Olympic weights will be needed for your home gym.
If you buy the Olympic barbell sets, you'll get 255 pounds of weight plates included plus the 45 pound Olympic weight lifting bar.
Don't forget to add the weight of the Olympic bar when you're figuring out the weight to use for each exercise.
The bar does weigh 45 pounds, but ensure the bar you have does weigh 45 pounds by weighing it yourself.
Or you can check the specs or documentation that came with the barbell.
Buy a good olympic barbell set or tow or three because a good set will last you forever. You'll never have to worry about out-growing the maximum weight a good barbell will hold.
300-Pound Olympic Barbell Sets Come With These Weights
With each olympic barbell set, you'll get
– (2) 45's
– (2) 35's
– (2) 25's
– (2) 10's
– (4) 5's
– (2) 2.5's
If you add all of that up, you'll get 255 pounds. Add in the 45-pound bar and you have a 300-pound weight set.
Depending on your strength levels, you'll need much more weight than what's included in these sets.
If you're not very strong, you should be okay with what's included in two Olympic barbell sets.
As you get stronger, and you will, you'll need more weight.
Get Extra Olympic Weight Plates
You'll always want to have extra plates so you won't continuously have to re-arrange plates to get the correct ones you need for another barbell. I would get at least a few extra 25's and several 10's.
With these extra weight plates, you'll never have to change the weights around on your barbells.
I got so tired of removing plates that I went out and bought several extra weight plates. Saved me lots of time and energy.
Of course, you can make it without buying extra plates, but you'll be thankful you did after a few workouts. You'll be switching out plates and unloading barbells all the time if you don't buy extra plates.
Your workout will take much longer and you'll spend extra energy that you need to save for your weight lifting exercises. There's really no point in spending energy changing weight plates throughout every workout.
Building Muscle Thru Progression…
You will need extra plates for your weight lifting program. If you are looking to build muscle, you have to make progress by increasing the amount of weight you are lifting.
This means you have to lift heavier and heavier weights over time.
Be ready for the future. Prepare and plan. Get those extra plates and keep adding them to the bar.
There is no magic to building muscle.
Get stronger in the muscle building rep ranges, eat a calorie surplus, and build muscle. When you get stronger, you need more weight to lift.
Buy your extra weight plates when you buy your Olympic barbell sets.
You'll be happy you got some extra weight plates so you won't have to move so many weights around between exercises. It will save you lots of time and energy.
Since you'll be saving energy, your workouts will also go much better. You'll be using that energy towards your working sets.
Recommended Weight Plates
I've had some links to some good deals here in the past, but I can't recommend buying ANY weight plates online right now.
The prices are ridiculous due to the shipping costs.
If I were you, I would probably take a look on Craigslist for local deals on weight plates.
All weights are ridiculously expensive right now. Look for deals.
Here's a couple links as the prices may go down from time to time so please check:
What you really want to find is someone who is not using their weights any more (many people give up and quit) and are simply trying to get them out of their homes because they are taking up space.
You might be able to find some really cheap by looking for these deals.
BUT, you have to stay on top of it and call about the weights before someone else looking to make money from them finds them first. There are people out there that have businesses based on buying up deals like that before anyone else sees them.
Be quick, and you might just find some extra Olympic weights at a great price.
