Your most important piece of training equipment is your barbell. To make the exercises more difficult, you need weight plates. But one weight plate is not the other. We help you determine which weight plate is most suitable for your training purposes.
BORE
The sleeves of your Olympic barbell have a diameter of 50 mm. Of course you have to buy weight plates with a bore of (approx.) 51 mm. There are also weight plates with a diameter of 30 mm. Keep this in mind when purchasing.
FORM
In addition to round, you also have octagonal (hexagonal) weight plates. These are less suitable for deadlifting. Preferably buy round weight plates. Hexagonal discs also behave strangely in exercises where the weights rotate, such as power cleans.
WEIGHTS, DIMENSIONS AND COLOR CODING
In most gyms you’ll find weight plates of 2.5 kg, 5 kg, 10 kg, 15 kg, 20 kg and sometimes 25 kg. There are also heavier weight plates of 50 kg.
We call weight plates under 2.5 kg fractional plates. These weigh a fraction of the heavier weights and are intended for micro loading: the minimal increase of your training weights.
Olympic weight plates from 10 kg all have a diameter of 45 cm. There’s also weight plates where the 10 kg and 15 kg plates have a smaller diameter.
With so-called bumper plates, the discs have the same size regardless of weight. The weight differences are achieved here by different thicknesses. More on this soon.
COLOR CODING
In Olympic weightlifting, the weight plates have a certain color, for quick recognition of the weights.
25 kg and 2.5 kg discs are red according to this color coding. 20 kg and 2.0 kg discs are blue. 15 kg and 1.5 kg discs are yellow. Discs of 10 kg and 1 kg are green. Discs of 5 kg and 0.5 kg are white. These are the default weights.
MATERIAL
The weight plates in your gym are probably made of polyurethane (PU), a high-quality plastic. These discs are very wear resistant. We also recommend these for your home gym.
The cheapest discs are made of cast iron. The disadvantage of this is that they clatter against each other and that they are quickly damaged when they make contact with the ground, such as when deadlifting for example. This makes them unsuitable for powerlifting and weightlifting.
There are also cast iron weight plates with an outer layer of rubber, the so-called rubber-coated plates. These are fine for most home applications, but not for weightlifting.
A special type of weight plate is the bumper plate, made of solid rubber. These weight plates, in combination with a suitable surface, are suitable for casting from above the head. Bumper plates all have the same diameter regardless of weight; the weight differences are achieved by varying the thickness. You have bumper plates made of natural rubber and vulcanized rubber, with or without a metal core. The bumper plate is very popular with CrossFitters.
Finally, there are also steel weight plates: powerlifting plates. They are extra thin, so many discs fit on the barbell. This is generally the most expensive type of weight plate. A more affordable alternative to the premium brands Eleiko and Ivanko is ATX.
BUYING WEIGHT PLATES
Which weight plates are suitable for your home gym depends on the application and your budget.
Weight plates are the cheapest if you purchase them as a set, including barbell. A dumbbell set usually consists of two 20 kg plates, two 15 kg plates, two 10 kg, four 5 kg, two 2.5 kg and four 1.25 kg plates in addition to the barbell bar. So a total weight of 120 kg, excluding the 20 kg of the barbell. With a total of 140 kg, most beginners can make some progress.
If you buy weight plates in different sizes, it is especially important that the 20 kg plates are of good quality, because they make contact with the ground. For example, you can opt for a combination of rubber-coated and cast iron weight plates.
Target price weight plates: € 300-350 for a set of 140 kg (incl. barbell) + € 80 for an additional 2×20 kg