Buy heavier standard plates or start over with Olympic?

[pilby]

I decided to start working out in June using what I could easily get my hands on at the time, rather than waiting for the best.

At current I have three 5' standard bars, a bunch of mismatched standard plates, with the heaviest being four 25#'s. I have a cheap bench and a couple wooden stands that I built and a couple wooden sawhorses I use for squatting.

I *need* to up my max weight. If I use the heaviest plates I have and go right to the ends of the bar, I can load up 270#, but I need more than that now for deadlift and calf raises. I'm also closing in fast with my squats.

My dilemma is whether I should spend $100 or so on a couple 50# standard plates to give me room to grow, or whether I should forget about that and just start all over with an Olympic set. I've been watching craigslist for the last 5 months and Olympic sets and heavy standard plates show up practically never. It's almost all cheap 100# walmart sets.

Right now I know someone with an Olympic bar and 2 rusty 45's for $75. And Sears is for some reason clearancing their heavier Olympic plates. 45's are $26, 25's are $15, 10's are $5. 5's and 2.5's aren't really on sale.

I'm concerned about Sears selling off Olympic plates so cheap. They're currently the only ones in town that sell them. If they stop carrying them, there won't be an easy/cheap way to add weight to my Olympic set.

[dumb.bell]

I decided to start working out in June using what I could easily get my hands on at the time, rather than waiting for the best.

At current I have three 5' standard bars, a bunch of mismatched standard plates, with the heaviest being four 25#'s. I have a cheap bench and a couple wooden stands that I built and a couple wooden sawhorses I use for squatting.

I *need* to up my max weight. If I use the heaviest plates I have and go right to the ends of the bar, I can load up 270#, but I need more than that now for deadlift and calf raises. I'm also closing in fast with my squats.

My dilemma is whether I should spend $100 or so on a couple 50# standard plates to give me room to grow, or whether I should forget about that and just start all over with an Olympic set. I've been watching craigslist for the last 5 months and Olympic sets and heavy standard plates show up practically never. It's almost all cheap 100# walmart sets.

Right now I know someone with an Olympic bar and 2 rusty 45's for $75. And Sears is for some reason clearancing their heavier Olympic plates. 45's are $26, 25's are $15, 10's are $5. 5's and 2.5's aren't really on sale.

I'm concerned about Sears selling off Olympic plates so cheap. They're currently the only ones in town that sell them. If they stop carrying them, there won't be an easy/cheap way to add weight to my Olympic set.

Most people on this board will tell you to abandon the standard plates and start over with Olympic.

Where are you located?

[oldline70]

Bite the bullet and get an Olympic set. You won't be sorry. Besides, I've heard on here that standard bars won't support much past 200# and will likely bend, but I'm unsure if that's true or not.

As far as the Sears stuff, if I read your post correctly they were selling Oly plates on sale; if so, I'd get them! To me, weight is weight and you can always upgrade later. Right now the 'need' is just to get some good Oly weights so you can get moving toward your goals.

But keep the standard plates and use them for your lighter lifts; I wouldn't get rid of the standard plates yet, and probably never. Too many good uses for them down the road. And to sell them you probably won't get much; as you've seen, they tend to sell a lot on craigslist and those that do sell probably end up taking a bath. To me, I'd keep them unless I really had a good reason to sell.

[Detrus]

For going heavy with standard plates you'll also need to get a serious standard bar. What do you use now? Bars that come in standard sets have 200-250 stated weight limit. They'll take 100 lbs more usually. Hampton discontinued all beefy bars except 5' with 8" sleeves. Ivanko B-86 for $200-300 is the only real option buying new.

An econ/cheapo olympic bar that comes with sets is equivalent to 500 lb capacity beefy bars. Oly plates for those prices are a good deal if they're not utterly terrible plates.

[ironwill2008]

X3 on switching to Olympic. Once you make the move, you'll be glad you did.


And if you haven't already done so, check http://craigslist.com in your area for used stuff.

[donforeman]

If those are your only options maybe waiting a bit for another deal or driving a few hours might work for a better selection? Both those options don't sound that good to me.

[pilby]

Where are you located?

Twin Falls, ID

I watch the Twin Falls craigslist pretty close, as well as the Boise and East Idaho ones, which are both much bigger markets. But the latter are also 4 hours of driving roundtrip, so that doesn't usually make sense unless I find a really screaming deal.

Here's the ad for the Oly starter I could get. I contacted the seller and was told he would take $75 and absolutely no less.

h ttp://twinfalls.craigslist.org/for/3332769985.html

[pilby]

As far as the Sears stuff, if I read your post correctly they were selling Oly plates on sale; if so, I'd get them! To me, weight is weight and you can always upgrade later.

Right. They're on sale cheap. I guess they have two different styles of Oly plates. The ones they're selling off cheap have colored rubber rings around them. The ones without rings aren't on sale. They only have a few of the clearance plates left--- like 3 45#'s, 5 25#'s, 2 10#'s (one has the ring split) and 1 5#.

[pilby]

If I bought the bar and two plates on CL and then built up some weight from the Sears clearance plates, I figure I could build a 300# set for about $190. Would that be worth it? Or should I just spend the $270 or whatever it is for the 300# Oly set they've got at Sears?

And is there something I should be watching for on Oly bars? It seems there's a fairly wide range on prices for them.

[rlundregan]

I would buy the ones from Sears (in even numbers). You could also check Dick's Sporting Goods and the Sports Authority--one or the other usually has a 300 lb Oly set with a bar for around $150ish on Black Friday. Even if they aren't close to you, you might be able to order online.

I don't know if the CL deal you mentioned is typical for your area or not, but I wasn't impressed. For most areas the going rate on CL is about $.50 per lb.

