Weight Plates - Which Ones to Get?

Weight plates come in various qualities, with various price tags attached.  You want to figure out which ones are going to best suit your needs.  The following is a summary of a few different types of weight plates for standard Olympic (50mm) barbells and which ones represent best value for money depending on what you want to use them for.

Rubber Weight Plates

These weight plates vary in size with 15kg and heavier being of standard Olympic 450mm diameter.  These plates are the cheapest you will find to fit a standard Olympic barbell.  These weight plates are perfect if you don't plan to rough them up too much - so for things like squats and bench press they're perfect, and even deadlifts if you avoid dropping the weight back to the ground.

Economy Bumper Plates

If you're looking for a plate that can handle being dropped and can survive the rigours of Olympic lifting, but doesn't come with the hefty price tag that comes with most bumper plates, these could be right for you.  These plates are 100% solid rubber with a thick brass bushing.  The economy bumper plates won't have the lifespan of a more expensive bumper plate, but could easily last years if only used on a weightlifting platform.  That's very good value for the price!  Another advantage of this range of weight plates is that they go down to 5kg in standard 450mm diameter Olympic size - 5kg bumper plates are not easy to find and certainly not so reasonably priced.

Zhang Kong Training Bumper Plates

The Zhang Kong Training bumper plates are a high quality plate.  Zhang Kong equipment is IWF approved and their equipment was used for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, so you know it's excellent gear.  You will get decades of Olympic lifting out of these plates, so if you're serious about your Olympic lifting and view your equipment as an investment the Zhang Kong gear is the way to go.

Zhang Kong Competition Bumper Plates

For calibrated weights of the highest quality, you can't go past the Zhang Kong competition plates.  These plates may just outlive you.  They are a step up from the training plates and are a must for the serious competitor or O-lifting coach.

Custom Bumper Plates

These are very high quality plates - they come out of the same factory as the IWF Uesaka weightlifting gear.  These plates are for those who want to personalise their weight plates and really have them stand out.  Colours and logos can be customised. AFL Premiers the Geelong Cats have recently fitted out their new gym with these plates to add the finishing touches to their world class facility.

So that's a quick run down of various types of weight plates, what they're best suited to and what represents best value for money.

For more information on weight plates check out the Australian Kettlebells website.