guy wanting to move his workout home, or have a set for days when he can't make it to the gym.Ignore my messy garage floor in the photo. They look nice in my workout area!

Wow, some people just cannot be pleased. Reading some of these reviews, people sure are nit-picky about their weights (complaints about the paint chipping and such). When you're shopping for weights, you're shopping for one thing and that's mass. Just massive objects to throw around to gain muscle. This is by far, the best-valued starter set you're going to find on Amazon (or in any brick & mortar store). The only exception to this fact is if you find a used set on Craigslist or another personal ad.I bought the cheapest option, the grey weights with not hand holds. If you get yourself a stand to put these plates on, you don't need the fancier options. This tier 1 level set will be perfect for your beginner gains period. 300 lbs is a lot and if you make it through the first year with proper technique, you can, with satisfaction and confidence, purchase some of the nicer, more expensive kinds (like the rubber matted option @ ~ $500). Another good thing is you can still use these weights, they're not going to fall apart anytime soon.I believe the bar holds ~500lbs. Again, a great value as a 7ft barbell is around $100 on Amazon.The weights and the barbell may be scratched up a bit from shipping, but that's to be expected and honestly, who cares? They're weights, not an HDTV. Also, you need to have some common sense and realize that anything except the above-mentioned rubber padded weights are not protected from damage associated with being dropped. So if you're doing heavy-lifting and you fail a set and drop these things on your floor, there's a chance you could do some damage. Do what I did and get a pair of adjustable saw horses for an improvised catch system. That way, you can lift heavy with confidence that you can release the weights safely and they won't slam to the floor, causing damage/injury. Most saw horses are rated at over 1,000 lbs, so they can take it.

The overall value is wonderful as one cannot get plates for this price (roughly $1 per 1 lbs.; i.e., one gets 300olbs of plates/weights for $281.00/$300.00 with taxes, but the caveat of the set is that the bar is sprayed or coated, so that one cannot use the diamond-cutting on the bar like all other Olympic bars, which one needs for gripping, unless one always uses gloves and does not care for improving one's grip strength. ***However (caveat), the bar is NOT 45lbsa, it is ONLY 37.5lbs (oddly).***Nevertheless, I use FatGrips, so the coating over the diamond-cutting is irrelevant, but it being sprayed over makes the bar cheap. Notwithstanding, the overall weight or balance of the bar is decent or fine. It is black, which is fine too, but the photo has a Chrome one. And there is also a bit of rusting around the collars, which means the bar was sitting around for a while as it is not coated with an anti-oxidation chemicals. Suffice ti to say, I recommend the Archon Olympic Bar (7', 45lbs, 28mm, Oxidation coated; 700lb capacity: it is fantastic!Regarding the plates, the are great, as long as one does not mind or care if the paint on them is chipped/chipping off, which I don't, but something to know. I.e., they are not in perfect condition.Again, I highly recommend the Archon Olympic Bar as it is a superior bar or purchase the FatGrips (3 different sizes) and you will circumvent the issue of bar.