How to Use Plate Mates to Increase Weight Lifted Each Workout

Plate mates can be used for many reasons and can save you money.

They might cost you money initially, but they can save you lots of money when buying dumbbell sets.

I'll explain how to use them, when to use them, and how you can save money with this weight lifting accessory.

It's not only going to save you money, though…

These fractional plates can help you fight for strength gains. Strength gains lead to muscle gains.

Why Do You Need Fractional Plates?

You're going to need them for exercises that use less weight than the big compound exercises.

All of this depends on your strength levels too.

For example, someone that can do 40 pounds for a 6 rep max on alternate dumbell curls is going to need plate mates for their progression because of the light weights being used.

What are you going to use for your 12 rep max? Probably around 25 pounds or so. What about for progressing upwards to that 12 rep max?

Let me explain…

The strategy employed within the WLC System has you starting out with very light weights after a break from weight training. So you start out with light weights and higher reps. Over the next few months, you increase the weight each workout while decreasing reps.

So… if we continue the example, you would need to start out with very light dumbbells because you can only increase the size of a dumbbell by 5 pounds each dumbbell or 10 pounds total. That's a very large increase for an exercise that uses pretty light weights.

And that's where plate mates become so valuable.

You can start with heavier weight and increase the weight by smaller amounts than 5 pounds by uisng the fractional weights like 1 pound increases on each dumbbell.

If you use plate mates, you don't have to progress in 5 pound dumbbell increments. You can progress in 2.5 pound increments… or 1 pound increments.

Get the hexagonal shaped platemates for smaller dumbbells. You can start with the 15 pound dumbbells and increment your weight to 17.5, 20, 22.5, 25, and then 27.5 pounds in our example.

If you're max is 25 pound dumbbells for 12 reps, do you think increasing by 5 pounds is going to be very tough for you to achieve? Yes, because the relative increase is so large.

If you squat 300 pounds for your 12 rep max, that would be like increasing your max to 360 pounds in one workout. That increase is HUGE.

Do you see why you should get you some of these? Smaller weighted exercises are going to need smaller weight increments for a good progression scheme.

You can make progression without the smaller increases, but you'll most likely be repeating weights for several workouts. I think the smaller increases are the worth the cost. Next, I'll tell you how you can save money with platemates.

How Are Fractional Weight Plates Going To Save You Money?

Well, that's easy: If you're planning on purchasing a dumbbell set, only purchase the dumbells in 10 pound increments. Then use the platemates to make all of the other sizes of dumbells.

For example, buy the dumbbells at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, and so on.

Use a set of four donut shaped platemates at 2.5 pounds each to make up all the 5 pound increments.

For example, to get a set of 55 pound dumbbells, add a donut shaped 2.5 pound plate mate to the end of each 50 pound dumbbell. That's it — You now have a 55 pound dumbbell.

Do you realize how much money this can save you? You won't have to purchase 55, 65, 75, 85, 95 pound dumbbells, and so on. Just the 55 pound dumbbells would cost around 100 dollars if you bought them at a local store today. These fractional weight plates are well worth the money.

They will save you a lot of money if you're looking to buy a set of dumbbells.

How Do You Use Fractional Plates?

They are very easy to use. They are magnetized so they'll stick right to the end of your dumbbells, the end of your barbell, or to the weight plates themselves.

They are magnets so they attach very quickly with no extra work at all from you. This is a no-brainer. Get you some platemates today:

Link to Plate Mates

Use them to save money on dumbbells sets and to make smaller increases in weight from workout to workout. The key to making progress is increasing the weight each and every workout.

Fractional plates make all of that possible.