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Octagonal Plates?
backpacker44
Posts: 160 Member
So in the Stronglift 5x5 report he says that if your gym only has octagonal weight plates and not the round ones you should switch gyms.. What the heck. Apparently you cant do a proper DL if you don't have the round ones.
Um, am I the only one confused by that?
Um, am I the only one confused by that?
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Have you actually tried to deadlift using those octagon shaped plates? You pretty much have to reset your start position after every rep! It's a bit of a pain imo, but technically you can still use them as is.0
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Nope, I'm starting this today but had to ask because I know my gym doesn't have them. I've belonged to 3 gyms in my city at one point or another and I've never seen the round plates... Dang.
Thanks for the answer, it totally makes sense now. Wouldn't have thought of that! Well, probably until I got to the gym and was like... Ahhh, lightbulb!0 -
I just joined 24 hour fitness and all they use are the octagons, but this one location has round bumper plates. I can just use a single pair of those and add the additional weight using the octagons. This works just fine.0
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Oh really? I'll have to check if my gym has those! I doubt it, because it's a small gym (Anytime Fitness). But I'm pretty regular there, so if they don't I'm sure I could convince them to buy them! Thanks for the tip!!0
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I reset my weights after deadlifts a lot still since I'm not up to the big plates yet anyway, and so they roll around a little because I'm setting them down on top of other plates rather than the floor. It's fine.
If your gym has the octagonal plates, just use them for now. It just takes an extra few seconds. Don't let something minor keep you from pursuing your goals, and don't necessarily take anything Mehdi says as "Bible". He's very knowledgeable and experienced, but his personal preferences doesn't make anything "law", and the octagonal plate issue is one of personal preference. I know he comes across as "I say this so it's fact", but if you dig a little deeper and do actual research, you find out pretty quickly what is fact and what is opinion. And as opinions go, those vary depending on who you ask.
Having said that, you might want to measure the plates as to plate height, because if you're not deadlifting with 45 pound standard plates, then you have to approximate their plate height by stacking plates underneath so your form is still correct. There's usually always a way around everything with a bit of ingenuity and the willingness to be a bit flexible.
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My gym has octagonal plates, and I am deadlifting 185, so using the big plates. I found it annoying at first (and still find it annoying on rows), but with deadlifts, I have found that I like having to reset after each pull - it helps me to refocus my form, switch my grip, check in and make sure I'm still on track - and it only takes 10-15 seconds. So pull away, and as Dani stated, don't worry about the shape of the plates. 0
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Oh there's no way I'd not do this just because I don't have access to round plates I was just confused because he made it sound serious enough to change gyms lol... Seemed a bit dramatic to me! 0
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Oh there's no way I'd not do this just because I don't have access to round plates I was just confused because he made it sound serious enough to change gyms lol... Seemed a bit dramatic to me!
Yes, welcome to Mehdi. :bigsmile:0 -
hm, now I'm confused. My gym has round plates, but they are not smooth spherical outsides, (couldn't find an exact image but this kind of thing: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTrOAf81UEq6fahp1vRlwbYQVh_2rusLhLC4HKV4Mi3x6NoOBVeMA) so every time I put them down after a DL one or other of them rolls a bit and I have to shuffle round, adjust and change angles. I'd have thought that would happen -more- with a round plate rather than less?! not sure what the solution is to be honest..0
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hm, now I'm confused. My gym has round plates, but they are not smooth spherical outsides, (couldn't find an exact image but this kind of thing: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTrOAf81UEq6fahp1vRlwbYQVh_2rusLhLC4HKV4Mi3x6NoOBVeMA) so every time I put them down after a DL one or other of them rolls a bit and I have to shuffle round, adjust and change angles. I'd have thought that would happen -more- with a round plate rather than less?! not sure what the solution is to be honest..
They're at least as much of a pain as octagonal IMHO. Round just seems to sit better.0
This discussion has been closed.