Which oly plates to get - 20 or 25kg?

[anotherbutters]

I've decided to get some rubber coated plates for my home gym as I need more weight and the rubber coated ones are quieter. I've only used up to 20kg plates (44lb) up to now, but noticed you can get 25kg (55lb) plates that are slightly larger in diameter.

I'm going to get about 200kg (440lb) worth in total. Should I get lots of 20's or try the 25's? My only concern with the 25's is that the bar will be slightly higher for deadlifts (or am I low at the moment and 25's are the normal height?)

I think I'll stick with 20's, just wondered what everyone else thought.

I'm thinking of getting:

8 x 20kg
2 x 10kg
2 x 5kg
2 x 2.5kg
2 x 1.25kg

(no 15's)

 

[mekannik]

What brand/company are you ordering these from? The Eleiko plates at my gym go from 5kg up to 25kg - and they are all the same diameter. The 15, 20, and 25 are the same width also.

Sounds like you are got some bogus bumpers.

 

[anotherbutters]

Cheap, unbranded, colour-coded plates from one of these:

http://www.worldofhealthandleisure.co.uk/olympicweightsrubber.htm
http://www.amazon-leisure.co.uk/index.php?cPath=75_29_33_52

The Eleiko plates are nice, but very expensive and not necessary for a home gym. 20kg is 20kg. You can't really have a bogus 20kg. Well, unless it's 19kg

I guess the question I meant to ask is 'what is a standard plate weight?'. But I know that when people talk about having two or three plates on the bar, they're talking about 20kg plates, so I'll stick with that.

I guess I kind of answered my own question, so thanks for listening

 

[blut wump]

It could be worth having a pair of the larger 25Kg weights for those days when you think the extra half inch or centimeter might help. For your squatting and bench, of course, its just weight. If you don't want to risk being tempted by that extra gap from the floor then stay away from them.

If you ever go for a powerlifting competition then they'll be using the standard 20Kg size. That said, the gym I use has a couple of 20s which are a shade larger than the rest.

 

[araiber]

Well, if you are to do bench then ill assume you will do less weight than deadlifting. Squats however, you might just want to have those extra 25's laying around.
I totally understand your concern, I hate having to not go down far enough for a good lift. I personally would stick to having only 20's, but thats me.

 

[mekannik]

Cheap, unbranded, colour-coded plates from one of these:

http://www.worldofhealthandleisure.co.uk/olympicweightsrubber.htm
http://www.amazon-leisure.co.uk/index.php?cPath=75_29_33_52

The Eleiko plates are nice, but very expensive and not necessary for a home gym. 20kg is 20kg. You can't really have a bogus 20kg. Well, unless it's 19kg

I guess the question I meant to ask is 'what is a standard plate weight?'. But I know that when people talk about having two or three plates on the bar, they're talking about 20kg plates, so I'll stick with that.

I guess I kind of answered my own question, so thanks for listening

You are missing my point. The diameter of the plate should not change from weight to weight. Look at the upper right hand pic on the amazon-leisure.co.uk page. Stacked on top of each other, the red (25kg) and blue (20kg) are the same size. Just a matter of the amount of steel/iron used to make the weight.

Check out http://www.yorkbarbell.com/ click on PRODUCTS => COMMERCIAL WEIGHT EQUIPMENT. The sight scrolls left to right. The second set over is the basic all black bumpers (my old gym had these - they work great). The 10kg to 25kg all have the same diameter (slightly different widths). They were also the same diameter as the all metal plates in the gym.

Go over to the Elite Competition Bumper set to see what I mean. Color coded by weight, same diamter.

I meant bogus as meaning the manufacturer skimped on the detail of diameter to get the extra weight. That being said - buy the 25's. You will be using them soon enough.

 

[anotherbutters]

You are missing my point.

Sorry, I think I missed your point because I wasn't sure what question I was trying to ask in the first place.

You're quite correct, some manufacturers use the same diameter for different weights. I remember they commented on it in Starting Strength and looked it up - they say that all bumper plates 10kg and above should be 45cm in diameter. They didn't say why, but I guess if a bar is on it's way to the floor, the big plates will hit the floor, but the smaller ones will have their weight stopped by the bar, and 10kg could damage it.

That said, I'm going to order the ones from worldofhealthandleisure. I don't plan on dumping the bar from a height, only from deads if my grip fails. I'm going to stick with the 20's so I can get my '3 plates on the bar' for deads in a few week's time.