The Barbell Shrugged guys traveled to Sweden and visited the Eleiko headquarters.
First they talk with Eleiko CEO Erik Blomberg and later with Anders Lindsjö.
Notes
- company was started in 1927
- produced waffle irons and toasters in the beginning
- Eleiko in Swedish stands for “Electrical Installation Limited Company”
- First barbell was developed in 1957, quality steel differentiated it
- first company to be certified by the IWF
- Steel from northern Sweden
- 215 000 PSI (Pound per Square Inch) steel for competition bars
- bars have hard surface, soft(er) inner part
- knurling is pressed into the steel, not cut, markings are also pressed so there are no weak points which are vulnerable to breaking
- every 7 bars the pressing tools have to be replaced
- first thing they add is the knurling
- then surface treatment, chrome
- then come the sleeves, weight calibration
- Torlerances: can go up to 20020 grams, they are allowed to go lower, but always make sure that they are a couple of grams above 20kg, same tolerances for the discs
- then they straighten the bar (would have loved to get more info on this)
- 10 needle bearings in competition bars
- then follows an intense snatch introduction session lead by Anders “wasn’t good enough, do it again” Lindsjö. Watch him instruct a weightlifting warm-up here.
To finish it off they have a discussion with Anders that focuses on teaching philosophy / principles
Update 01.01.2014: Here is Anders’ coaching session from this episode.
I wish these guys would let the people they interview talk more. That being said, very cool and informative video.
Yeah, some on their crew have a habit of talking over their guests all the time. Still I love the idea of a roaming weightlifting documentary series. Hopefully they’ll begin letting their subjects breathe a little more.
A barbell made of old waffle irons would be cool.