Rep Fitness Bumper Plates

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Bumper plates are the most versatile Olympic sized plates you can use in your home gym or garage gym.

These plates are made from rubber (or other materials) that allow you to safely drop them from overhead.

They are quiet, durable, and can be used for the slow strength lifts – but they are a necessity for the quick Olympic lifts.

You need bumper plates to do Oly lifting right.
You really need bumper plates to do Oly lifting right.

If you are interested in the Oly lifting – you need bumper plates.

It’s simply too much hassle to have to lower steel plates under control – it’s a waste of energy.

Given that, we recommend bumper plates for your garage gym.

The downside is that bumper plates are significantly more expensive than steel plates – and harder to find.

Finding quality plates locally can be tough – but there are plenty of options on-line.

Rep Fitness has a range of bumper plate options – and we’ll look at those in this article.

Here’s the high quality bumper plates from Rep Fitness we’ll review in this article:

Rep Black Bumper Plates Rep's Black Bumper Plates are made from low bounce virgin rubber. They also include a zinc coated steel insert. Available in sizes from 10 lbs to 45 lbs. These are not available in kilos.
Rep Color Bumper Plates Color Bumper Plates let you quickly verify the weight loading. These color bumper plates look good, and work well. Except for the coloring, they are the same as the Black Bumper Plates (lbs only - no kilos.)
Rep Color Competition Plates (Lbs) Step your game up with competition plates - these are precisely manufactured and are within +/- 10 grams of the advertised weight. They are also thinner than the training bumpers, thanks to the bigger steel insert, and the use of very low bounce virgin rubber (92 durometer rating.) But, they do cost significantly more.
Rep Color Competition Plates (Kilos) These competition plates come in kilograms - to remain true to Olympic weightlifting tradition. Otherwise they are the same as the competition plates in lbs.

Let’s take a closer look at these great plates from Rep.

Black Bumper Plates from Rep Fitness

Rep Fitness has a “house brand” of simple bumper plates known as the Rep Black Bumper Plates.

Rep Black Bumper Plates on an Olympic Bar
Black Bumper Plates
Rep Black Bumper Plates specs
Specs

Rep Black Bumper Plates
Black Bumper Plates
Rep Black bumper Plates - oly lifting
Oly lifting

All black plates are kind of boring, so let’s move on.

Color Bumper Plates from Rep Fitness

Liven things up with Rep Color Bump Plates.

These are color coded: Red = 55 lbs, Blue = 45 lbs, Yellow = 35 lbs, Green = 25 lbs, and Gray = 10 lbs.

Never misload a barbell again.

Rep Color Bumper Plates
Rep Color Bumper Plates

But really, these look a lot nicer too.

Rep Color Bumper Plates Specs
Specs

These are also made from virgin rubber and are “low bounce”.

Rep Color Bumper Plates
These look pretty sharp
Rep Color Bumper Plates
Bench in style with color bumper plates.

Competition Bumper Plates (Lbs) from Rep Fitness

Competition Plates like the Rep Competition Bumper Plates (Lbs) are precision manufactured.

Competition Bumper Plates
Competition Bumper Plates are manufactured to precise quality standards.

To be used in competition – they must meet strict quality standards set by the IWF (International Weightlifting Federation.)

Rep Competition Bumper Plates - Lbs
Competition plates must be color-coded – so it is easy to confirm the proper weight loading.

These are within +/- 10 grams of the claimed weight.

They are 450 mm in diameter.

Are these over-kill for a home gym?

Yes, but they are very high quality.

Competition plates
Competition bumper plates – overkill for a home gym – but don’t they look sweet?

There are some reasons to use them.

Thanks to the very beefy steel insert these are significantly thinner than the training bumper plates we covered earlier.

That means you can fit more of them on the barbell.

Secondly, these have a 92 durometer rating – which means they are “very low bounce.”

Competition Bumper Plates
Bumper Plates in a storage rack.

Competition Bumper Plates from Rep (Kilos)

Oly lifting with plates marked in lbs? Blasphemy!

Keep things legit with the Competition Plates (Kilos).

These have all the same attributes of the other competition plates, but are marked in kilos.

The plates used for Olympic lifting are normally in kilo denominations. CrossFit tends to use pounds regardless though.

Competition Plates in Kilos

Bumper Plates from Rep Fitness – In Summary

Bumper plates are not a necessity for power lifting.

But they are a necessity for Oly lifting.

Because the snatch and clean and jerk end with the bar overhead – you can safely drop it without damaging your bar.

Bumper plates are more expensive – and harder to find.

But, they are quieter to use in most situations, and they look really nice.

Why Rep Fitness Products? We’re a Rep Fitness affiliate – so if you order equipment after clicking the links in this article we receive a small fee – at no additional cost to you. Rep Fitness is the king of “bang for your buck” value in the gym equipment market. The quality is high – and the price is right. We’re proud to help spread the word – and to help make your workout be the best it can be.

Photo & Image Credits

All Rep Fitness product imagery is property of Rep Fitness, and provided by Rep Fitness.

Rep Color Bumper Plates
Look good while you squat with Rep Color Bumper Plates.