Tips on DL'ing with Octagonal Plates?

Re: Deadlifting

I’ve recently moved and joined a new gym. I checked out all the gyms in the area and joined the one that was best equipped but unfortunately none of the gyms, including the one I joined, have the old school type circular iron plates.

My new gym has the newer rubber coated Octagonal type plates. I’m having some issues after the first rep. On rep 1, bar comes straight up off the floor as usual, but it seems that every rep after that, the bar would shift and forces one side of the bar to either float backwards/forwards, forcing the other end to compensate making me some what unstable. It’s hard to explain. Imagine if you were in the top part of the lift and someone pushed the plates forward, from behind you and your body would spin slightly.

It seems that unless the flat part of the plate makes contact with the floor, it comes up crooked. The plates obviously shift during the lift and land on the “points” when I dead the weight. I line them all up straight so the flat part is touching the floor before pulling. I snug the collar up as tight as possible.

So to recap, after the 1st rep, the plates shift and come down on the points, thus making me go crooked and fucking up the next rep.

I tried to explain it the best I could.

Any one have any ideas?

You could get two 5lb plates under each pointy end (could get ugly depending on how many plates are on the bar). As the bar comes down, the pointy ends will go into the hole and stay still.

If the gym has a power rack with very low holes, you could set the bar (on pins) up very low, but not low enough for the plates to touch the ground. You can also use a raised platform of some sort if the pins aren’t low enough.

You can always reset after each rep.

Is a new gym in the cards for you?

Just some ideas.

Can’t do rack pulls/pin pulls in the cage as the pins don’t go low enough. Usually using 4 plates a side so it may be ticky to use a 5lb plate. Unfourtnately this is the best outfitted gym around where I live.

[quote]Brazen T wrote:
Can’t do rack pulls/pin pulls in the cage as the pins don’t go low enough. Usually using 4 plates a side so it may be ticky to use a 5lb plate. Unfourtnately this is the best outfitted gym around where I live.
[/quote]

You can try putting the bar on the lowest pin and standing on squat box or the step-ups. Get yourself elevated.

[quote]Brazen T wrote:
Can’t do rack pulls/pin pulls in the cage as the pins don’t go low enough. Usually using 4 plates a side so it may be ticky to use a 5lb plate. Unfourtnately this is the best outfitted gym around where I live.
[/quote]

How low is the lowest hole? Get a tape measure and measure the height of the bar. A bar on the floor using regular 45’s will be 9" off the ground. So maybe you can put the baron the pins in the lowest hole and then YOU stand on a box so that the bar is 9" off of the box?

Maybe just learn to very lightly touch the floor between reps instead of pounding the weights (not saying you do) this way the points won’t effect you at all. IDK

You can also put something between the plates that stops them from spinning and grip the bar really hard so that you can almost always drop it on the flat end that you picked it up from.

I’ll have to measure the bottom hole, but I eye balled it today and it was just below my knees and I’m 5’9. I will look into getting elevated just a bit hesitant on standing on something while doing deads!

Thanks for the ideas so far.

My old gym used to be like this and I never really had a problem. I am not sure if this will work but you can try rotating the plates around before the lift so that none of the flat sides are parallel to each other. Not sure if that makes sense but the flat sides won’t be touching the floor but the corners will. So instead of having 8 corners per side it will be 32 when using 4 plates.

[quote]sufiandy wrote:
My old gym used to be like this and I never really had a problem. I am not sure if this will work but you can try rotating the plates around before the lift so that none of the flat sides are parallel to each other. Not sure if that makes sense but the flat sides won’t be touching the floor but the corners will. So instead of having 8 corners per side it will be 32 when using 4 plates.[/quote]

Essentially making it a pointy disc plate.

How about you just re-set for each rep?

[quote]sufiandy wrote:
My old gym used to be like this and I never really had a problem. I am not sure if this will work but you can try rotating the plates around before the lift so that none of the flat sides are parallel to each other. Not sure if that makes sense but the flat sides won’t be touching the floor but the corners will. So instead of having 8 corners per side it will be 32 when using 4 plates.[/quote]

This. Used to have to do this at 24hr Fitness. With 3 or more plates per side it worked pretty well.

That or take the time to reset the weight and/or your feet to get yourself in proper alignment for each rep.

[quote]rcsermas wrote:

[quote]sufiandy wrote:
My old gym used to be like this and I never really had a problem. I am not sure if this will work but you can try rotating the plates around before the lift so that none of the flat sides are parallel to each other. Not sure if that makes sense but the flat sides won’t be touching the floor but the corners will. So instead of having 8 corners per side it will be 32 when using 4 plates.[/quote]

This. Used to have to do this at 24hr Fitness. With 3 or more plates per side it worked pretty well.

That or take the time to reset the weight and/or your feet to get yourself in proper alignment for each rep. [/quote]

I never thought of this…I’ll give this a shot and see how it goes. Worst case scenario is I’ll have to reset. I’d rather stop and reset even if it kills my rhythm opposed to getting an injury from being off balance.

Thanks for the answers.

Reset each rep. It’ll force you not to use bounce between reps…I’ve never been a fan of touch-n-go deadlifting anyways, unless we’re talking high reps.