The weights and weightlifting equipment your gym provides plays a major factor in the recruitment of new members and the retention of current members. Your gym needs a wide variety of commercial fitness equipment to ensure members don't have to wait to get in their lifts. Load up on wholesale weight plates, wholesale barbell weights and a variety of other equipment to keep your members satisfied. Here's a look at the weightlifting essentials for your gym.

Equipment for Free Weights and Plate Loading

Your gym needs multiple stations for members who are looking to get in an intense workout by lifting weights. Load up on free weight equipment and plate loaded equipment so members can load their own plates instead of utilizing the weight stack increments of a machine. Your free weight section should include Olympic plates, dumbbells and bars at a bare minimum.

Barbells

Barbells are an absolute must for every gym. These weights range from four feet to eight feet in length. Their diameter is anywhere from .98” to 2”.

Olympic Bar

The Olympic bar is the standard barbell for weight training. The bar is approximately 7.2 feet in length and weighs about 45 pounds. The bar is built with bearings that make it spin with ease to ameliorate the challenge of Olympic lifts like the clean and jerk and the snatch.

A Women's Bar

Don't neglect your female members! Add a women's bar that weighs around 33 pounds. It will stretch about 6.9 feet. You can also add one or several training bars that weigh between 10 and 30 pounds. These will appeal to smaller gym members, older members and those who aren't as gung-ho as the most intense weight lifters at your fitness center.

Dumbbells

Every gym needs dumbbells. There are a couple different styles of dumbbells on the market yet they all serve the same purpose. Dumbbells typically weigh between one pound and 200 pounds.

EZ-Curl Bars

This is one of the more common specialty bars for gyms. An EZ-Curl Bar is fairly short and bent like the letter W. These bars are quite helpful for members who desire to perform curls and accessory movements.

Fixed Weight Bars

These bars are shorter than the normal bar. They measure between three feet and four feet. The weights are already connected to fixed weight bars. These bars are mainly used for assistance exercises.

Trap Bar

Sometimes referred to as the “hex bar”, this bar has a hexagon shape. It lets the user stand in the middle and lift the bar with a neutral grip. Your members will use this bar for shrugs and deadlifts.

Weight Plates

Every commercial gym needs wholesale weight plates. Such plates are metal or rubber encased. They are provided in circle or 12-sided varieties. The 45 pound variety is usually the largest with a diameter of about 17.75 inches.

Squat Racks

These dual vertical uprights are united with a horizontal pole. Certain types of squat racks have built-in safeties.

Power Racks

Power racks are a notch above squat racks. These racks are large metal rectangles with holes spaced out every couple inches up and down the sides. Safety pins are on each side. J-hooks secure the barbell in place. The power rack is quite versatile as it allows users to perform bench presses, squats, overhead presses and other lifts.

Weight Machines

Weight machines are distinguished by varieties that are pin loaded and those that are plate loaded. The pin loaded variety, commonly referred to as stack machines, are built with stacks of rectangular weights with a hole for the pin. Move the pin down and additional weight will be added. There is no need to load weights in between sets.

Plate loaded machines do not have weights connected to the machine. The user must place the weights on the machine himself. Yet some plate loaded machines provide more of an extensive range of motion than stack loaded machines.

Cable Machines

All sorts of varieties of cable machines exist. They are typically stack loaded. These machines have a handle connected to the cable's end. This handle is pushed or pulled based on the nuances of the exercise. These machines are fantastic for assistance exercises to dumbbell or barbell lifts. Unlike many other weight machines, cable machines permit a free range of movement.

Bench

Benches are either adjustable or standard flat. Adjustable benches permit exercising at an incline or decline. Be sure to have at least four or more benches as they are one of the more popular pieces of equipment in gym weight rooms. Though your members can use squat racks or squat stands for bench presses, the vast majority of commercial gyms have several benches specifically designated for bench presses.