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Parallettes are highly practical tools; they are lightweight, they don’t take up much space, and most importantly, you can take them with you pretty much anywhere, this is why, we’ll be looking at the best parallettes bars currently available in this comprehensive buyer’s guide.
They allow you to do a HEAP of different exercises therefore making them your ideal home gym workout partner, as they will help greatly towards reaching your goals whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or an expert. For some exercises such as push ups, parallettes will alleviate the pressure put on your wrist due to the altered position, so you can perform the movement without any problems.They are also very affordable. Here is our Top 11 parallettes bars List.
Standing in first place in my top 5 review is this Lebert equalizer set. This is a simple, portable, yet multipurpose and versatile piece of training equipment. Use it for dips, handstands, L-sits, or turn it on it’s side and do deep ROM push ups. It weighs 8 pounds and supports up to 400 pounds, is easy to stack and store and comes with a training DVD.
The height of these means that you can even do Rows and advanced movements like front levers. This piece of equipment is fantastic to help take your workouts to the next level.
| Size | Weight | Max weight capacity | Material | Editor’s rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28.5″H x 25″W | 8 lbs | Over 400 lbs | Stainless steel bar with rubber feet edges and foam handle grips | 4/5 stars |
Pros
Cons
These parallettes feature an ultra stable 12″ tall steel construction. They provide great clearance for you feet and legs to pass through so you can do exercises such as l-sits, handstands, deep push ups and more.
They are extremely sturdy and strong for their size making them ideal for your very own home gym, your office, or even your bedroom.
| Size | Weight | Max weight capacity | Material | Editor’s rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12″ tall x 24″ long | 15 lbs | Over 200 lbs | Steel with thick rubber feet | 4/5 stars |
Pros
Cons
With it’s 9″ of ground clearance, this is a great set of parallettes to increase your range of motion and allow you to go deeper on exercises like push ups, but also more advanced movements including l-sit to handstands.
These parallettes boast an easy and rapid assembly with no tools needed, making them a great tool to carry along with you, set up anywhere and get a workout in without any hassle.
| Size | Weight | Max weight capacity | Material | Editor’s rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16W x 10D x 9H inches | 4 lbs | Over 200 lbs | Metal with neoprene handles | 4/5 stars |
Pros
Cons
This versatile little set is made from an all steel frame construction and 1/2 diameter, 24″ hardwood bars.
Once again, their size makes them ideal for transportation and storage, but it’s the durability of the all steel frames coupled with the decent amount of ground clearance that make this parallettes set worthwhile.
All around they feel sturdy and stand free of any wobbling, even during advanced movements like handstand push ups.
| Size | Weight | Max weight capacity | Material | Editor’s rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 inches long and 9 inches high with 1 1/2″ handles | 18 lbs | 250 lbs | Hardwood handles with steel frames | 4/5 stars |
Pros
Cons
These mini parallettes are extremely portable, making them the ideal travel companion. They feature non slip rubber feet for safe use on different types of floors.
For their very discreet weight, they can hold up an impressive amount of weight of up to 250 pounds, meaning they are a durable and trustworthy tool that will bear many heavy duty workouts with you.
| Size | Weight | Max weight capacity | Material | Editor’s rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12″ long, 2-5/8″ high, and 1.5″ diameter wood | 2 lbs | 250 lbs | Natural ash wood | 4/5 stars |
Pros
Cons
The Body Power parallettes are built like a tank. Assembly is a breeze but they also come with a tool to make it easier. The Max weight limit is 380 lbs. Although there are handy placed knurling grips, they don’t make much of a difference for those workouts where you get really sweaty hands. You will have trouble grabbing on either way.
Otherwise, it’s a fine product and the grip problem is a common one that you’d expect on many parallettes. Just use chalk.
| Size | Weight | Max weight capacity | Material | Editor’s rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | 16.5 lbs | over 300 lbs | Steel | 5/5 stars |
Pros
Cons
Garage Fit also makes some high quality gymnastic rings, and so we weren’t surprised when we saw these. They have a nice amount of ground clearance, perfect for a range of different exercises, and going extra deep on those push ups. What’s more they feature a heavy duty construction, that comes with a rod allowing you to connect both handles for extra stability on exercises like handstands and handstand push ups.
There is no plastic or foam grip on these parallettes, however they are coated with a powder finish to make them more “grippable”.
| Size | Weight | Max weight capacity | Material | Editor’s Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27” (H) x 24” (L) | 16 lbs | – | Steel | 4/5 stars |
Pros
Cons
Durable, versatile, light, and easy to put together. Not much else to say about these parallettes other than the fact that they are perfect for the price they come at, and will never give out from under you (thankfully).
