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Thread: Do softer bumpers result in meaningfully less noise?

  1. #11
    Join Date
    May 2014
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    Baltimore, MD
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    22

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    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    As a gym owner in a city, I've had to deal with the issue of noise and vibration from dropped plates. The only effective solution I've found involves building the platform to include dampening. By far the best results come from building the sides of the platform (the part where the plates touch) with a layer of playground rubber tiles covered by horse stall mats. Playground tiles come in different thicknesses from 1" to over 3". I've only used 2.5" thick tiles. You need a sheet of plywood below and horse stall mats above. This would yield a 4" thick platform with significant vibration dampening and sound proofing. The stall mats are necessary because playground tiles are easily damaged by the edges of plates, and must be protected with stall mats. Obviously the center wooden portion must be built up accordingly. You will still have the clicking noise between the barbell and the metal center of the bumper, but that should be tolerable to most neighbors.

    A simpler, cheaper, but less effective alternative is to build a standard platform using five sheets of plywood plus stall mats, and then elevate the whole thing using wood under the middle portion and strips or squares of polyethylene foam under the rubber covered sides. You essentially build a suspension under the portion of the platform receiving the weights. This is the way sprung floors are built for dance studios and judo dojos, except that in those cases the entire area is sprung. We built several platforms with this technique at our previous location, and it made a significant impact on the amount of noise and vibration. We used 3/4" polyethylene foam strips on the sides and 3/4" wood furring strips on the center to elevate the platform. It should be pretty easy for you to take your existing platform and retrofit a foam suspension onto it.

    Hope this helps.

  2. #12
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    Apr 2010
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    Orlando
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    Thanks all. I always hated cleans anyway.

  3. #13
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    Jan 2018
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    729

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    Quote Originally Posted by LimieJosh View Post
    Thanks all. I always hated cleans anyway.
    Interesting, because even controlled lowering of heavy deads will yield significant noise as well as the plates hit the ground.
    You have lower the bar REALLY slow to substantially reduce noise.

    You can/could:

    A- just not drop the power cleans to begin with

    B- get silencer pads:
    (Silencer Drop Pads | Pair)
    (Pound Pad – Pound Pad)

  4. #14
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    Apr 2010
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    Orlando
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fulcrum View Post
    Interesting, because even controlled lowering of heavy deads will yield significant noise as well as the plates hit the ground.
    You have lower the bar REALLY slow to substantially reduce noise.

    You can/could:

    A- just not drop the power cleans to begin with

    B- get silencer pads:
    (Silencer Drop Pads | Pair)
    (Pound Pad – Pound Pad)
    I will take a look at those pads.

    One of the reasons I was excited at the idea of building out a set up at home was so that I clean regularly. I have only ever done them periodically, but always in commercial gyms where there were no platforms and dropping them was not an option. It's been a consistent thing that as soon as the weights hit 225 lbs old shoulder and bicpes injuries flare up, and I always put that down to the stress of catching the drop.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
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    Indianapolis, IN
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    2,266

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    I did something similar to Diego. Here's a full build procedure
    Starting Strength Indianapolis is up and running. Sign up for a free 30-minute coaching session.
    I answer all my emails: ALewis@StartingStrengthGyms.com

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
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    1,912

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    starting strength coach development program
    Continuing with Fulcrum's suggestions under "B - get silencer pads:", here's another source — AbMat Crash Cushions.

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