Bumper plates (weight lifting)

[robblok]

I bought some bumper plates (weight disks with special rubber coating) from East West fitness. I tried them out a bit and they seem ok decreasing the sound of putting down weights hard after a dead-lift or other lift. I just got them today but they smell real bad to I put them outside hoping the smell will get less.

 

Just for those who like lifting, I looked long for bumper plates and finally I found them. They are real good for dead-lift as they have large diameter even for the smaller 10 kg weights so you don't have to go to heavy to do dead-lifts. 

 

I think I will use them for some Olympic lifts too, as it seems to be a good movement to burn a lot of energy. I won't be going to heavy. Definitely nice to have for a gym. 

 

They can of course also be used for normal lifting with 50 mm barbels. Just a heads up that they can be bought in Thailand.

Edited February 8, 2019 by robblok

[robblok]

Took 3 days outside in the sun to get the smell to be less bad. Still I read that that is normal with some bumper plats. I thought id mention it it might be a real concern for some people.

[robblok]

As I was able to sell of my cast iron 50mm weights I now got a set of 25 KG bumper plates extra. They are standing outside to get rid of some of the smell of new rubber.

 

They are quite wide and I tried deadlifts with them. They absorb sound quite well. I havent tried dropping them as I normally don't drop weights.

 

Even though they are quite wide I think I can load enough weights on the bar to get over 200kg if needed. (don't think its needed). 

 

I would not buy all bumper plates, normal thinner rubber would be good too. But if you start with some bumper plates the sounds would be a lot less and if you really need to go heavy thin weights might be better. Most bars have 340mm for weights there things are 80 mm wide. A normal 25kg disk in rubber is around 40mm wide so if you want to go real heavy bumper plates alone are not enough.

 

They do look impressive on the bar if you care about such stuff.

[transam]

Try baking soda mixed in warm water, give the plates a wash with the solution...????

[robblok]

15 minutes ago, transam said:

Try baking soda mixed in warm water, give the plates a wash with the solution...????

Thanks, i will do so. The other batch 10 and 5 kg re now in use and smell a lot less. Still not 100% but I got an air freshener in the gym to counter the smell. 

 

What i read online is that the sun is still the best way to get the smell out of rubber. So I am in luck that i live in Thailand ????.

 

Too bad that bumper plates were not available earlier, i would have bought a few from the start. 

 

I am impressed with them, i think you could just exercise on stones without problems when you have them. I got rubber matting upstairs but anything that helps bring the sound down even more is good of course.

[robblok]

I might have lost some strenght because of not training for 4 months, but at least it LOOKS as if I am strong this way.

 

Of course bumper platess work best with deadlift but can use them for squat too. They are just a bit wider then normal plates so you can't load the bar to extreme weights (almost never needed)

[Bob12345]

You got the outdoor ones in KG, i have bought the indoor ones in lbs (solid black color).

After almost 2 years of use no problems, still using them 3-5 times a week.

 

Eastwest also has a rack for sale to put them in which might be handy for accessibility (and it looks nice).

 

Unfortunately they don't have micro plates, so I had to buy those elsewhere (expensive as hell, but now i got the 0.25lbs, 0.5lbs and 0.75lbs mini plates to be able to increase weight gradually instead of using 5lbs jumps).

[robblok]

4 hours ago, Bob12345 said:

You got the outdoor ones in KG, i have bought the indoor ones in lbs (solid black color).

After almost 2 years of use no problems, still using them 3-5 times a week.

 

Eastwest also has a rack for sale to put them in which might be handy for accessibility (and it looks nice).

 

Unfortunately they don't have micro plates, so I had to buy those elsewhere (expensive as hell, but now i got the 0.25lbs, 0.5lbs and 0.75lbs mini plates to be able to increase weight gradually instead of using 5lbs jumps).

They had kg plates, i bought 0,5 1   1,5   2   2,5 plates there too. So jumps are half a kg.

 

Yes I bought the outdoor as i thought they would be better. Still .. i like what i got and I already got stands to put weight on. This was just a setup for squat.. and once done, id bench.. easy just to shift the weights down not having to put them down and up again. 

 

https://eastwestfitness.com/product/change-plate/

Edited March 2, 2019 by robblok

[Bob12345]

Half a kg was too much already, my program requires smaller increments.

 

Anyways, they have a nice range of products for good prices.

My biggest purchase was a squat rack and I had asked around at dealers around Phuket and they all quoted me prices of 400K and above for Technogym and whatever brand they are selling. So I ended up at eastwest and got my complete homegym for around 100K.

 

Edit: in case you run out of space on the bar to add more weight you can always go for their competition weights which are thinner. But also more expensive of course. 

Edited March 2, 2019 by Bob12345

[robblok]

To be honest, i got over 200 kg that i can still put on and the bar will take it. Most of my weights are not bumper plates. I doubt that I will run out of bar soon.

 

I paid 30.000 for my squat rack + 157,5 kg of weight and a bar. But that was around 10 years ago. Squat racks are not so expensive but the price of weights went up. 

 

I just wanted bumper plates for the sound and just a few big ones as they are so big they prevent smaller disks like the 15 Kg from touching the ground with a deadlift. So in reality I only needed a few bumperplates. I got 25, 10 and  5 kg bumper plates the rest normal rubber weights.

 

I used to do exercise that required me less then half a kg not anymore, I now just push out an extra rep or two if needed. But if your program requires it you need to have it.

 

Once my diet is done ill be eating more and trying to gain back all of my lost power. I am now getting stronger but not as fast as i would be had i been eating above maintenance. I also get my muscles back (wonder of muscle memory) while on the diet and see my abs again. Just need to do more for the lower abs. 

 

But strangely this has been the time its been easiest for me to drop the weight ever. I am not talking about the speed of it but the effort. Normally much hunger and in the end i just could not lose much more. Now it just keeps coming off and my priority is leanness over power. 

[robblok]

I will probably buy a few more normal rubber plates of a smaller diameter as they are cheaper and a bit more thin. Not a problem of course because the diameter is smaller then only the bumper plates will hit the ground.

 

After all this time the smell is gone.

[robblok]

Because I made quite more progress then expected with deadlifts, i decided to buy an other set of 25 kg. These time the indoor version from east west. These bumper plates are more expensive then normal ruber coated weights and a bit thicker. But the sound when they hit the floor is less so I think its worth it.

 

Its funny i keep spending money on my gym. 

[robblok]

The east west indoor bumper plates are a little bit thinner (not much) than the out door type. Unfortunately my trap bar for deadlift its sleeves are not too wide. So if I want to go really heavy I might need normal rubber coated weights too. Right now I did 170 kg x 8 (including the bar) and more could be fitted. But real strong people might need more or longer sleeves on the bar. 

 

Real powerlifters would of course not use the trap bar as its not approved for competitions.