Frequently Asked Questions About Bumper Plates What is a Bumper Plate? A bumper plate is a weight plate specifically made for Olympic weightlifting. A bumper plate is generally 17.7" diameter and can vary in thickness according to the weight. Unlike a rubber coated metal plate, a true bumper plate does not have a steel core inside to account for the weight of the plate. A true bumper plate is made from a process called Vulcanization. Virgin rubber pieces are compressed with several thousands pounds of force and heat to compress a large amount of rubber into a dense heavy plate.

What are the advantages of using bumper plates versus cast iron Olympic plates? Bumper plates can be dropped from any height by the lifter without breaking easily, damaging floors, or causing injury. In the earlier years of Olympic weightlifting, the lifter could not drop the weights from the overhead position after the completion of a lift as it would damage the floor or bend/break the weightlifting equipment. WIth the advent of bumper plates, lifters were able to lift heavier weights without fear of injuring themselves during the act of bringing the weight back down to the shoulders/clavicles.



Bumper plates do not rust like cast iron plates

Bumper plates do not chip like the paint on cast iron plates

Bumper Plates do not damage barbells like cast iron/metal plates

Even if you are not practicing the Olympic lifts, bumper plates are considerably less noisy than cast iron/metal plates

Safer than metal plates when lifter fails in the execution of the lift How are Bumper Plates Made? Vulcan bumper plates are made from virgin natural rubber and synthetic rubber compounds. No used tires or recycled rubber products are used in Vulcan bumper plates, therefore they are PAHS and Phthales Free The inserts of our bumper plates are made from forged steel and anchored into the core of the natural rubber compound. Virgin Rubber cannot be sourced in the United States as the plant that is harvested from (Hevea brasiliensis) cannot be cultivated in the USA. Only Latex and urethane material can be made in the US. All virgin rubber or products that are made from recycled natural rubber are using material that is not made in the USA. What Does Shore Hardness have to do with Bumper Plates? For many years bumper plate marketing haas contained information relating to Shore Hardness. Currently all bumper plate manufacturers utilize rubber compounds that are between 85-92 SHa. You will find information on SHore Hardness on many of our premier bumper plates, such as the black and color bumper plates. We have discovered over the years is that many claims that competitors were making of shore hardness was simply information copied from other competitors websites. We discovered that most did not have any actual method to test shore hardness and they simply made up numbers without any scientific backing. Shore hardness is only one aspect of rubber manufacture. There is elongation to break, tensiles strength, chemical composition, construction, and other aspects that can be equally important in relation to the performance of a bumper plate and it's durability. Two brands of bumper plates could have the same shore hardness and exhibit completely different aspects of bounce and durability. A re Vulcan Bumper Plates Low Bounce? Yes. They are virtually no bounce. Bumper plates made crumb rubber and recycled rubber have the highest amounts of bounce which can be distracting, performance robbing, and dangerous. Higher bounce does not indicate that the bumper plates will have less of an impact on damaging floors. Who Trains With Vulcan Bumper Plates? Anyone can use our bumper plates. regardless of the end user's skill or level of training Vulcan bumper plates will serve them well. You can find Vulcan bumper plates in commercial gyms, high school and college gyms, military gyms, and every day home and garage gyms. Do Bumper Plates last a long time? Vulcan Bumper plates can last a lifetime depending on their use. Our first variant of bumper plates were released in 2009 and many gyms that bought those first Vulcan bumper plates have those plates still in good condition. How Are Your Bumper Plates Drop Tested?

This video below shows our most recent drop testing machine. The machine will drop the bumper plates no less than 30,000 times. The weight that is hoisted by the chain weighs approximately 20 kilograms to simulate the weight of a barbell. Of course, having access to a machine like this would lead to testing competitors bumper plates. We have tested quite a few and yet to find other manufacturers' plates capable of withstanding the test.

; Vulcan Bumper Plates

Bumper Plates Testing Bumper plates can be dropped from any height by the lifter without breaking easily, damaging floors, or causing injury. In the earlier years of Olympic weightlifting, the lifter could not drop the weights from the overhead position after the completion of a lift as it would damage the floor or bend/break the weightlifting equipment. WIth the advent of bumper plates, lifters were able to lift heavier weights without fear of injuring themselves during the act of bringing the weight back down to the shoulders/clavicles.