What’s up, Fringe Fam? If you’re here, you’re likely wondering, “what is the point of a bumper plate?” You’ve come to the right place to find the answer. We’re on the bumper plate train (all aboard!) and have been for quite some time (since the beginning of our time, and before!) and bumper plates are an integral part of our everyday lives and what we do for our customers.
What are bumper plates?
Bumper plates are weight plates made of an iron or steel core and covered in protective rubber. Unlike iron or steel plates which are made of raw material and typically coated in a protective layer, bumper plates are iron or steel in the center and covered in a thick protective layer of rubber. Because they’re covered in rubber, they tend to bounce back a bit when dropped, hence their name. They’re great for Olympic lifting, powerlifting accessories, CrossFit, garage gymmers, or those who tend to get lifts in on their own (without a spotter).
Why are bumper plates on the market?
Bumper plates came into the fitness scene with Olympic lifters, because it’s important that when performing Olympic lifts, the clean and jerk and the snatch, that the plates allow for a barbell to be dropped from overhead, as that’s the final position for both lifts.
When CrossFit came about in 2000, the sport adopted the bumper plate as their plate of choice, and for good reason. The bumper plate offers more confidence and assurance in lifts like the clean and jerk, snatch, overhead squat, and others, where the traditional iron plate wouldn’t make the cut. Can you imagine dropping iron plates on the floor over and over again? That would be detrimental to the plates themselves, the barbell holding them, and likely the floor underneath.
What is the point of bumper plates?
Bumper plates are all about protection These rubber weight plates protect your barbell, your floors, themselves, and even YOU from damage when you are lifting and dropping your barbell to waist, shoulder height or overhead. In weightlifting and CrossFit, many of the movements end with you dropping your barbell, and bouncy plates protect everything!
These plates were made for dropping, so there’s little risk in damaging the plate or the barbell, or floor underneath, during use when dropped even from as high as overhead. The plates are designed to bounce, which is why they’re covered in rubber, and protect the center metal ring and barbell sleeves. If a lift happens to be failed without a spotter, like a barbell squat, the bar can be dropped and bailed safely without damaging the plates, barbell, or floor underneath.
Bumper plates are designed to be extremely durable and last a long time when taken care of properly, cleaned every so often, and stored in proper conditions, out of extreme heat and cold.
What Makes a Quality Bumper Plate
Not every bumper plate on the market is worth the same money, and the rubber is where that shows up first. Virgin rubber, which is what most of our bumper plates are made from, is denser and holds up to repeated drops far longer than the crumb rubber used in some cheaper plates. Crumb rubber is recycled and pieced together, so it tends to wear, crack, and lose its bounce faster.
Price is where quality actually becomes visible. Our Milspec bumper plates run around $169 a pair at 45 pounds, which is less than our own Black bumper plates at $229 and our Savage bumper plates at $249, despite being built to the toughest standard we make. Compare that to a budget option like Cap Barbell, which runs closer to $1.00 to $1.05 per pound versus $1.88 to $2.77 per pound for ours, and the gap in price tracks pretty closely with the gap in how long the plates actually last.
A quality bumper plate should also have a low, dead bounce rather than a wild one. That's not just about noise, it's about not sending a 45-pound plate skittering into the rack next to you when you're sharing space with other lifters.
Bumper Plates vs. Iron Plates: What's the Difference
The short version is what's inside versus what's outside. Bumper plates have an iron or steel core wrapped in thick rubber. Iron plates are solid metal, top to bottom, with no protective layer at all. That difference is the whole reason bumper plates exist for lifts like the clean and jerk and the snatch, where the bar ends up overhead and has to come back down.
Drop an iron plate from that height and you risk cracking the plate, denting your barbell's sleeves, and putting a serious dent in your floor. Bumper plates are built to take that impact and bounce back instead, which is why Olympic lifters, CrossFitters, and anyone training without a spotter tend to reach for them first.
Iron plates still have a place. They're thinner per pound, so they're useful for slow, controlled lifts like bench press where you're never dropping the bar from height. But if your training includes any lift that ends overhead, or you're the kind of lifter who bails on a failed rep instead of fighting it to the floor, bumper plates are the safer call for your equipment and your garage.
How to find the right bumper plates for you
If you’re here, reading this, you’re in the perfect spot to find the right bumper plates for you. We offer a variety of different bumper plates in different styles, colors, and more to suit your needs. All of our Fringe Sport bumper plates are extremely durable, and will last you a good while. Our bumper plates can take some serious impact, and they’ll keep bouncing back.
Our bumper plates are designed and formulated to have a low, dead bounce, which makes them perfect for working out in smaller spaces, like your garage or basement. Plus, if you’re an affiliate or garage gymmer with multiple athletes working at once, you can stack your athletes close together and not worry about barbells flying into one another.
We offer bumper plates in pairs and sets, and different weights to customize your gains. All of our bumper plates are durable and made from virgin rubber, unless you’ve chosen our crumb rubber bumper plates. We also offer bumper plates that look like pizza, pink-frosted donuts, and tiger stripes for a little bling in your garage gym collection, and competition plates in kilograms.
If that doesn’t convince you that you need to get into the bumper plate game, send us a message. We’d love to help you find the best fit for you.
So, again: the point of a bumper plate is to protect yourself, your barbell, your flooring, and your plates from damage during weightlifting when the barbell is at risk for being dropped. Because they’re covered in virgin rubber, our bumper plates will NOT bounce into your drywall because of their low, dead bounce. You can lift with confidence in your barbell and bumper plates no matter the kind of lifting you’re doing, while keeping your equipment, flooring, and walls intact.
As always, get yourself a set of Fringe Sport bumper plates and lift heavy, lift happy :)
