Please consult your doctor before using any exercise equipment or embarking upon any exercise routine. Throughout my more than two decades of training, I’ve used a wide variety of plates, including plates with handles, bumper plates, and everything in between. I know which ones are better suited for different types of training, including powerlifting, CrossFit, Olympic weightlifting, and general strength training. That’s why I created the list of best weight plates below — to help you find the right ones for your style of training. How We Chose the Best Weight Plates The REP Fitness Iron Plates range in weight from 2.5 to 45 pounds, and the smaller 2.5- and five-pound change plates allow you to progress more gradually if needed. This is especially helpful on lifts like the overhead press, in which many lifters struggle to make large jumps in weight.

Crumb rubber plates are among the toughest on the market. They are made out of recycled rubber, which can be more durable than virgin rubber, and they shouldn’t cause significant floor damage when they are dropped. Furthermore, they will make less noise than other forms of rubber or iron plates. Furthermore, Amanda found the plates to be slippery and difficult to handle when her hands got sweaty. She recommends toweling off your hands before handling the plates if you don’t want them to fall out of your grip. There are various types of weight plates, and the training discipline you follow will determine which are best for you. For the inexperienced lifter, all you need is a pair of our 1.25kg and 0.5kg rubber coated Olympic plates. These will give you a lot more options in increasing weight. If your old equipment is no longer useful to you or anyone you know, please recycle it whenever possible. If you are unable to give your item a new home, there are lots of local organisations available that will reuse, recycle or repair electrical and electronic equipment for charitable schemes.Rubber plates can be made from urethane, virgin rubber, or recycled crumb rubber. Crumb rubber is usually more cost-efficient but has a lower durometer rating and, therefore, a higher bounce. Urethane is durable and offers more of a dead bounce because it’s a harder material.

Calibrated steel or iron plates are certified to be within .25 percent or 10 grams (whichever is less) of the weight listed on the plate. Calibrated plates are used in competitions and are validated before being put on the platform. If the weight is not listed as calibrated, then it’s definitely uncalibrated, meaning it can be anywhere within one to three percent of the weight listed on the plate. A 45-pound plate, for example, may weigh anywhere from 43 to 47 pounds, and you would have to weigh it yourself to know for sure. After years of selling gym equipment, I still sometimes have to beg customers to take 2.5kg plates – sometimes even 5kg plates. We have all seen the Ronnie Coleman bodybuilding videos where he just goes up in 45lb plates. This is where you need some fractional plates. They are almost mandatory for any lifter regardless of their experience level. Getting Stronger for Longer You can also set up percentage-based routines (like 5/3/1 for example) a lot more accurately with microplates, no longer have you got to round up or down to the nearest 2.5 kilos. Accurate programming ensures a higher success rate on any program.A note on pairing weight plates with different barbells: For more dynamic lifts (cleans, snatches and overhead work, we would recommend pairing an Olympic weightlifting barbell (see our Weightlifting Bars) with Olympic Bumper Plates. This is because the Olympic Weightlifting bars are more flexible in the shaft and work together with rubber bumpers to absorb impact from high drops. Any damage, failure or loss to any person or property caused by accident, misuse, neglect, abuse, improper assembly, improper maintenance or failure to follow instructions or warnings in the owner’s manual.