History Main / BarbellBeating

[[folder:Asian Animation]]

[[folder:Eastern Animation]]
* Episode 4 of ''Animation/NuPogodi'' has the Wolf attempting to set a weight lifting record, but failing because [[TheLastStraw a butterfly sits on the barbell]]. After it falls on his foot, he grabs the barbell, with weights only remaining on one side, and angrily attempts to smash the butterfly. The chase brings him to the Hare, where he attempts to take out both him and the butterfly with one strike, but instead trips and gets hit on the head with one of the weights. Starts [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93YTGkO4ZrA here]] around 3:00.
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* ''Series/ThePunisher2017'': In "[[Recap/ThePunisher2017S02E05OneEyedJacks One Eyed Jacks]]", Frank confronts a Russian gang in a gym and makes good use of various barbells, dumbbells, weights and metal bars to beat up his opponents. After taking down the {{Mooks}}, he uses a bar to choke their boss for interrogation.

* ''Series/Supergirl2015'':

* ''{{TabletopGame/Cluedo}}: Discover the Secrets'', the 2008 SettingUpdate to ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}'', included a dumbbell in its new list of murder weapons, replacing the classic [[WrenchWhack wrench]].

* ''WebVideo/PopCrossStudios'': In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxpeCsxXycM&list=PLItBjti8LwWH3Il2lfR9LBHyCfFUomLqk&index=17 Sharp v Champagne: Dawn of 'Friendship']], one of Christian's Multiverse Tales, a [[LetsYouAndHimFight forced fight]] between Benny Sharp- a GadgeteerGenius ArmsDealer who makes suits of PoweredArmor- and Dr. Champagne [=McGreggor=]- a grumpy, DeadpanSnarker former dinosaur geneticist- sees Champagne running into a gym and grabbing a barbell, using it to hammer one of the {{Laser Blade}}s arming Benny's suit until he bends it and renders it useless. Champagne's strength is justified, due to the fact that he has a [[ArtificialLimbs mechanical right arm]]. Luckily, Benny is able to cut their fight short by getting Champagne to activate a signal jammer to shut out whoever's hacked into his suit and taken control of it.

* ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls2019'': In "[=#SheMightBeGiant=]", Wonder Woman confronts Giganta with a hockey stick, while Giganta grabs a large barbell, removes the weights from one side and puts them on the other end to make an improvised club.

* ''VideoGame/{{Roblox}}'' The [=iLift=] gear is a large barbell that can be thrown to deal damage to other players.

* ''WesternAnimation/AlphaTeensOnMachines'': Flesh, the hulking gym-themed brute to the villainous Alexander Paine, uses a long barbell as his main weapon. Combined with his LightingBruiser attributes, he can easily use his barbell as a menacing boomerang to cover his bases.

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': In the Season 4 episode "[[{{Recap/AngelS04E13Salvage}} Salvage]]", Faith is attacked while working out in her prison gymnasium by an assassin with a knife. When the woman refuses to ''stop'' trying to kill Faith, despite receiving a thorough beating, Faith decides the end the fight by picking up a loaded barbell, ''one-handed'', and smacks her full in the face, which knocks her out.

* In the music video for Music/FosterThePeople's "Music/BestFriend", the main character grabs a dumbbell after she eyes her next victim in the gym. Subverted, as rather than kill her victim with the dumbbell she turns her head into a pair of monstrous jaws, uses her tongue to grab the woman, and [[EatenAlive eats her alive]] instead.

In fiction these same properties may cause them to be grabbed as {{Improvised Weapon}}s, particularly if a fight erupts inside of a gymnasium or other place of training. While it'd be more practical to use an empty bar--since this would be easier to handle while still remaining heavier than any "normal" melee weapon--a handy way to demonstrate someone's incredible strength is for them to swing a barbell with plates loaded on one or both ends, essentially turning it into a giant two-handed [[CarryABigStick mace]] or [[DoubleWeapon double-ended mace]].

A SubTrope of ImprovisedWeapon. See also BatterUp, GolfClubbing and CombatCueStick for when other sports equipment are used as a weapon.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanVsTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'': After being pummeled by Bane into Arkham 's gym, Batgirl quickly rescues Donatello by swing a barbell squarely into Bane's face. It finally knocks him out.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'': After [[DePower draning away Hercules's strength]], Hades throws a barbell at the weakened demigod. Hercules, who would normally be able to catch it with ease, is instead pinned to the ground.

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': In the Season 4 episode "[[{{Recap/AngelS04E13Salvage}} Salvage]]", Faith is attacked while working out in her prison gymnasium by an assassin with a knife. When the woman refuses to ''stop'' trying to kill Faith, despite receive a thorough beating, Faith decides the end the fight by picking up a loaded barbell, ''one handed'', and smacks her full in the face, which knocks her out.

* ''Series/{{Nikita}}'': In "All The Way", Nikita finds herself having to fend off several Division agents in a gym. She grabs a barbell and tosses it at one opponent, knocking him down. She also uses a weight plate as as a weapon.

