What Should You Consider When Buying A Set Of Weight Plates?

If you’re getting into strength training at home and want to level up your workouts to include barbell weight lifting exercises then you’ll need to invest in a set of weight plates. 

While that might sound simple enough, when you come to make your purchase you’ll find there are several different options available to you, including:

- Olympic weight plates

- Standard weight plates

- Tri-grip weight plates

- Bumper weight plates

- Fractional weight plates

In this blog, we’re going to explain how each of these types of weight plates differs to help you find the best option for your home gym setup. We’ll also go into the basics of weight plates – such as why they often come in different colours. 

If you’re still unsure about including weight training in your workouts, remember that there is a great deal of evidence that incorporating strength-based training into your regular routine can not only improve your strength. 

It can also help to prevent type two diabetes, improve your cardiovascular health, lower your blood pressure and encourage bone development. 

 

Olympic vs standard weight plates: what’s the difference?

The main difference between Olympic weight plates and standard weight plates is their diameter and the size of the hole (and therefore the size of the bar that these plates fit on).

Olympic weight plates have a two-inch hole through the centre which allows them to be fitted onto an Olympic barbell, whereas standard weight plates have a one-inch hole, which is designed to fit onto a standard barbell.

So, when you’re choosing your weight plates, you need to ensure they are compatible with your barbell, if you already have one. Or, make sure that you buy your weight plates and barbell together to ensure their compatibility. 

The other main difference is that Olympic weight plates are typically available in heavier weights because they are used in competitions where athletes perform two movements: the snatch and the clean and jerk.

What are tri-grip weight plates?

Tri-grip weight plates are plates that have three holes around the edges that look almost like handles. Or another analogy is that tri-grip weight plates look a bit like a car’s steering wheel.

Tri-grip weight plates can come in both standard and Olympic varieties (which refers to the size of their central hole). However, the gaps around the edges provide better grip with which to change your weight plates over on your barbell.

This can make these types of weight plates a particularly good choice if you regularly train alone, as you will be less likely to drop weight plates if you can get a good grip on them.

Are bumper weight plates the best choice?

Finally we come to bumper weight plates, which are made from solid rubber rather than cast iron. Some sets will have a cast iron or stainless steel centre and rubber coating. 

For beginners, bumper weight plates are often considered a good option because the rubber means they bounce slightly and absorb some of the impact when dropped. 

This can help to prevent damage to floors, as well as give you the confidence to drop your bar should you need to. Having bumper weight plates can also reduce the noise of your weight training sessions.

However, bumper weight plates tend to be thicker than their cast iron counterparts, which can mean they take up a bit more space when you’re not using them. 

What are fractional weight plates?

Fractional weight plates are different again in that these are designed to help you build strength incrementally. They are therefore much lighter than the other weight plates available.

Their purpose is to help you gradually increase the weight on your lifts, by adding a small amount of weight at a time. Therefore these kinds of weight plates are usually between 0.5kg and 2.5kg in weight. 

They can be helpful when you are working towards a new maximum lift, or to help you train more safely by adding weight to your bar gradually. 

When you progress to intermediate or advanced lifting, fractional plates will be an important part of your training toolkit, because it will be harder for you to advance in large increments when you are pushing to your limits.

As a result, you’ll likely want a set of fractional weights as well as your heavier weight plates set once you get into your barbell training. 

Why are weight plates different colours?

The main reason why weight plates are different colours is to make it easy to identify which weight they are at a glance. Many people like to follow the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) technical rules in this regard. 

That means weights of 15kg need to be yellow, weights of 20kg need to be blue and weights of 25kg need to be red. Weights of less than 15kg can be any colour under IPF guidelines. Although naturally it makes sense for them to be a colour other than yellow, blue or red.

This is why smaller weights are often white, grey or green in colour, and this can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. 

Not all weight plates are different colours though. While some are solid colours, others have flecks of colours in them to help denote their weight (this is popular in bumper plates). And others stick with the simplicity of black or grey coloring with the weight clearly printed on the side.

How do you store weight plates safely?

Like any piece of gym equipment, it’s important to store your weight plates safely and securely. The best option is a weights rack, where you can store your weight plates in size order and keep them out of the way when they’re not in use. 

Weight plates are designed to be highly durable, so other than storing them in a rack, all you need to do is give them a wipe clean when you finish using them. 

You may think you could simply stack your weight plates, but this can make it more difficult to access the ones you need during your training session, as you may need to move weights around to reach the ones at the bottom of your stack.

Therefore it’s worth investing in a dedicated weight plate rack to give you easy access to all the plates in your collection.