Force USA EZ Curl Bar

An EZ bar exists to fix one problem: a straight bar forces your forearms into full supination, and for many people that position irritates the wrist or the medial elbow within a few sets. The angled sections put your hands semi-supinated instead, which most people hold comfortably and which barely changes what the biceps do.

At 496 lb this carries the highest published capacity of the curl bars here — against 330 lb on the PRX EZ curl bar. In practice the 7-inch sleeve is the real ceiling on both bars: seven inches holds roughly one 45 lb plate plus change per side, so you will run out of room long before you run out of rating.

Chrome plating over a Q235 steel shaft is entry-level material — the same grade Force USA uses on its Olympic barbell — and entirely adequate on a bar that will see curls and skullcrushers rather than 500 lb pulls.

Cast iron sleeves are the durability note. Cast iron is more brittle than steel and does not enjoy being dropped, so this is not a bar to let fall from the top of a row.

At 47 inches and 19 lb it is short and light: it stores anywhere, and it is usable in a room where a 7-foot bar cannot be swung.

The 1.1-inch grip is standard EZ bar diameter, thinner than the fat-shaft alternatives like the Fringe fat EZ bar. Thin favours isolating the biceps; thick turns every set into grip work. Pick according to which one you are actually trying to train.