* In the music video for Music/FosterThePeople's "Music/BestFriend", the main character grabs a dumbbell after she eyes her next victim in the gym. Subverted, as rather than kill her victim with the dumbbell she turns her head into a pair of monstrous jaws, uses her tongue to grab the woman and [[EatenAlive eats her alive]] instead.

* ''{{TabletopGame/Cluedo}}: Discover the Secrets'', the 2008 SettingUpdate to ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}'', included a dumbell in its new list of murder weapons, replacing the classic [[WrenchWhack wrench]].

* ''VideoGame/CookieRun'': Muscle Cookie's skill has him toss out a barbell, which will destroy any obstacle it collides with. His Magic Candy gives him the ability to throw a giant screen-clearing dumbell after tossing the barbell seven times.

* Via a [[https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49734 mod]], this can be achieved in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', allowing the Sole Survior to wield a 40lb barbell like a club. Best part is, with the mod, the weaponized barbell does 50 base damage which is actually more than some of the strongest melee weapons in the vanilla game!

* The SerialKiller Jeffrey Dahmer killed his first victim by bludgeoning him to death with a dumbbell.

* ''Cluedo: Discover the Secrets'', the 2008 SettingUpdate to ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}'', included a dumbell in its new list of murder weapons, replacing the classic [[WrenchWhack wrench]].

* In ''VideoGame/IttleDew'', BonusBoss Ultra Fishbunjin 3000 attacks by throwing dumbbells, which bounce off walls and eventually explode. So does Ultra Mechabun in the sequel.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bb_9.bmp]]

* ''WebVideo/PopCrossStudios'': In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxpeCsxXycM&list=PLItBjti8LwWH3Il2lfR9LBHyCfFUomLqk&index=17 Sharp v Champagne: Dawn of 'Friendship']], one of Christian's Multiverse Tales, a [[LetsYouAndHimFight forced fight]] between Benny Sharp- a GadgeteerGenius ArmsDealer who makes suits of PoweredArmor- and Dr. Champagne [=McGreggor=]- a [[GrumpyBear grumpy]], DeadpanSnarker former dinosaur geneticist- sees Champagne running into a gym and grabbing a barbell, using it to hammer one of the {{Laser Blade}}s arming Benny's suit until he bends it and renders it useless. Champagne's strength is justified, due to the fact that he has a [[ArtificialLimbs mechanical right arm]]. Luckily, Benny is able to cut their fight short by getting Champagne to activate a signal jammer to shut out whoever's hacked into his suit and taken control of it.

Barbells and dumbells are heavy, solid objects as they should be because of their intended purposes. However this also makes them one of the biggest safety hazards, that's why common sense usually dictates that you be mindful where you put them, lift what you can only handle and have someone spot for you if you're planning to do a few reps.

In fiction this also makes them good {{Improvised Weapon}}s, if a fight erupts inside of a gymnasium, training room or the like. While it'd be more practical to use the bar itself without the weights, a handy way to demonstrate someone's incredible strength is to have the user still have some weights on either one or both ends of the bar, essentially turning it into a huge heavy two-handed [[CarryABigStick mace]] or [[DoubleWeapon double-ended mace]].

Speaking of the users, expect anyone to actually attempt using this in a fight to be big burly bodybuilders or people with SuperStrength.

* In ''VideoGame/RingFitAdventure'', Scuttlebells are crab-like monsters that attack by clasping their dumbbell-shaped claws together and slamming the opponent with it. In some boss fights, [[BigBad Dragaux]] lifts them for training and beating you with it.

* In ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' episode "[[Recap/ColumboS04E01 An Exercise in Fatality]]", the murderer kills a guy by crushing his windpipe with a dumbbell, then stages a scene to make it look like an accident that happened when the victim was trying to bench press a barbell. Columbo isn't fooled.

* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS4E8HighNoon High Noon]]", Brittas annoys an oil truck driver so much that he chases Brittas down to the centre's equipment room and promptly shoves a barbell up his back. This actually proves to be handy when the centre explodes and it holds up the corridor that Brittas is in enough to allow the safe evacuation of everyone.

* In ''VideoGame/IttleDew'', BonusBoss Ultra Fishbunjin 3000 attacks by throwing dumbbells, which bounce off walls and eventually explode.

* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'': The second trial reveals that [[spoiler:Mondo killed Chihiro in a fit of jealous rage by beating him in the head with a dumbbell]].

** The first game also has barbells, which are found alongside dumbbells in Flexin' in Al Fresca Plaza. While a powerful weapon, it also has a slow swing and recovery time, leaving you open to counterattacks.

Subtrope of ImprovisedWeapon. See also BatterUp, GolfClubbing and CombatCueStick for when other sports equipment are used as a weapon.

* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'': The second trial reveals that [[spoiler:Mondo killed Chihiro in a fit of jealous rage by beating him in the head with a dumbbell]].

* In ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' episode "[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/ColumboS04E01 An Exercise in Fatality]]", the murderer kills a guy by crushing his windpipe with a dumbbell, then stages a scene to make it look like an accident that happened when the victim was trying to bench press a barbell. Columbo isn't fooled.