Deadlift - plate size?

hooplah

I'm starting to do some weights at home with the standard olympic set that Irish-lifting.com sell.

'Starting Strength' says that plates should be sized so that the bottom of the bar is 8.5 inches off the ground. None of the plates I have are this big.

Is there anywhere that sells 10kg plates this diameter? At the moment I'm lifting the bar from a stack of plates but don't think this is very safe...

spiral

i think your best bet is rto buy a pair of 25 kg plates from irish lifting , they are the size your looking for

rubadub

spiral wrote: »

i think your best bet is rto buy a pair of 25 kg plates from irish lifting , they are the size your looking for

Probably doesnt want 190kg of stuff though, and the cost. You will not get 10kg plates in that diameter, they would be really thin.

You could make wooden dummy plates. I just have a load of blankets under my 20kg plates, this also cushions them against the floorboards, stops them rolling around too.

hooplah

spiral wrote: »

i think your best bet is rto buy a pair of 25 kg plates from irish lifting , they are the size your looking for

hmmm, that would mean the lowest warmup set I could lift would be 70kg (2 x 25kg and the 20kg bar). My working set is only 90kg at the moment so I wouldn't be crazy about that...

thanks for the wooden dummy plate idea rubadub, I might just go with that.

If 10kg plates would be too thin to come in a large diameter does anyone know what the lowest weight plate available in Dublin would be?

rubadub

hooplah wrote: »

thanks for the wooden dummy plate idea rubadub, I might just go with that.

If 10kg plates would be too thin to come in a large diameter does anyone know what the lowest weight plate available in Dublin would be?

The wooden dummy need not be round, nor the full size all around, i.e. if square the hole does not need to be in the centre. e.g. if you had a triangle shape bit of wood you could have a hole near one of the corners, then the weight of it would make it swing downwards, so the long flat section should always be facing the ground.

There are possibly lower weight bumper plates that would be that diameter, but they would cost a lot. You might be able to get proper gym protection mats that could bring it up to the desired height.

BrianD3

I wouldn't get too hung up on what Starting Strength says about the height. Smaller diameter plates make things a bit more challenging but don't make the exercise "dangerous" or anything. I deadlifted for a few years with a regular bar (from Argos) and weights which are smaller diameter than standard Olympic weights. I only got an Olympic bar and 45 cm plates when I was deadlifting 180-200 kg with my Argos bar. I still use the Argos bar for warmup sets.

spiral

I would think the plates of correct size at 25kg are your best bet . 10 kg plates will not support an extra 100 of smaller plates if dropped a few times , either will wooden ones. you could possibly make up some wooden blocks that would do the job. But if your working weight is 90 at the moment it will probably increase substantially in a short enough time.

Roper

Just pull them from blocks. Use a pallet or a few slips of plywood to make the xtra height. I wouldn't fancy having 100kg+ supported by a wooden dummy disc.

rubadub

spiral wrote: »

10 kg plates will not support an extra 100 of smaller plates if dropped a few times , either will wooden ones.

Roper wrote: »

I wouldn't fancy having 100kg+ supported by a wooden dummy disc.

Good point, I was thinking my own situation where I am never dropping the bar, since it is in my room on floor boards. I was guessing the OP was the same, but could be out in the garage and working to failure.

spiral wrote: »

you could possibly make up some wooden blocks that would do the job.

I have 2 strong wooden boxes that I stand on for negative chins. These could go either sides of my bar and the actual bar could rest on them, rather than the plates resting on a platform. If you made a dip/groove in the wood it would naturally fall into it, or just 2 more bits of wood on each box to trap the potentially rolling bar between.

Another idea I had for cushioning was getting a bicycle tyre to the fit over the plate edge, then stuffing cloth in, it could be duct taped direct to the plate through the tri-grip holes. Might only increase the diameter 1" or so but is neater than having platforms or blocks. The other idea as putting actual bike wheels on rather than plates, with tyres & tubes- the axel would be the problem though.

I wouldn't get too hung up on what Starting Strength says about the height

yes, if it was really so critical then it should be changing depending on peoples limb size, i.e. not just height, other things should be taken into account. Like 2 6ft lads might need different bike and saddle heights to suit their actual leg & arm size.

hooplah

Ok folks, thanks for all the tips, much appreciated. Reckon i'll go with blocks till i'm up for lifting the 25's in warmup.