My kids bought me a curl bar for fathers day, can that be used like a regular barbell? Can I do bench presses with it? And other lifts?

It's great for curls and tricep extensions:
http://ast-ss.com/training/exercises/execution.asp?bp=Arm&pn=6
http://ast-ss.com/training/exercises/execution.asp?bp=Arm&pn=16

Sometimes I also use it instead of a barbell when I do rows, but the above two excercises are the main reason I own one. Both excercises are MUCH more comfortable with a curl bar.

I bench w/ my curl bar, and actually i like it a lot better because I feel more security in the way my hands hold the bar (easy on the wrists too) and also because I can bring the bar closer to my chest and my hands go to the sides of my chest a little further down (if that makes sense...hard to explain, but you'd see what I mean in a second if you could...). Also i get tired of switching all the weight back and forth.

I love my curl bar, never goin' straight again.

Thanks guys... I'm gonna work it into my next session. After 6 weeks of dumbbells only this should be a nice change & addition.
Thanks

I actually use my curl bar to do Deadlifts. It's alot smaller than a 7' barbell so it's easier to perform the lifts in a smaller space, and if you grab the bar all the way out at the plates, the hand placement is perfect. It works out great.

Resistance is resistance.

You can also use it for the military press, upright row and shrugs.

It all works.

MTmace