Do you ever get so bored of your old conventional workout routine, that you lose the motivation to actually get your A** into the gym? Or when you do manage to get into the gym, you just don’t have the will to exert yourself enough to be able to say, "It was a good workout."

This can be a BIG PROBLEM amongst recreational gym goers and even some intermediate to advanced lifters, acting as a barrier to achieving their ultimate long-term muscle and fitness goals. In some cases, it means losing the hard-earned gains from getting a much lower muscle stimulus.

If you find yourself in this exact same boat, we have some great news for you: we have a solution.

We suggest incorporating some weight plate exercises into your workout routine! The question you may be asking is, "Why so?".

Weight plates allow you to perform a wide range of isolation and compound lifts, which are excellent in activating a variety of different muscle fibers of both the upper and lower body.

Not only that, they can bring some excitement into your tedious old workouts and ramp up motivation levels for more enthusiastic workouts, leading to many kinds of fitness gains.

Are Plate Workouts For You?

For those of you who don’t know, weight plates are manufactured using metal and are typically circular/flat in shape.

The load of a single-weight plate can range from 0.5lb all the way up to 45lb. With no surprise, each weight plate is valued based on weight, hence why the heaviest plates are ~£160.

Conventionally, weight plates are attached onto a barbell for a variety of compound lifts, but they can also be used on their own for a wide range of unique exercises.

From reading the above, you may be eagerly asking, "what is weight plate exercise?". As the name suggests, you are essentially using weight plates as a means of resistance to stimulate your muscles. In fact, weight plates can be used instead of conventional equipment, such as dumbbells and kettlebells.

Optionally, you can either grasp the weight plates unilaterally (single arm) or bilaterally (using both arms), positioning yourself for a wide range of movement actions.

We have listed our top three picks for weight plate exercises that you may want to include into some of your upper or lower body workouts.

Standing Weight Plate Curls

The weight plate curl is a great isolation exercise for the arms. The nature of the neutral arm position (palms facing each other) activates forearm muscle known as the brachioradialis and long head of the biceps (outer part).

Here’s a basic 6-step "how to" guide for the weight plate curl if you want to include it in one of your workouts.

1. Select a suitable weight plate based on your exercise level and planned intensity.
2. Grasp a weight plate with two hands from the sides so the palms are tilting inwards.
3. Stand upright, place the feet hip-shoulder width apart and brace the core to make sure the spine remains in a neutral position.
4. Breath in, then bend at the elbows to curl the plate up towards your face.
5. At the top of the movement, breath and slowly lower the weight plate back down
6. Repeat the movement

Overhead Weight Plate Lunges

The overhead weight plate lunge is an advanced variation of many conventional weighted lunge exercises, because it draws additional shoulder stability and core stability.

We strongly believe that it is great for working the calf, quadricep and glute muscles, as well as developing midsection and shoulder strength/stability.

Without a doubt, these exercise benefits can translate into other exercises or daily activities. If we’ve spiked interest in the overhead weight plate lunge, you’re more than welcome to give it a try by using the 7-step "how to" guide below.

1. Select a suitable weight plate based on your exercise level and planned intensity.
2. Grasp a weight plate with two hands from the sides so the palms are tilting inwards.
3. Stand upright, place the feet hip-shoulder width apart and brace the core to make sure the spine remains in a neutral position.
4. Extend the arms upwards so that the weight plate is being held above the head.
5. Breath in, lunge one leg forward by lifting the upper leg and bending at the knee
6. Breath out and step back into the initial position.
7. Repeat the movement by alternating between each leg.

Standing Weight Plate Front Raises

The standing weight plate front raises are perfect for the anterior deltoids, also known as the front of the shoulder. Secondarily, the core stability, grip strength and trapezius muscles should be worked.

If this standing weight plate front appeals to you, feel free to try it out by following our 6-step "how to" guide below.

1. Select a suitable weight plate based on your exercise level and planned intensity.
2. Grasp a weight plate with two hands from the sides so the palms are tilting inwards.
3. Stand upright, place the feet hip-shoulder width apart and brace the core to make sure the spine remains in a neutral position.
4. Breath in, keeping the elbows nearly fully extended, and raise the upper arms forwards
5. Once the weight plates are inline your face, breath out and lower it back to the initial position
6. Repeat the movement

What Are The Benefits Of Weight Plates?

There are many benefits of using weight plates for exercise, but we have covered two of the most notable ones below.

Adds Variation & Reduces Tedium

As we have stressed throughout this article, motivation is the key driving force behind exercise performance. Observing the same workout routine month after month can become tedious and drop motivational levels.

We can all see where this is going. A drop in motivation can lower the way we exert ourselves during workouts, thereby reversing those hard earned muscle and strength gains.

Introducing weight plate exercises can make a workout much more interesting and rekindle motivational levels to continue progressing towards that end goal.

We typically recommend including a few weight plate exercises into your sessions, or we could even go as far to say, introducing a full weight plate workout or plate workout circuit into your schedule.

Activate Muscles

As you know, weight plates are an alternative to conventional weights like the dumbbells and kettlebells. So there should be no surprise when we tell you weight plates exercises activate your muscles.

There are a variety of isolation and compound lifts, but personally, we prefer to use weight plates to isolate a muscle as compound lifts require more loads.

For example, weight plates are perfect for front raises and curls as highlighted above.

Furthermore, by using weight plates, the grip strength and forearm muscles may get additional activation with the unconventional method of pinching/grasping the weight plates.

We can not deny that a stronger grip and well built forearm muscles are not desired, and they can be transferred into other exercises or activities.

Conclusion

Weight plate exercises can bring something new to your boring old workouts and ramp up motivational levels, leading a more enthusiastic and productive workout.

Over the long haul, these exercises may help you reach your fitness goals. So why not give them a go? What do you have to lose? You can either include one or two into your current workouts or even design a full plate workout or plate workout circuit.

Thank you for reading the article. Please feel free to leave a comment, question or query, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Can you build muscle with weight plates?
A: Absolutely! The weight plates can be used to work and build a variety of muscles

Q: Can You Workout With Just Plates?
A: There is no reason for why you can not! It depends on your goals and what type of workout you are doing, as some muscle groups require more stimulus from heavier weights to grow!

Q: Are plates considered free weights?
A: Yes! Any weights that are lifted that is not attached to a resistance machine is considered a free weight

Q: Where can I buy weight plates?
A: You can buy weight plates online from Iron Bull Strength, a manufacturer of weight plates, available exclusively on our site.

Reference Section

1. Coratella, G., Tornatore, G., Longo, S., et al. Biceps Brachii and Brachioradialis Excitation in Biceps Curl Exercise: Different Handgrips, Different Synergy Sports, 11(3): 64, 2023
2. Sabadri, M., Rosman, N., Azharulazemi, M., et al. THE INFLUENCE OF LOADING DURING FORWARD LUNGE EXERCISE TRAINING ON STRENGTH, POWER AND AGILITY Jurnal Sains Sukan dan Pendidikan Jasmani, 12(2): 74–81, 2023
3. Bagchi, A., &., Raizada, S. Electromyographical investigation of anterior deltoid and trapezius muscles during three different variations of front raise International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health, 3(1): 56–59, 2016