They have a bit more ground clearance than the usual parallettes, which offers more versatility in terms of exercises.
Size Weight Max weight capacity Material Editor’s rating
19″ long. Clearance is 14.5″ high. 1.25″ thick 20 lbs – Steel 4/5 stars
Pros
Cons
The Yogabody parallettes feature a smooth and elegant, polished birch wood construction. They have a great feel in the hands but don’t seem as solid as other steel parallettes that are out there. Due to their wood construction and single screw attachment build, I wouldn’t trust these parallettes for things like handstand push ups and other advanced inverted movements.
If you plan on using these for push ups, L-sits, or other similar exercises, then go head. If you are looking for something heavy duty though, look elsewhere.
| Size | Weight | Max weight capacity | Material | Editor’s rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.3″ height x 15″ long. Bar is 1.5″ diameter | 5 lbs total | – | Birch wood | 3/5 stars |
Pros
Cons
A well built pair of parallettes with sturdy rubber capped feet, and comfortable handles that are easy to grip. Although the ground clearance makes it hard to do things like really deep handstand push ups, they are solid and will work great for it’s purpose. They arrive packaged in a ridiculous amount of bubble wrap – as if the parallettes were made of glass.
An all around solid and trustworthy tool.
| Size | Weight | Max weight capacity | Material | Editor’s rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13″(L)x 8″(W)x 8.5″(H) | 3.3 lbs | 2200 lbs | Steel | 5/5 stars |
Pros
Cons
The lebert Fitness parallettes are durable and heavy duty. They feel comfortable on the grip, and sit sturdy on the floor. Assembly is super fast – putting them together takes less than 10 minutes, when you’ve never used them before.
The ground clearance is right there in between the high and low parallettes. The rubberized grip are a slight upgrade which makes it easier for you to workout without having to use chalk.
| Size | Weight | Max weight capacity | Material | Editor’s rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12″H x 25″L (Grip Width 13.5″ / T-Leg Width 16″) | 5 lbs per bar | 400 lbs | Stainless steel | 4/5 stars |
Pros
Cons
Parallettes offer you access to a wide range of different exercises and luckily, they can also be carried with you anywhere. Some parallettes are even small enough to fit into your suitcase! If you have parallettes with enough ground clearance, you can perform L-sit chin ups, Australian pull ups and other pulling exercises that you couldn’t otherwise.
They are a great tool to to train more advanced movements such as tuck planche, and eventually full planche, or press to handstands. If you have wrist problems during push ups or handstands, the parallettes will alleviate that pain due their shape. They are an all around versatile and highly practical tool to train with, whatever level you currently find yourself at.
They create a ton of raw strength in the upper body and core. The fully integrated patterns and nature of using the parallettes allows you to learn how to train your body as one, with your joints working together in conjunction. For those who already have parallettes, you’ll have noticed how they are great for building that initial strength in the wrists, conditioning them for the ground work coming up ahead.
It is essential to understand how a proper and fluid scapular movement heavily influences the quality of your form. Practise at scapular retraction and protraction if you want to improve your pull ups, push ups, and almost every single compound upper body exercise, as they all require you to move your scapulae to some degree.
There are a few main movements one should focus on when learning how to train on parallettes. These exercises will serve as the foundation for everything that comes afterwards, and once learned, will make you stronger and more efficient in the more advanced movements and routines.
Exercise 1 – The L-sit
Push through your hands, and lift your hips up slightly, straightening your legs out in front of you. Point your toes forward and maintain you shoulders locked downwards, but do not shrug them. If you cannot yet hold an L-sit for a few seconds, go for a tucked L-sit instead, raising your knees to your chest area and holding it there for a few seconds.
Exercise 2 – The tuck-planche
Lift your hips up into the air and lock out your elbows – light in the top position of a push up. Your legs are tucked as much as possible, at first, and your shoulders are slightly in front of your hands. The shoulder blades are slightly protracted. Your body should be parallel to the ground.
Exercise 3 – The handstand
If you are new to handstands, grab the parallettes and set them against a wall, you want to place your hands a bit outside of your shoulder width. Kick up into a handstand and rest your feet up against the wall. As a beginner, it’s recommended to do a stomach to wall handstand rather than a back to wall one, to really work on tha vertical body line. This exercise will build up the needed strength in your shoulders to perform more advanced exercises like handstand push ups. In this position, you should aim to elevate your shoulders as much as possible. Visualize your shoulders touching your ears. Try to control your exit, and land as softly as possible.
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