Embracing Growth: 7 Effective Weight Plate Workouts Promising Significant Muscle Development
Get Strong Like a Tank with Weight Plates
Weight plates aren't just for bulking up your home gym décor. These powerhouse pieces of equipment will have you toning, tightening, and bulking up in no time.
"Weight plates are a fantastic tool to help diversify your fitness routine," affirms NASM-certified trainer and Kickoff CEO, John Gardner. If that doesn't convince you, we don't know what will!
From building muscle and strengthening bones to improving balance and reducing injury risk, fitness aficionados can't get enough of resistance/strength training with weight plates. Here, we've rounded up seven exercises that'll help you get strong solo-weight-plate style.
The Power of Training with Weight Plates
The benefits of strength training with weight plates are plentiful and backed by science.
- Increased muscle mass
- Stronger bones
- More resilient joints
- Faster metabolism
- Improved balance
- Reduced injury risk
- Boosted mood
- Enhanced disposition
Is Weight Type Important?
The beauty of weight plates? You can incorporate them into virtually any strength exercise!
According to certified strength and conditioning specialist Jake Harcoff, "the shape, size, material, and handle positions of your equipment will determine the variation of the exercise you do." But any time you add weight, it's a good thing, no doubt about it!
Weight Plate Exercises to Try
1. Shoulder Raises
Looking to develop boulder shoulders? Try these lateral raises with weight plates. This isolation exercise targets the lateral attachments of the deltoid, helping create the broad and capped aesthetic many bodybuilders are after.
How to do it:
- Grab two light plates with your palms facing down.
- Position feet hip- to shoulder-width apart.
- Engage your core and keep palms facing down as you lift arms out to the sides until your body makes a perfect "T" shape.
- Lower with control, then repeat.
- Do 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps.
2. Circle Rotation (Halos)
"Halos offer the ability to target the muscles of the core dynamically," explains Harcoff. This movement also strengthens the stabilizing muscles in your shoulders.
How to do it:
- Position a plate overhead while standing hip-width apart, with bent elbows. Maintain a 8-12 inch distance between the plate and your head.
- Rotate the plate in a full circular motion around your head.
- Repeat in the opposite direction for the same number of reps.
- Do 3-5 sets in each direction.
3. Plate Squats
Want to improve your squat form? Try plate squats! Holding a plate at chest height forces your body to stay upright as you squat, which helps prevent athletes from leaning forward.
How to do it:
- Hold a lightweight plate with a neutral grip, arms straight.
- Position feet hip-width apart, with toes turned out slightly.
- Brace your core and, inhale.
- Maintaining a proud chest, drop hips back while bending at your knees. Lower until hips drop below the crease of your knees.
- Press through your entire foot and press hips forward to return to standing.
- Do 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps.
4. Chest Supported Rows
If you're sitting at a desk all day, incorporating more pulling exercises (like chest supported rows) into your routine is a must. They'll help target the rear deltoid, traps, rhomboids, and lats muscles, all fundamental for posture.
How to do it:
- Position an incline bench at a 45-degree angle and lie stomach-down on bench, toes pressed into the floor.
- Grab a weight plate in each hand, palms facing inward.
- Squeeze your glutes, quads, and core for stability.
- Keeping elbows tight, pull the plates behind your body.
- Focus on squeezing a penny between your lats at the top of the movement.
- Lower with control to the starting position, then repeat.
- Do 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps.
5. Pinch-Grip Rows
Another pulling exercise you can try is the Pinch-Grip row. "It's challenging, but don't worry, it also trains your grip muscles," assures Harcoff.
How to do it:
- Grab two weight plates, sandwiching a plate between your fingers and thumb on each hand.
- Position feet hip-width apart. Hinge hips back and bend knees slightly until your torso and legs make a ~135 percent angle.
- Brace your midline and, keeping arms straight, pull elbows behind you.
- Squeeze your lats together before slowly lowering the plates back to the starting position.
- Do 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps.
6. Low-to-High Plate Rotation
The Low-to-High plate rotation is a full-body movement that dynamically targets legs, truck rotators, and shoulders in the transverse plane. It's no wonder Harcoff rates it as his favorite weight plate exercise.
How to do it:
- Stand with a weight plate positioned in the middle of your abdomen, with one hand on either side of the plate.
- Squat down while rotating the plate to your left hip.
- Press through your foot to return to standing and rotate off your left back foot, pressing the weight overhead while twisting to the right.
- Repeat, this time switching the side the plate is on.
- Do 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps.
7. Ground-to-Overhead
The Ground-to-Overhead is a favorite of CrossFit coaches and athletes alike. This full-body movement works multiple muscle groups including your leg muscles, glutes, core, arms, shoulders, and back. It also builds explosive power!
How to do it:
- Stand with a weight plate positioned between your feet in a ground-side-up position.
- Keep a flat back as you shift hips back to grip the plates.
- Lift the plate up along your body into a front rack position.
- Press it overhead.
- Lower the plate back to the starting position and repeat.
- Do 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps.
Pro Tip: Start slowly and progress at your own pace to build resistance over time and avoid injury.
- Gabrielle Kassel is a queer sex educator and wellness journalist who is dedicated to empowering people to feel their best in their bodies. In addition to Healthline, her work has graced the pages of Shape, Cosmopolitan, Well+Good, Health, Self, Women's Health, Greatist, and more. In her free time, Gabrielle can be found coaching CrossFit, creating functional and sensual art, hiking with her dog, or shooting episodes of her podcast, Bad In Bed. Follow her on Instagram @Gabriellekassel.
- To increase muscle mass, stronger bones, and faster metabolism, it's beneficial to incorporate weight plates into your fitness routine, as suggested by NASM-certified trainer John Gardner.
- The variety of exercises possible with weight plates allows for targeting different muscle groups, such as the deltoids in shoulder raises, the core in circle rotation (halos), and the leg muscles in plate squats.
- Online resources can provide guidance on how to perform weight plate exercises effectively, ensuring appropriate form and helping to avoid injury while enhancing disposition through improved fitness and weight management.
