Weight Plates 101: A Quick Guide

Weight plates are among the most important elements of exercise equipment for commercial gyms, but then again for residential use. You just have to begin building a gym with free weights as they are an integral part of all the routines. In this post, we’re going to tell you all about the various kinds of weight plates that you can find online, but also in shops all over the place

Types of Plates

Olympic Plates

Olympic plates work with Olympic barbells, and these are the norm in the fitness community. They’ve got a 2-inch central hole, and they match most of the bars you can spot scattered around the fitness centres.

Competition, Bumper, Training, Technique

All these are various words used to describe particular types of Olympic free weights. Basically, there’s not a huge difference to the average lifter. For instance, competitive plates are weighed carefully and have documentation that validate the net measurement. Training plates or bumper weight plates, on the other hand, are not like that, since they have different depths and are not as strictly controlled competition plates.

Rubber weight plates have a neoprene finish, making them far more drop-friendly than pure steel or iron plates. Overall, for a beginner lifter, this doesn’t really matter. Just grab an inexpensive pair of soft rubber bumper plates, and you’re just going to be perfect, your muscles don’t recognize the difference, they just realize it’s rough.

Standard Plates

They are much cheaper than Olympic plates and are usually seen in residential gyms, occasionally commercial ones. The standard central hole plates are 1 inch, enough for the basic bar, just not for the Olympic barbell.

Plastic Plates

Plastic or rubber weight plates are also identified as studio plates are typically used for group activities, such as Less Mills Body Pump. They are broad in circumference, but much lighter than they appear, since they are plastics and not steel. The middle hole is a lot smaller, 30 mm to be exact.

How to Know Which Plates to Buy?

Since regular plates and bars are not as durable enough to withstand serious loads (we won’t even include plastic gear), the best option is to take Olympic plates and barbells. The best choice is to get the bumper plates, because they can withstand serious beatings, and they won’t scratch the ground, or crack. Unless you’re preparing for power-lifting or an Olympic lifting contest, you wouldn’t need a contest plates; training plates are just perfect.

The best way is to get the lowest weight plate price, as you’ve got to get a lot of them.

That was our brief post that described the various types of weight plates, and whatever you can anticipate from each of them. Know, the plates don’t exercise on their own, so make sure you’re able to spend your time working on a regular basis. Only then start worrying about the tools.