To preface, I would like to explain my particular needs for this platform and who else would benefit from a similar design.

This platform was being built for a garage gym with a cracked and uneven concrete floor that also has a tendency to flood during the snow-melt in the spring or heavy rainfalls. Therefore, I needed to design an elevated box-style platform instead of a simple plywood platform like the one I had initially thought I’d be building. I might have been able to get away with an easier design if I had chosen to do a smaller surface area like 4’x8’ used just for deadlifts and squats, but because the floor in the garage is so uneven, I knew that almost all of my lifting in the garage would have to be done on the platform and I would therefore need a larger surface. It turns out plywood would also have been a bad choice, because the humidity and potential flooding in the garage would have caused problems like warping and rotting of the plywood. If you’re in a similar situation or just want to build an elevated lifting platform that looks impressive then read on.

My original thoughts and inspiration came from this Gentleman and Meathead DIY, which uses rubber mats along the sides of the platforms where the weights land to protect equipment and floors alike from damage when dropping weights. https://gentlemanandmeathead.com/training/diy-build-an-olympic-weightlifting-platform/

Plywood lifting platforms are very affordable and easy to make, so it’s almost always a better choice to simply make one yourself than buy one.

I was fortunate to have access to 2”x6" decking from tearing down an old deck and 1” pine boards from relatives with their own lumber to make my lifting platform. The decking is used to make the frame for the platform and the boards make up the lifting surface. The materials to make a durable elevated platform will be more costly than a simple plywood platform. If you don’t have any moisture issues you can likely use plywood for your surface and save some money, although it might not be as strong of a surface, so be sure to reinforce underneath, especially along the sides where the plates will land.

The first step to knowing what you’ll need for supplies is deciding if you want to build a smaller 4’x8’ platform mainly for the big-3 powerlifting movements of squat, deadlift, bench, or if you want a full-size 8’x8’ surface (or maybe even bigger) for doing any stationary lifts you need, including olympic lifting. Because the surface will be elevated, make sure you also have the height clearance you need for overhead pressing or for a power rack if you’re putting one on the platform.