Dropping the barbell / avoiding damage

taso42
taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
edited October 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
[Reposting from the BodyBuilding Group since nobody apparently saw it there]

I have a relatively cheapo olympic barbell (Cap Barbell brand) and some decent Rogue bumper plates. I don't have a platform. The floor is concrete with hard carpet over it. It's the sort of carpet you might find in an office or commercial space.

The bar only gets dropped during power cleans, and occasionally on the last rep of deadlifts when I'm just spent.

Is it bad for the bar to drop it w/o a platform? So far it's been ok, though the bolts holding the collars get loose sometimes and I have to re-tighten.

I don't care too much about this bar. Eventually I'll get a nice "Burgener & Rippetoe Bar" http://www.roguefitness.com/burgener-rippetoe-men-s-bar.php ... If and when I get that, I definitely don't want to damage it.

Replies

  • CaptainGordo
    CaptainGordo Posts: 4,437 Member
    BUMP!
  • bahacca
    bahacca Posts: 878 Member
    Seeing as the bar and plates are going to be made of harder material than the floor and carpet, I'd be more concerned about cracking the concrete floor than the bar and plates themselves.
    If money is an issue, this looks like a solid plan. You can probably call local carpet installers and get a bunch of scrap padding and carpet for little or no cost. May take some time for them to get you enough scrap, but worth a try. Other materials can be bought cheaply from Home Depot or Lowes. Also check Craigslist for leftover building materials and carpet as well.
    http://weightliftingexchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=361&Itemid=60
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    I doubt the bumper plates (made of rubber) would crack the floor. Ideally I would love to build a platform, but the space is somewhat limited in that room, and it's also shared, so the platform would potentially be in the way of other stuff the room is used for.

    I'm mainly looking (hoping) for affirmation that it's perfectly ok to drop onto a carpet over concrete surface. I may try some power lifting forums...
  • CaptainGordo
    CaptainGordo Posts: 4,437 Member
    I'm mainly looking (hoping) for affirmation that it's perfectly ok to drop onto a carpet over concrete surface. I may try some power lifting forums...
    From the looks of this...

    http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/archive/index.php/t-39435.html

    ...the issue is not with damaging the plates, but the bar.

    Found a discussion about using rubber mats, along with suggestions for different kinds of mats...

    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=122438911&page=1
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    I'm mainly looking (hoping) for affirmation that it's perfectly ok to drop onto a carpet over concrete surface. I may try some power lifting forums...
    From the looks of this...

    http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/archive/index.php/t-39435.html

    ...the issue is not with damaging the plates, but the bar.

    Found a discussion about using rubber mats, along with suggestions for different kinds of mats...

    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=122438911&page=1

    Thanks for googling that for me :)

    This sounds like exactly what I wanted to hear:
    100% rubber bumpers can be dropped on concrete every day for quite a few years before they start to wear out, crack, and need to be replaced.

    in a perfect world, you'd have some hard rubber flooring down. it's a little healthier on your joints and everythign if you're doing jumps / jumprope / etc. but if youre using 100% rubber bumpers, it's not mandatory.

    Some guy on the internet said it, so I can take it as truth, right?
  • Jeff92se
    Jeff92se Posts: 3,369 Member
    Or use some of those 2" thick rubber mats you can get at HomeDepot.
  • mariodispenza
    mariodispenza Posts: 28 Member
    I use bumper plates in my garage, which has a concrete floor. Instead of a platform, I bought horse stall mats from Tractor Supply Company. They'e 3/4" thick and incredibly dense (read: VERY HEAVY). They're 4' x 6' and cost about $40 each. I'm an olympic lifter and the only time that I"m not dropping that bar is on squats. I've had no damage to either the floor or the equipment. The other up-side is that when I'm done with my workout, I can pull the car back into the garage and if the car is wet, the mats have grooves that channel the water out.
  • bahacca
    bahacca Posts: 878 Member
    Doh-I was picturing the metal plates, not rubber ones. Glad you got your answer!
  • Nopedotjpeg
    Nopedotjpeg Posts: 1,805 Member
    Rippetoe goes over dropping the bar during Power Cleans and how your hands shouldn't lose contact with it so it goes down in a controlled manner.
  • CaptainGordo
    CaptainGordo Posts: 4,437 Member
    Some guy on the internet said it, so I can take it as truth, right?
    Hellooooo! Of course! :laugh:
This discussion has been closed.

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