In powerlifting competitions, the first plate faces in and the rest face out so that the numbers are always visible. This way the judges can tell the weight on the bar. From the IPF rulebook:
“7. All discs must be clearly marked with their weight and loaded in the sequence of heavier discs innermost with the smaller discs in descending weight arranged so that the referees can read the weight on each disc.”
I guess this system pre-dates color coding of the plates?
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
Doug Adams wrote:
At my gym they have the double faced plates with handles, so I throw them on the bar and go. If we had real plates I’d have the faces pointed in, just out of habit.
Do you line the handles up or stagger them at 90 degrees?[/quote]
I just kind of throw them on, then adjust them during my sets.
Really, it’s the only way to get maximum muscle fiber recruitment…trying to balance a barbell with one arm while spinning plates with the other. You definitely get the survival fibers firing.
[quote]Freaky Styley wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Doug Adams wrote:
At my gym they have the double faced plates with handles, so I throw them on the bar and go. If we had real plates I’d have the faces pointed in, just out of habit.
Do you line the handles up or stagger them at 90 degrees?
I just kind of throw them on, then adjust them during my sets.
Really, it’s the only way to get maximum muscle fiber recruitment…trying to balance a barbell with one arm while spinning plates with the other. You definitely get the survival fibers firing.
[/quote]
Survival Fibers? I know you’re bullshiting us, but where did you pick up that lovely piece of bullshit?
[quote]FightingScott wrote:
Freaky Styley wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Doug Adams wrote:
At my gym they have the double faced plates with handles, so I throw them on the bar and go. If we had real plates I’d have the faces pointed in, just out of habit.
Do you line the handles up or stagger them at 90 degrees?
I just kind of throw them on, then adjust them during my sets.
Really, it’s the only way to get maximum muscle fiber recruitment…trying to balance a barbell with one arm while spinning plates with the other. You definitely get the survival fibers firing.
Survival Fibers? I know you’re bullshiting us, but where did you pick up that lovely piece of bullshit?[/quote]
Probably from his imagination. It was funny…somepeople still make up their own jokes.
[quote]Jerkwad wrote:
Probably from his imagination. It was funny…somepeople still make up their own jokes.[/quote]
You mean…it’s possible…to be funny…without relying heavily on Jerry !!!
[quote]sen say wrote:
Jerkwad wrote:
Probably from his imagination. It was funny…somepeople still make up their own jokes.
You mean…it’s possible…to be funny…without relying heavily on Jerry !!!
[/quote]
Are you implying that Jerry is funny?
Always in…Always.
[quote]FightingScott wrote:
Freaky Styley wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Doug Adams wrote:
At my gym they have the double faced plates with handles, so I throw them on the bar and go. If we had real plates I’d have the faces pointed in, just out of habit.
Do you line the handles up or stagger them at 90 degrees?
I just kind of throw them on, then adjust them during my sets.
Really, it’s the only way to get maximum muscle fiber recruitment…trying to balance a barbell with one arm while spinning plates with the other. You definitely get the survival fibers firing.
Survival Fibers? I know you’re bullshiting us, but where did you pick up that lovely piece of bullshit?[/quote]
The concept of survival muscle fibers, ones that aren’t activate d except in extreme situations, has been talked about by numerous authors on this site.
What’s the deal with plates facing out? I mean, who are these people?
[quote]Flop Hat wrote:
They must face in. Any other way turns me into an obsessive compulsive.
Does it bother anyone else to mix brands of plates that are the same weight, but not quite the same size? That bothers me sometimes too.
[/quote]
As long as they match the brand on the other side of the bar I am OK.
[quote]Jerkwad wrote:
FightingScott wrote:
Freaky Styley wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Doug Adams wrote:
At my gym they have the double faced plates with handles, so I throw them on the bar and go. If we had real plates I’d have the faces pointed in, just out of habit.
Do you line the handles up or stagger them at 90 degrees?
I just kind of throw them on, then adjust them during my sets.
Really, it’s the only way to get maximum muscle fiber recruitment…trying to balance a barbell with one arm while spinning plates with the other. You definitely get the survival fibers firing.
Survival Fibers? I know you’re bullshiting us, but where did you pick up that lovely piece of bullshit?
