Whether you have been lifting for years or have only spent a few sessions at the weight bench, something that is almost impossible to miss is that there are so many different ways to design and shape weights.
From easy-to-change grip plates to hexagonal plates for dumbbells, there are a lot of ways to design weights, and everyone who exercises from weekend warriors to seasoned professional bodybuilders will have their own preference.
For weightlifters, the best plates to have are Olympic weight plates, the standard of standards developed by the International Weightlifting Federation and the only plates accepted for sanctioned competition.
The characteristic that makes them stand out immediately is their distinctive, colour-coded rubber coatings, but where did the colour system come from, why are they coloured in rubber, and what makes their standardisation special?
Why Are Olympic Plates Colour-Coded?
The simple answer for why the weight plates have very distinct colour coding is for easy identification.
Whilst most weights look noticeably different and certainly feel as such when loaded in, it is beneficial for referees and for the audience to know which weights are on the Olympic bar at a glance.
The bar itself was standardised in 1928 with the revolving sleeve that allowed for more consistent, safer lifts, as well as a focus on enduring elastic energy, but the colour-coded weights only came into effect in 1972 for the Olympic Games in Munich.
A lot of changes came about at the same time, with a switch from imperial to metric weights due to a desire to standardise weightlifting competitions around the world, given that the majority of countries in the world use the metric system for weights and measures.
This led to the ten Olympic plate sizes and five colours for each:
- White - 5kg and the smaller 0.5kg
- Green - 10kg and the smaller 1.0kg
- Yellow - 15kg and the smaller 1.5kg
- Blue - 20kg and the smaller 2kg
- Red - 25kg and the smaller 2.5kg
The colour system was devised by the IWF and happened to coincide with the widespread adoption of colour television.
Whilst the first Olympic games broadcast in colour were the 1964 games in Tokyo and the 1968 Olympics were the first to be broadcast in colour in its entirety, it was not widely adopted until the 1970s, and the plates were perfect for showcasing the capabilities of the new medium.
It also helped provide an additional benefit compared to the other reason why it was so easy to have weights of multiple colours.
Why Do Weight Plates Have Rubber Coatings?
Whilst many plates you can buy are typically in some form of charcoal or dark grey coating, Olympic plates are coated in a brightly coloured rubber, and the benefit of this can be seen when watching competitive weightlifting.
When watching a typical competition, many of the lifts end with something that can very easily get you kicked out of a gym if you do it too often. The weights are dropped or sometimes even slammed on the ground, which can damage the weights and often damage the floor.
The rubber coating, therefore, is a safety feature to make them less damaging when dropped from the head heights that are so common during competition.
They are also known as “bumper plates” for this exact reason, as they end up bumping and bouncing either following a successful lift or during an unsuccessful one.
They typically have a thicker coating compared to powerlifting plates, which are thinner and are typically not dropped on successful lifts, certainly not at the heights they would be during a weightlifting competition.
This allowed them to also be thinner, which whilst adding more pressure per area also allowed for more plates to be put on the typically thicker powerlifting bar.
The Lost Green Plate
One of the most unusual Olympic plates is one that is simply not made anymore. Whilst green is the colour for the 10kg plate now, in 1976 it was intended to be used for the heaviest weight available at 50kg.
This weight plate, one of which is nearly as heavy as the lowest weight class and two of which are heavier than many heavyweight boxers, was designed to be the ultimate challenge, but it turned out to be too heavy for reasonable competition.
With weightlifting, both the weights themselves and their distribution on the bar matter so much and can be the difference between success and failure. This is why the weights are a standard size and even 5kg weights have the same 450mm diameter measurements as the 25kg.
It also helps with protecting the floor and the equipment, as the impact force is spread more evenly. This is why the drops seem to barely damage the floor, the bar or the plates.
However, the heavier 50kg weights put that to the ultimate test given their sheer weight, and the more intense weight distribution was not entirely popular with weight lifters.
They were unused, unsold and largely unloved, with only a few televised examples of them ever being lifted. They were ultimately abandoned by the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and the previously black 10kg weights would be green by the 1988 games in Seoul, although largely underused in the footage that was televised.
What Is The Tolerance For Weight Accuracy?
A frustrating problem for many weightlifters and part of the reason why Olympic plates are so popular even amongst lifters who do not intend to compete is the problem with weight accuracy.
Depending on the manufacturer, some weights can be as much as 10 per cent lighter or heavier than their stated weight, leading to some rather judicious use of a permanent marker to note the actual weight.
By contrast, in actual competition, these sorts of tolerances are unacceptable and all of the weights used are weighed before the start of competition.
The IWF’s mandated tolerance is within ten grams (0.02 lbs) of the stated weight. Any variation more or less than this makes them illegal for competition.
This is often quite complex to measure, given the rubber coating, which is part of the reason why there is a premium on Olympic plates that is more than worth paying.