No bumper plates

[Tom Cashmore]

Just wondering what your advice would be on this. Just getting back to SS and doing the novice program. The gym I am at does not have bumper plates under 25lbs. I want to warm up with 10s...very weak in my pulls.
Did rack pulls instead of deads last couple weeks of starting the Novice program. At 53 yrs old I know it is imperative to git this right. Afraid of tweaking lowback if starting too heavy(done it a few times before).
Novice program does not call for rack pulls! Should I put small 10lbs on a low rack position to imitate normal height of regular plates? Is it close enough? Or just wait until rack pulls below knees get stronger?

Week 2 Novice program
Squat 105X5x3
Pulls 75X5
Bench 120X5x3
Press 75X5x3

Thank you
TCM

[m_sporkboy]

If you can squat 105, you should be able to pull 95, and your back should be plenty warm by the time you get to deadlifts.

If not, though, you can buy a pair of 5 pound plates for around $45 on amazon. Or make them yourself out of plywood if you've got tools. 18" diameter, 2" hole.

[samking7185]

Should I put small 10lbs on a low rack position to imitate normal height of regular plates? Is it close enough? Or just wait until rack pulls below knees get stronger?

Yes that would work fine. The reason they always advise using full size plates is so the bar begins at the correct elevation. This will help with your setup and mechanics. You could work from a mid shin, low rack position, until you get up to 95#.

Another alternative would be buying your own 10# plates and bringing them with you. That would be a little cumbersome but it is always an option.

Or as Rip would say.... Find a new gym haha

[Tom Cashmore]

Thank you folks...

[adauria]

I've had a few occasions (in my home gym) to start deadlifts with plates that were not of olympic/bumper plate diameter. I used some cheap plastic risers that would hold the plates at the right height. These came from an old Rebok plastic step thing my wife bought at a yard sale ~20 years ago. Assuming you don't have access to this, the other thing I've done is stack up some plates flat on the floor (same sized stack spaced where the plates would touch) until the bar is at approximately the right height. You can roll over your 25# bumper plate and check the height if the end of the bar lines up with the hole of the plate. I see no reason why you couldn't just set a rack safety pin or whatever at the correct height either.

I bought some used bumper plates from a guy on Craigslist. I wanted it mainly for the 45s, but it came with 25s and 10s. I ended up keeping all of them instead of selling them, and now it turns out my wife is deadlifting by starting with the 10# bumper plates (on a 35# woman's bar) for her first warmup sets.

-Andrew