Weight Plate Buying Advice

At the time of writing, we don’t sell weight plates. Air freighting weights around the world isn’t commercially viable, and we’ll need time to agree partnerships in each country/region using products that we feel are good enough to be matched with PIVOT.

Any weight plates will work with PIVOT, and there are hundreds of different brands and types available in every country in the world. That can be the problem, though – too many choices make it difficult to choose. The aim of this guide is to help you refine those choices and make your buying decision easier.

Standards

There are two different weight plate / barbell standards. Most common is the Olympic standard, which uses 50mm diameter sleeves on the ends of the barbell and a slightly larger than 50mm hole in the plates. These are often called 2” hole plates / barbells. 25mm / 1” barbells and plates obviously just have a smaller sleeve / hole diameter. Olympic style are better in general as there’s space to fit bushings or bearings into the barbell sleeve, which allows the plates to not rotate along with the barbell during exercise (e.g. bicep curls). However, both types will serve you very well and we always recommend that you use what you already have.

Our weight plate storage units are currently only available in Olympic size.

Bumper Plates

Bumper plates will save your floor, right? Well, yes, but only if you’re planning on dropping your loaded barbell. You’re not planning on dropping your barbell in your home, are you?! Please don’t, you’ll regret it. Control the motion at all times, the lift is not done until you set it down. If you can’t set it down, you shouldn’t be picking it up. Bumper plates have zero benefit for any exercise where you rack the barbell on the rack – the plates don’t ever touch the floor, after all.

The downside of bumper plates is that they’re really thick, and in a space-limited environment like a bedroom, this can be a real issue. There’s a limited amount of storage space on our Weight Plate Storage accessories (135mm per side), given the available space under the bed, so bumpers can really eat into this quickly. So, in summary: questionable benefits, very real downsides.

Cast Iron or Raw Steel Plates

Cast iron or raw steel plates make a huge amount of noise. If you already have this style, keep using them! If you’re buying new, we don’t think your family or neighbours will thank you for opting for this style of plate.

Our Recommended Plate Type

In our opinion, the best style of weight plate for home use is thin, rubber-covered ‘grip’ plates. They’re thin so are space efficient, they’re virtually silent, and they provide more utility than regular plates as you can use them for lots of other exercises because of the grips. Plastic coverings can also work well, but you should ensure they have a textured finish for grip.