Tri grip weight plates

5 Benefits Of Tri Grip Weight Plates For Your Home Gym

When you’re thinking about creating your own home gym, the choice of equipment options can be overwhelming. You might not know what you need or how to get the most out of the space you have. 

Introducing tri grip plates, a versatile weight plate that adds more than just extra kilograms to your barbell. 

What are tri grip weight plates?

Tri grip plates are a type of weight-lifting plate with three grip handles at equal distances around the edge of a disc-shaped weight. Like a standard Olympic plate, they have a circular hole in the centre for a bar. 

Older versions of tri grip plates are made of solid steel or cast iron, whereas today’s versions are usually coated in rubber. The increments for tri grip plates are similar to Olympic bumper plates, increasing in 5kg increments from 10kg to a maximum of 25kg. 

But why are they a better option than the traditional bright coloured bumper plates? Here are our five reasons to grab yourself a set of tri grip plates.

  1. Safer to use

Easy grip handles with a textured rubber surface make it far simpler to carry, load a barbell or stack a machine. Fewer fingers get trapped lifting a plate flat from the floor, and fewer droppages, so your toes are safer too. 

With less need for strength in fingers and wrists, they can be handled more easily by beginners,  less powerful lifters and people coming back from injury and illness. 

The ergonomic design also means lifters can feel more confident loading and unloading weights. 

  1. Quicker changes

A quick plate change is a good plate change, right? Keeping transition time as short as possible between lifts can increase the intensity of the workout. Plates with handles are far easier to manoeuvre than those without handles. 

If your programme involves progressive overload or pyramids, you will need more plate changes than if you stick with the one weight for all sets. Hypertrophy programme demands and sessions that include supersets might also benefit from rapid plate changes. 

Crucially, a quicker transition between target weights means you can save yourself time. That means less time in the gym with the same great results.

  1. Quieter lifts 

Gyms can be noisy places, even with rubberised gym flooring; the sound of a bar being dropped can travel. With tri grip plates, they are coated in premium rubber that absorbs the shock of the fall, controlled or otherwise. 

You can rest easy in the knowledge that if you drop it, the noise won’t be deafening. And if you do fatigue mid-lift, the plates won’t damage the floor like uncoated metal plates would. 

  1. Versatility in workouts

Although these plates are perfect as an alternative to Olympic lifting plates with the two-inch centre hole providing a snug fit on a standard bar, you can use them for many more exercises.

Use them as your go-to for substantial lifts on strength machines, warm-ups and even workouts without a bar. 

The easy-to-use handles allow you to add variety without using more equipment. Diversity of exercises is especially important when accessory lifts and warm-ups can get tedious and repetitive, for you and your body.  

Some example exercises include:

  • Front and lateral raises to boost size in the deltoids

  • Russian twists for strengthening abs and obliques

  • Weighted sit-ups

  • Tricep extensions – try them either standing up or lying down like a skull-crusher

  • Halos – great for shoulder mobility, rotate around your head at face height

  • Single-leg Romanian deadlifts – activate the hamstrings and glutes before hitting the big weights

  • Overhead plate squats – a good warm-up for an OH squat with an Olympic barbell

  • Farmer carries – try a different weight in each hand to activate back and core muscles

  • Plate thrusters – starting from a butt to floor squat and quickly pushing up to a standing overhead position in one movement is a full-body buster

These are only a few ideas to illustrate how a change in plates can change up your programme. 

  1. Built to last 

These weights are built to be tougher than most. The plates are made with a reinforced steel centre ring and cast iron load.

Unlike some other rubber or plastic-coated weights, they are not filled with a sand and concrete mix. That means there is no plastic case to crack and leak its contents on the floor. 

The one downside of tri grip plates is that they can’t be used in official competition. However, as a piece of kit for a home or commercial gym, their usefulness and functionality far outweigh the disadvantages. 

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