Everything You Need To Know About The Lebert Fitness Equalizer Bars

The guy who designed the Lebert equalizer bars, Marc Lebert, an experienced personal trainer, knew of the massive benefits of body weight exercises so he took the original design of the dip station and changed it up a little.

2 Stainless Steel Equalizer Bars

Instead of having a fixed dip stand, Marc wanted to use two separate bars, “don’t worry, you’ll still be able to perform the muscle mass building compound exercises as you would with regular dip stations”.

The big difference with the equalizer bars is that they are not joined or fixed in any way to each other, this design opens up a whole host of other beneficial bodyweight exercises.

Check price Lebert Fitness Dip Bars on Amazon

There are well over 100 different exercises you can perform on the Equalizer bars, which makes them a very versatile piece of home gym equipment.

It’s worth pointing out that equalizer bars can also be used for stretching, cardiovascular exercises as well as the body weight exercises.

While some exercises are more beneficial than others, the Equalizer bars should appeal to most fitness levels, even if you have never worked out before, a set of bars is a great way to increase strength and stamina.

Best of The Lebert Equalizer Exercises

The 100 odd exercises are too long for me to list in one article, but here are a few of the most popular exercises you can perform on a set of these excellent bars.

Chest Dips

We have to start with the most popular exercise; the dip, dips are a fantastic lower pec muscle building exercise, the lower pectorals are a notoriously difficult muscle to develop, many people like using a decline angle on their weight bench to perform decline presses, yes, this helps build lower pec mass but it’s a slower solution and you need a bench.

Decline pressing is widely perceived as an overrated exercise, dips will add lower pec muscle mass faster and of course, no bench needed. Make sure you lean forward on the dip station to engage the pectorals.

Tricep Dips

Another variation of the dip but this time you keep the torso back almost upright, legs back, and elbows closer to the body, tricep dips are one of the top 3 exercises for adding mass to all three of the tricep heads.

Inverted Rows

Because of the two separate bars, we have a choice to either perform a one bar row or two, both work the same muscles but the one bar is easier to do than the two, for beginners I suggest to start with a one bar row first and work up to the two.

The inverted row is another compound exercise, great for building up your back and shoulder muscles, also gives the biceps a bit of a workout at the same time.

Knee Raises

One of the best core exercises that activate the whole of your core by working not only the lower ab muscles but also the upper ab muscles.

The 4 exercises above are the top 4 strength and mass building exercises you can perform on a dip stand/bars. They are compound exercises,  multi-joint movements that work several muscles or muscle groups at one time, because of this they generally burn more calories and add muscle mass faster.

Although we mentioned that bodyweight exercises only use your body weight for resistance, you will find your strength increases quickly when working out regularly on the equalizer bars.

If any of the exercises become too easy, you could get yourself a weighted vest/belt, adding anything from 10-80lb of extra resistance to your workouts.

Portable/lightweight

Another plus of having two separate bars is that it makes moving and storing the bars very easy, each bar weighs only 8lb.

Because of the lightweight design, you can move the bars easily to any part of the house you wish to exercise, you can take them on holiday or with you to work, it’s up to you, but it’s a heck of a lot easier to move around this dip station than many of the others on the market, some can weigh upwards of 40+lb.

Build Quality

This is where I thought we might start to see a few cracks in the armor of the equalizer bars, but surprisingly the build quality is very good and should be at this price.

Okay, these things are lightweight which is usually a sign of cheap steel being used, although if Lerbert decided to use a thicker more expensive steel they would no longer be portable and would lose some of their appeal.

Lightweight steel frames are not a deal breaker, you wouldn’t want this stuff for weight benches, power racks, etc, but for smaller gym items, it’s ok and it makes for easy storage and mobility.

Always good to see lifetime warranties on any gym equipment, it gives us a lot of confidence in the company behind the product and assures us they have a lot of confidence in their own product, so big thumbs up here!

Each bar features a high-density solid foam grip, the foam grips will help increase friction and minimize hand and arm strain for a superior grip.

Height & Complaints

If you are going to take anything away with you from reading this review, please remember to order the right height bars! Many of the complaints that I have read concerning the Equalizer bars is about the height of bars being too low.

This review focuses on the company’s flagship set of the bars which measure 28-1/2 inches in height unless you have very long arms this height should be fine for users up to 5’11”

If you are over 5’11” you will have problems with dips and upright rows using the regular dip bars, Lebert does offer a higher set of bars which are 31″ in height ideal for people taller than 5’11”  they are aptly named the Lebert Fitness Equalizer XL

Stability/Assembly

Most users have mentioned how stable the Equalizer bars are, the wide stabilizing feet should keep the bars very stable when in use.

I have noticed the taller bars (XL) use the same width feet as the regular, this may cause issues, I would have hoped to have seen wider feet for the taller version of the equalizer bars.

Note – Always best to use the equipment on flat surfaces.

Super easy to assemble, it’s a case of a few screws to fit the feet to the bars, shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes.

Alternatives 

Ultimate Body Press Dip Bars

Another well thought through portable design from the guys over at Ultimate, unlike the Lebert fitness bars the Ultimate bars are joined together this will limit the number of exercises but in turn, create a more stable base where a topping bar will not be an issue.

Thankfully this is a walk through design so you will be able to perform upright rows, press ups, and other body weight exercises.

What this station does best is work as a dip stand, the angled grips are perfectly designed to reduce strain and help with correct form when performing tricep and chest dips.

With a weight of around 18lb its similar in weight to the Lebert combined bar weight, light enough to move and store and with just enough weight to help aid stability.

There’s plenty of attachments available for the popular Ultimate body press and one I particularly liked was the Ultimate body press resistance belt, this belt uses bands that attach to the frame and the waist belt, with a selection of resistance strengths ranging from 10-80lb, a nice option to have as your strength progresses.

A very capable, stable, lightweight stand, well worth some consideration.

Xmark Fitness Dip Station

Xmark are well known for making some of the toughest home gym equipment on the market, their weight bench is a heavy beast, built like a tank and probably the best weight bench available right now. The Xmark dip stand is no exception, this heavy duty stand weighs a whopping 57lb, it’s also built like a tank from 2″x 3″ thick steel tubing.

This is a serious dip stand for serious workouts, it has been designed solely for dips, has a height of 53″ so should accommodate just about any height, you might even be able to achieve full leg extension for knee raises which is unheard of from the half height, dip stations.

I’ll go out on a limb and say, yes, this is the best dip station available, tough durable, heavy and completely stable but if you need more than dips then this one sadly isn’t for you, if you are looking for a lightweight and portable design this one isn’t for you.

But if you have come to this review only looking to improve chest and triceps mass then yes, this one is for you! There is no better unless you buy a power tower, which costs twice as much, and is too high for some ceilings.

The best alternative to a power tower the Xmark XM-4443 Dip station.

To Sum Up

What I really liked about the Lebert Equalizer bars, was the separate bar design, this makes for a very versatile piece of home gym equipment, for around a $110 you have over  100+ exercises to choose from, what other piece of gym equipment works your upper and lower body, provides a cardio workout and allows you to increase muscle mass with compound exercises?

Well built, great price and comes with a lifetime guarantee, it’s easy to see why the Lebert Fitness Equalizer Bars are so popular.