I have a nice home gym setup and want to add power cleans into the rotation. I watched some videos trying to get an idea on proper form and realized the bar gets dropped since lowering a higher amount of weight probably cannot be done too safely (guessing there). I did see one person who kind of dropped the weight onto his legs before lowering to the floor, but it looked like it was not the best way to do this (potential injury?).
Anyway, my floor is concrete with a thin gym style carpeting. I don’t want to drop the weight like the vids. Is my only choice to find the thick padding like I see in the vids and purchase that? What does everyone else do who does not lift at a gym with the thick mat? Any homemade solutions?
If you don’t have Oly bumper plates and a lifting platform you just have to be careful. It sucks but dropping regular iron plates onto the concrete will damage your equipment. You might be able to design some type of thick rubber padding that would protect them if you get a bit creative.
The best solution (if you can afford it) is to buy some rubber bumper plates. Glenn Pendlay at Witchita Falls sells a pretty cheap set of bumper plates here:
$369 for 90 kg bumper set and $509 for a 140 kg set with free shipping. He also sells the 90 kg set with his pendlay olympic bar as a package for $749. Also, he offers a crossfit discount package that includes his economy olympic bar and the 90 kg bumper set for $529, which I own and am very happy with.
I’ve also read very positive reviews for bumper sets from wright rubber:
But, I’m not sure if you’re within their delivery area.
Another thing that I wanted to recommend was purchasing rubber horse stall mats to act as a cushion on the ground.
Horse stall mats are identical to the “sports flooring” that may fitness companies sell, but are often sold at a fraction of the cost. A 3/4" thick stall mat will absorb a lot of punishment.
A quick google search should turn up a retailer that sells them in your area, or that is willing to ship them to you for a reasonable price.
Thanks for the info. I have about 1500lbs worth of plates now so I don’t want to invest in anymore…even though that would be the cleanest look. I like the horse stall mat idea. I did some searches on it and I’m going to go that route if I can find a local supplier.
I also remember seeing thick rubber floor mats like they have in resturants at a local discount store. Worst case I’ll get a few of those and stack them up. The only problem is they are smaller than I would like.
The only horse stall mats I’ve seen at reasonable cost on the internet are sold by the pallet load. Find a farm supply store within driving distance. They weigh about 100 lbs each so you really don’t want to pay for shipping.
Take a look at the plan below. It involves using carpet padding of about 7-8 inches thick below rubber mats for the sides. It definitely keeps things quiet and but also has a few drawbacks.
Get bumper plates. It’s usually better when doing heavy cleans to drop the weight on the ground. Easier on your joints. But if you’re just starting out, chances are you won’t be lifting that heavy for a while.
[quote]hatda02 wrote:
I have a nice home gym setup and want to add power cleans into the rotation. I watched some videos trying to get an idea on proper form and realized the bar gets dropped since lowering a higher amount of weight probably cannot be done too safely (guessing there). …[/quote]
You can hurt yourself with a lower weight when tired from doing higher reps as I can personally attest to.
[quote]Seattle_Lifter wrote:
Take a look at the plan below. It involves using carpet padding of about 7-8 inches thick below rubber mats for the sides. It definitely keeps things quiet and but also has a few drawbacks.
[/quote]
Thanks again for the information. The link above is great along with another I found searching with some of the other suggestions…this one in particular:
With these two links I’ll be able to build what I need.
One place said 1/2 inch horse mats can be purchased at Tractor Supply for under 50 bucks; I have one not too far away.
As for the comment about doing them in the yard, that is a great idea but my entire yard slopes down (I call it a cliff) so I’d be chasing more weight than lifting.