Home Gym Equipment 101: What You Need to Know Before Buying Weight Plates

A home gym has many advantages. It helps you save time and money and spares you from dealing with traffic jams and sweaty locker rooms. But a home gym is only as good as the exercise gear it features. So, if you want to create the best home gym for yourself, you should put effort into choosing the right gym equipment.

Weight plates are the best way to start assembling your gym equipment. They won’t take up much space and let you do various exercises. Modern weight plates are robust and durable, have little to no bounce, fit tightly on an Olympic barbell and make you look cool while breaking records left and right. Here are some things you need to know before purchasing weight plates for your home gym.

The Importance of a Quality Weight Rack

The last thing you need when exercising is to leave your weight plates on the floor. When the plates aren’t properly organised, you can trip over them, have them roll away, and have overall less room to train. The solution to this problem is having proper storage for your weight plates.

To prevent any of the above-mentioned issues, consider getting one of the quality weight plate racks where you can neatly store your weight plates. They come in various shapes and sizes, so you can choose one that best suits your space. If you want additional safety, go for a design with rubber feet for traction.

The right storage rack will help you keep your plates organised, thus making the entire weight room a more relaxed environment. You won’t waste time looking for a certain pair of plates when you need them for workouts because you’ll already know where they are. You’ll have more space to practice without worrying about tripping over weights left on the floor.

What to Consider When Looking for Weight Plate Racks

You should take into account the following factors when buying weight plate storage:

• Workout level: If you’re a beginner, you won’t need a large rack, as you won’t be using many weights. If you’re a more advanced lifter, on the other hand, make sure that the storage rack you select can hold the weight of all your plates;
• Future weight supply: How many weights do you plan on purchasing soon? If you’re planning to steadily increase the weight you’re lifting, it’s wise to get a larger rack now so you’ll be ready for the new weights;
• Space: A vertical rack is a more practical option if you have a smaller home gym, while a horizontal rack with multiple layers is preferable if you have a large number of weights.

Weight Plate Sizes

The next thing you should consider when buying weight plates for your home gym is their size. Here are three plate sizes that builders often use:

Olympic Discs

These plates have a 50.6 mm hole diameter and the fitness industry often uses them as a common size. The good thing about these plates is that they suit all commercial bars and most plate-loaded fitness equipment lines.

Olympic plates further divide into six subcategories – rubber-coated, technique, bumper, competitive weight, fractional, and powerlifting plates. Rubber-coated and bumper plates are two of the most popular types of plates, as they offer you a lot of safety during your workouts.

To ensure safety, protection, and a longer lifespan, rubber weight plates have an additional layer of rubber covering. The rubber covering offers a certain amount of protection for both the floor and the weight plate. Plates are more durable and long-lasting thanks to this coating.

Over the past few years, bumper plates have been more and more in demand. These are heavy discs made of solid rubber that you can safely use for Olympic lifts. Additionally, during workouts like snatches and presses, you can safely drop them from a height.

Standard Discs

In the past, these were the most popular option for home gyms. However, as the popularity of home gyms increases, this is slowly changing. Standard discs only have a 25 mm hole and won’t fit on an Olympic bar.

Studio Discs

These plates are often tiny, come with handles and a rubber coating, and are vividly coloured. You can readily add them to specialised studio weight bars and remove them. The centre hole is 30mm.

What Are the Best Weight Plates?

When it comes to adaptability, Olympic plates are the best option. Many bodybuilders prefer these over standard and studio discs because they offer more stability and a wider range of workouts. Another advantage is that many power racks and weight benches are designed to hold Olympic bars instead of standard bars.

Bottom Line

There’s nothing like working out from the comfort of your home – you drink your workout supplement at 6 AM and you’re ready to lift at 6:15. While having your home gym is beneficial in many ways, you still need to put some thought into purchasing the right equipment. Before you stack up on weight plates, make sure that you get a suitable weight plate rack for sale where you can safely store them.