REP fitness fractional plates vs Rogue bumper plates

This is a comparison between the REP fitness fractional plates and the Rogue bumper plates. Follow the links for more details.

Overview and review of the Rogue Bumper plates

The Rogue bumper plates will set you back about $565 dollars or $3.76 dollars per kg. These plates are especially good to use for all purposes in commercial gyms. This overview has originally been published in the article "Which rogue plates to buy" which you can find on this blog.

What else to consider from Rogue

Overview of the Rogue Bumper plates

The HG Bumper plates are the workhorse in the plate portfolio of Rogue. If you want cheap plates with a three-year warranty which do the job, this is your place. These plates will last, can be abused in any kind of way and will perform. The disadvantages of these plates are that they are harder to handle than 6 shooters and do are as plain as they come. They score 88 points on the durometer scale and have therefore slightly more bounce than the high range options from Rogue. The only color option for these plates is black.

Weight / Diameter / Thickness / Price per pair

25kg / 450mm / 3.5'' / $162.50

20kg / 450mm / 3.25'' / $130

15kg /450mm / 2.625'' / $97.50

10kg / 450mm / 1.75'' / $63

5kg / 450mm / 1'' / $52.50

Available sets

90kg, 2x 10-15-20 kg $370

110kg, 2x 10-20-25 $437.50

120kg, 2x 15-20-25kg $460

140kg, 2x 10-15-20-25kg $525

150kg, 2x 5-10-15-20-25kg $565

This is the no-nonsense choice if you are starting out and just want weight.

Pros of the Rogue bumper plates

These plates will not oxidate and can be used outside. If they reak your heart won't sink and you just replace them. They will be forgiving when dropped on feet or on the skin. Hurting your fingers is less likely than with other plates. You can drop them from overhead. Take your pic.

Cons of the Rogue bumper plates

These plates look dull and you can not see what you have exactly loaded. You also will not fit as much weight on the bar than with higher price ranged options from Rogue. It is also more likely with these plates, tat th weight varies more considerably compared to what is stated on the plate.

Alternatives to the Rogue bumper plates

Alternatives to the bumper plates are:

The 6 Shooter Urethane plates are another workhorse option with a different design. The six holes make it easier for athletes to handle the weight. These plates can also be used for workouts without a barbell, which is hard to do with bumper plates.

Olympic weights are the ultimate plate for getting as much weight as possible on your bar at minimum cost. These metal plates are not fancy, but weigh a lot while not taking up a lot of space on the bar. If your gym should make clanging and banging noises, this is the plate to get.

Competition plates are the Nascar version of bumper plates. These plates are color coded so you can easily see how much weight is on the barbell. They also have a steel core which makes them behave better when you change direction for the Olympic lifts.

Overview and review of the REP fitness fractional plates

This is an overview of the REP fitness fractional plates including pros, cons, and alternatives. The original was published under which plates to buy from rep fitness. Follow the links for more details.

Fractional plate set $39

Fractional plates are a great tool to progress further, especially if you are very light or for lifts on which you can not really move big weights. With fractional plates, you can increase the weight of loadable dumbbells for awkward movements or push your one-rep maximum on an oly lift ever so slightly. This set of fractional plates includes:

0.25 Kg (White) - Diameter: 4.25" Thickness: 3/16"
0.5 Kg (Green) - Diameter: 4.25" Thickness: 3/8"
0.75 Kg (Blue) - Diameter: 4.25" Thickness: 1/2"
1.0 Kg (Red) - Diameter: 4.25" Thickness: 3/4"

With this, you are set to bridge any minute gap between two progressions. If you are a huge fan of the Wendler 5/3/1 method you also might want to get a set of fractional plates.

Pros of the REP Fractional plate set

The pros of fractional plates are:

Allow you to microload

This is the main and probably only reason to get yourself some fractional plates. If you struggle on a certain plateau and can move in 2.5kg or 5kg increment these come in handy.

Cons of the REP Fractional plate set

The cons of fractional plates are:

Not used often
Easily stolen
Break easy

If you know how to use them, you won't use them very often unless you train Wendler 5/3/1. In a commercial gym most people won't even know how to use them properly. When used incorrectly they are also more likely to crack or deform than other plates. Probably the biggest con for commercial use is that these get stolen or lost. In any gym, I have been in that stocked these they just seemed to disappear over time.

Alternatives to the REP Fractional plate set

Alternatives to the rep fractopnal plates are:

Rogue fractional plates
TITAN fractional plates

These are not hugely different and it comes down to price. Remember that you will pay the shipping costs, so don't cut off your nose to spite your face. If you have a big order with TITAN or Rogue just throw the fractional plates in rather than getting them separately from REP causing shipping cost.

Conclusion for the REP Fractional plate set

Fractional plates are great for small lifters in general or big lifters who just need 5kg extra on their one-rep max or someone who wants to push some awkward lifts or grip exercises to the next level. Most average gym clients will not know how to use these properly and lose or break them.