Probably from his imagination. It was funny…somepeople still make up their own jokes.[/quote]
Only when their writers go on strike.
[quote]Freaky Styley wrote:
The concept of survival muscle fibers, ones that aren’t activate d except in extreme situations, has been talked about by numerous authors on this site. [/quote]
Those must be the ones activated when a car is on top of someone (extreme situation), and in order for them to survive you use your muscles (survival muscle fibers) to pick the car up.
They face in and there is actually a reason for it.
The outside (non numbered side) of the hole is less rounded than the numbered side. If the weight shifts the sharper edge grabs the bar and won’t slide off. That is also why sometimes putting the weight on is easier than removing it.
That’s what I was told a long time ago and at that time the weights we used were actually shaped like that. We tested the “theory” and it worked. Numbers in, the weight stayed put, and numbers out the weight slid off when we tilted the bar.
man you guys must hate me then, i just do whatevers easiest and fastest so i can get my next set in
left side : 45, 35, 25
right side: 45, 35, 10, 10, 5
etc. people look at me weird but whatever.
when i deadlift ill put on 45s, then reverse clean it to the ground, then ill just use 35s and smaller so i dont have to lift the barbell when i load plates.
im a lazy bastard
[quote]ReklaW wrote:
They face in and there is actually a reason for it.
The outside (non numbered side) of the hole is less rounded than the numbered side. If the weight shifts the sharper edge grabs the bar and won’t slide off. That is also why sometimes putting the weight on is easier than removing it.
That’s what I was told a long time ago and at that time the weights we used were actually shaped like that. We tested the “theory” and it worked. Numbers in, the weight stayed put, and numbers out the weight slid off when we tilted the bar.
[/quote]
Lol.
True story: there was this girl in my high school that masturbated with a hot dog and…wait, what? She went to your high school, too?
[quote]malonetd wrote:
ReklaW wrote:
That’s what I was told a long time ago and at that time the weights we used were actually shaped like that. We tested the “theory” and it worked. Numbers in, the weight stayed put, and numbers out the weight slid off when we tilted the bar.
Lol.
True story: there was this girl in my high school that masturbated with a hot dog and…wait, what? She went to your high school, too?[/quote]
ya, i know it is “one of those” stories, but in all fairness the test did actually work in that one gym on that one day.
And i do know a chick who did that with a hotdog…i watched 
Love it when myth becomes fact because someone heard the myth. She also did the one where you freeze water in a pipe then use the ice in place of the hotdog 
[quote]ReklaW wrote:
malonetd wrote:
ReklaW wrote:
That’s what I was told a long time ago and at that time the weights we used were actually shaped like that. We tested the “theory” and it worked. Numbers in, the weight stayed put, and numbers out the weight slid off when we tilted the bar.
Lol.
True story: there was this girl in my high school that masturbated with a hot dog and…wait, what? She went to your high school, too?
ya, i know it is “one of those” stories, but in all fairness the test did actually work in that one gym on that one day.
And i do know a chick who did that with a hotdog…i watched
Love it when myth becomes fact because someone heard the myth. She also did the one where you freeze water in a pipe then use the ice in place of the hotdog
[/quote]
I believe you that the test worked, it just reminded me of a “true story.” I just don’t think it holds true with all plates since there are so many different plate manufacturers.
[quote]Flop Hat wrote:
They must face in. Any other way turns me into an obsessive compulsive.
Does it bother anyone else to mix brands of plates that are the same weight, but not quite the same size? That bothers me sometimes too.
[/quote]
Bro, just thinking about my weights being mismatched (size or brand) gives me the creeps. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had the following conversation:
Me: (looking and wandering around the gym)
Him: What are you looking for?
Me: A 45.
Him: There’s 23 of them right there.
Me: Nope, wrong kind.
Him: (knowing nod of approval) or (shakes head in amusement)
[quote]Melvin Smiley wrote:
What’s the deal with plates facing out? I mean, who are these people?[/quote]
They are deranged. Potential serial killers…all of them.
You guys all have OCD.
I don’t care what the plates look like or in what order they’re on the bar. As long as both ends weigh the same, it’s good to go.