[rlundregan]

By the way, you should keep your standard weights for now--use them for dumbbells!

[pilby]

I don't know if the CL deal you mentioned is typical for your area or not, but I wasn't impressed. For most areas the going rate on CL is about $.50 per lb.

Typical for my area is to practically never see Olympic weights listed on CL. But yeah, 50 cents/lb is common. The $75 would be for a bar and two plates. What should I be willing to pay for a used Oly bar?

[oldline70]

Right. They're on sale cheap. I guess they have two different styles of Oly plates. The ones they're selling off cheap have colored rubber rings around them. The ones without rings aren't on sale. They only have a few of the clearance plates left--- like 3 45#'s, 5 25#'s, 2 10#'s (one has the ring split) and 1 5#.

I think I'm familiar with the ones with the rubber rings that you mention. I think those are Marcy plates. I'd probably buy them. Others on here may disagree, and I've seen the rubber eventually crack. But still, on sale for a decent price of near 50 cents a pound, I'd probably pounce on them.

[KeithTheSnake]

Don't you have a Dunham's, a Dick's, an MC Sports, etc. around your area? Seems like this is just the time of year that any of the big-box sporting good stores will have an inexpensive olympic set. I'd look out for one of them. Some of the places around here will sell sets for as little as a hundred bucks new.

[rlundregan]

Typical for my area is to practically never see Olympic weights listed on CL. But yeah, 50 cents/lb is common. The $75 would be for a bar and two plates. What should I be willing to pay for a used Oly bar?

I personally wouldn't pay more than $25 for that bar--it looked like typical Chinese-made junk that comes with sets. I should mention that I have been doing this for a while, and am at the point where it made sense for me to buy a better (1500 lb capacity) bar. I also live in the Northeast, where weight sets and bars grow on trees in the world of Craigslist.

[rlundregan]

You know, I just did the math, and you are talking about $.55 per lb for what that guy is asking. I was thinking it was more than that. If you really never see them around, and you really can't wait around, I guess that bar wouldn't be so bad, assuming it is straight and the sleeves spin freely.

[pilby]

Don't you have a Dunham's, a Dick's, an MC Sports, etc. around your area?

Actually no, not really. The closest ones are about 130 miles from me. I do make that trip occasionally, though, so maybe next time I'll look around at the stores.

[pilby]

I think I'm familiar with the ones with the rubber rings that you mention. I think those are Marcy plates. I'd probably buy them. Others on here may disagree, and I've seen the rubber eventually crack. But still, on sale for a decent price of near 50 cents a pound, I'd probably pounce on them.

I just realized I snapped a couple photos of them. They're Weider plates. They were priced a fair bit higher than the ones without the rubber collars ($59.99 for the 45#'s) but are now clearance-priced.

Actually.... here are they are:

h ttp://www .searsoutlet.com/45-lb-Olympic-Handle-Plate-with-Ring/d/product_details.jsp?md=ct_md&pid=25641&mode=buyUse dOnly

[13donniedarko]

Walmart had 45 pound pair of plates for around $40 shipped to store

[ProtienandIron]

It is almost always better to go olympic. The sooner the better.

[dumb.bell]

Those craigslist plates may not be the prettiest and you will probably never find any matching plates, but they are older made in America plates and likely to be more accurate than any of the other plates you are considering.

[twodog]

Walmart had 45 pound pair of plates for around $40 shipped to store

Walmart also has some decent bars as in the CAP 1200 lb. OB-86B for $147 ship to store, plus Body Solid and Troy bars.

[matrix563]

i wouldn't mind some more of those rubber weider plates. they look good on my magnum squat. alas i only have 2. at this point though those spoked colored ivankos are looking better to me

[Northernmoris]

at this point though those spoked colored ivankos are looking better to me

I'd be all over them also if they didn't cost $50 per lb.

[pilby]

Well I ended up just driving and getting what seemed like a pretty good deal on a 300# Oly set. The guy was asking $100 on CL and I paid him $85.

The only catch was that I had to drive 90 miles one way pick them up.

I don't see any kind of branding on the bar or the plates. I'll try to put up a pic tomorrow.

I did squats and presses with the new set tonight and it was very nice having that extra space between the collars.

[twodog]

Well I ended up just driving and getting what seemed like a pretty good deal on a 300# Oly set. The guy was asking $100 on CL and I paid him $85.

The only catch was that I had to drive 90 miles one way pick them up.

I don't see any kind of branding on the bar or the plates. I'll try to put up a pic tomorrow.

I did squats and presses with the new set tonight and it was very nice having that extra space between the collars.

Post picture sof the plates and we'll identify them, but they are probably CAP's because they are the most common no-name plates. Either way, congratulations on the new set and great price. Travel is all part of buying off CL and getting a good deal.

[rlundregan]

Post picture sof the plates and we'll identify them, but they are probably CAP's because they are the most common no-name plates. Either way, congratulations on the new set and great price. Travel is all part of buying off CL and getting a good deal.

You'll also be able to sell that set for $150 or so at some point down the road, so you will get your money (including your gas money) back out of them.

[pilby]

Here are the pics.

I think the bar was purchased separately from the weights. At least,when I was talking to him, he said he had just bought the bar for $60.

He said he had had a bunch of equipment that he was getting rid of because he didn't have room for it anymore and had just joined gym. He had been able to sell everything else at a yard sale, including a standard weight set, a bench and some dumbbells, but no one was interested in the Oly set.

[dumb.bell]

Those look like decent plates. I like the deep dish style.

[john-t-b]

OP go with olympic.
Find the nearest Play It Again sports load up all your weights and trafe them pound for pound and get some extra with an olypic bar. They should not have a problem with it.