Walk into a gym and what is the one thing that they have in abundance? Weight plates! A gym wouldn’t be able to function without them! From barbells being used for bench press and bicep curls to the leg press machines and dumbbells. If you want to improve your strength you need to lift weights and you can’t do that without weight plates. Weight plates come in various forms but the plates that you will find in most gyms are the Cast Iron Plates, and for good reason too!

What makes Cast Iron Weight Plates different?

Cast Iron Plates are designed with the strength and powerlifting athlete in mind. While bumper plates look attractive with all their different colours, they have been designed specifically for athletes that are doing explosive movements. These athletes generally need to drop their weights once they have finished their movement and the rubber design of the bumper plates allows this without creating too much noise or damage to the floor. If you are not doing explosive moves and throwing your weights around the gym then Cast Iron Plates will provide you with many benefits

Slim Design

Bumper plates have a rubber coating that allows them to be dropped. However, this increases the thickness of the weight dramatically. Not only does this mean that the space on your barbell becomes limited but you will need extra storage space in your home gym where space is probably already a luxury. It is also worth noting that the Cast Iron plates come in different sizes. The 1” plate size will fit Standard Barbells while the 2” plate will fit Olympic Barbells.

Versatility

Bumper plates are designed with the weightlifter in mind. While this provides many benefits for Olympic weightlifting, it doesn’t allow as much versatility as Cast Iron Plates. For starters, these plates come in smaller diameters for the lighter weights, allowing these weight plates to also be utilised with Dumbbell Bars. A 5kg bumper plate would be far too large in diameter to utilise with a dumbbell bar and effectively eliminate exercises such as bicep curls and shoulder press. The cast iron plates feature the Tri Grip design which allows easy handling when setting up or packing away weights in addition to making griping of the plates for certain conditioning exercises easier, such as the rotational squat to press.

Cost

The price of gym equipment is always a consideration when it comes to setting up your home gym. Getting equipment with high durability is often worth the extra cost. The good news is that Cast Iron Plates are cheaper than the alternatives but are also highly durable. Some people might express concern over iron plates rusting. This is a risk due to the fact that iron can rust if it is exposed to prolonged periods of exposure to poor, moist conditions. However, with a small amount of maintenance you can prevent rust from occurring. The most important thing is to keep the plates in a dry environment and avoid any moisture that could be on the surface. Should you ever get rust appearing on your Cast Iron Plates you can fix the problem by brushing the surface rust with a wire or nylon brush and then coat the area with WD40 to drive out any moisture before wiping it off. Follow the application of WD40 with something like 3-in-1 oil to provide a protective coating to the plate to prevent further build up of rust.

Exercises using Cast Iron Plates

Reverse Lunge and Rotate

Start by holding the Cast Iron plate by the tri grip close to your chest. Step backwards into a reverse lunge and lower the back leg until your knee is a couple of centimetres above the ground. Hold this position as you extend the plate out in front of you and then rotate the trunk towards the front leg.

Benefits - Develops glute and quad strength as well as core rotational muscles such as the transverse obliques

Farmers Walk

Hold a plate in each hand by the tri grip. With your shoulder blades pulled backwards and down, walk out 20m and then turn around and walk back.

Benefits - Excellent exercise for grip strength as well as shoulders, biceps, triceps, glutes, hamstrings and calves.

Single Arm Dumbbell Snatch

Install smaller diameter Cast Iron Plates on a dumbbell bar. Hold the dumbbell with a straight arm in front of you. Lean forward into a deadlift position and then drive your hips forwards and lift the dumbbell by keeping the dumbbell close to your body and a high elbow. When you can’t lift the dumbbell any further then flick the weight above your head and hold it with a straight arm. Slowly return to the starting position.

Benefits - Improves power and strengthens the glutes, hamstrings, shoulders and core.

Landmine Single Leg Deadlift

Place suitable Cast Iron Plates on one side of a barbell with the other side of the barbell in a Landmine Post. Hold the barbell on the weighted side and tighten your core. Slowly lean forward from your hips with the opposite leg as the arm you are holding the bar with extending backwards. Keep the body in a straight line and try to get parallel to the ground. Then drive through the floor and glutes to return to the starting position.

Benefits - The landmine setup reduces the amount of stability required but allows you to use heavier weights for the single leg deadlift, improving glute and hamstring strength

Cast Iron plates provide you with numerous benefits such as storage space, durability and cost. Don’t limit yourself to just barbell exercises. Cast Iron Plates can also be utilised for dumbbells or on their own. Cast Iron Tri Grip Weights would be a great addition to your home gym and create the gym atmosphere at home with the clanging of your weights.

Written by guest author Brendan McBirnie

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Tags: Equipment > Bars & Weight Plates ; Exercise Type > Strength