This is not your ordinary plates, it's bumper plates!
Bumper plates are a type of weight plate for Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, CrossFit-style workouts and more. Unlike the common iron or steel metal weight plates or discs, bumper plates are made of almost 100% rubber or urethane, with a small metal "insert" in the center.
Why use bumper plates? In short, bumper plates are designed so that you can drop a barbell that is loaded with weight plates directly on the ground. If you did this with iron plates, you would risk damaging the ground, your barbell, and the plates themselves. With rubber bumper weights, the bar and plates will bounce harmlessly.
Okay, I get it. Bumper plates are for dropping. So why do all these CrossFitters only use bumper plates? Since so many movements in CrossFit and Olympic Weightlifting involve getting the bar to the shoulders or overhead, many gyms (boxes) are outfitting mostly with bumper plates - and as the old saying goes, a ton of bricks weighs the same as a ton of feathers. There is no "penalty" for using rubber bumper plates instead of iron for squats, curls, or the like.
But come on, squats with bumper plates? You guys just want to look stronger. It's no secret that ours is a social media world. But there are actually benefits to squatting with bumper plates. First, if those are the weights you have, there are no other options. Second, bumper plates allow you to safely squat without a spotter. If you are using proper squat form, when you fail on a back squat, you will simply sink down to an "ass to grass" position. At this point, you shrug your shoulders, throwing the barbell and bumper plates backwards and your body forwards. Presto, saved!
Okay, fine. But I still think you're narcissistic. Fair enough. But one of the major complaints about bumper plates in the past was cost - and now bumpers are much more affordable. So you had to really spend a lot of money to outfit a gym with bumpers previously - and now you can do it on a budget.
What to look for in Bumper Plates?
Dead Bounce Bumper plates were meant to be dropped, in some cases (particularly after a PR) possibly even slammed. The rubber consistency of bumper plates is designed to withstand making forceful contact with the ground, but at different levels and in different ways. Dead-bounce bumper plates describe exactly what it sounds like, very little to no bounce off of the floor after being dropped. This is important because the less bouncing your plates do, the less bouncing your barbell will do, which will save your barbell collars and the center rings of the bumper plates from getting loose.
Center Ring The center rings on the bumper plate (what you slide your barbell collar through), can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer as far as the amount of indentation they have compared to the rest of the plate (some bumper plates have rings that are flush with the plate which results in metal on metal contact when loading multiple plates and expedites the wear and tear process, while others are flanged to prevent metal on metal contact as well as make it easier to load the plates on the bar.) The way the rings are set into the plate can also differ which can be a determining factor in the life expectancy of the plate. When the rings become loose and fall out from multiple impacts with the ground and/or rattling on the barbell, the plate is pretty much dead as there is now way to set the rings back in. You want to find a bumper plate that has not only properly flanged center rings, but also a manufacturing process that sets the rings into the rubber plates as best as possible (which can be done with using rebar, glues, and several types of different bonding rubbers).
Thickness The nice thing about metal plates is that you can load hundreds of pounds on each side without worrying about running out of room. The story is the complete opposite with most bumper plates. Since bumpers have to be able to withstand impact with the floor, and because they are made out of rubber, they are naturally thicker and take up more surface area on the bar, resulting in less loadable weight. Still, some manufacturers take this into account and purposefully make their heavier plates with the least amount of surface area possible to allow for more weight on the bar. With lighter plates you want to actually look for more surface area (especially on 10 and 15lb bumpers) to insure that they won’t “taco” or fold over when dropped.
Why Invest in Color Bumper Plates
Training to Compete There is something to be said for practicing like you play, and in that sense when you lift on colored bumpers you feel like a real weightlifter and in some way it gives you even more purpose during training.
Knowing Weight Conversions Knowing weight conversions of plates via colors is invaluable when training with other weightlifters at different gyms or in training halls at competitions. Especially if you are training primarily at a CrossFit box where everything is in pounds, if you can use colored bumpers then at least you will know that when you grab a blue bumper plate, whether its 45lbs or 20kgs, the weight will be about the same.
Look Like a Badass / Feel Like a Badass Colored plates look cool. When you watch any of the top lifters at national or world meets, or bigger CrossFit events - everyone is lifting or working out on colored bumpers. Kind of like wearing the same shoes as your favorite athletes, training on colored bumper plates brings you one step closer to being and feeling elite.
What are you waiting for? Get your own bumper plates on our shop page.
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