Top 11 Weight Plate Exercises That Can Help Build Muscles and Burn Fat

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Lifters and exercisers usually associate weight plates with barbells. But you can deploy them and turn them into effective equipment to support many exercises.

Incorporating weight plate exercises into your training regimen can boost your grip strength, strengthen your lower arm muscles, and help you to build a stronger core.

Best Weight Plate Exercises That Can Support Your Strength Training

Try these weigh plate exercises if you hit a plateau, are not achieving your strength training goals, or looking for a variety.

Start with 10kg plates, especially if you are a newbie, and build on from there.

Overhead Walking Lunge

Walking lunges are some of the best movements for targeting the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and hip muscles.

The weight plate exercises involve holding a plate overhead while doing the movement. Doing so will overload the lunge movement pattern, increase resistance, and help strengthen the muscles.

Use a plate that you can hold overhead for not less than 30 seconds.

Steps to follow

• Grasp the plate with both hands, stand upright with feet at shoulder width and raise the plate overhead, ensuring you lock your elbows.
• Step forward, drop your hips, and bend both knees until your back knee touches the floor.
• Push through your front foot, extend both knees, stand, and immediately bring your rear foot to the front to begin another lunge movement.
• Continue alternating the position of your legs and make the walking lunges. Ensure you keep the plate overhead with your arm fully extended.

Weighted Bench Dip

The weighted bench dips are weight plate exercises for building stronger triceps. Using a weight plate provides extra resistance in addition to that from your body.

You will need two flat weight benches, or similar, for the exercise. You may also need help from a training partner.

Adding weight plates and elevating your legs make the weight plate exercises quite challenging. Master the movement without the plate before proceeding.

Steps to follow

• Position the weight benches in front and behind you, ensuring the weight benches are parallel and 4-5 feet away from each other. NB: You can adjust the width if necessary.
• Stand facing one of the weight benches.
• Position both palms on the edge of the weight bench behind you. Then place your heels on the edge of the front weight bench.
• With the help of a training partner, place the weight plate on your thighs.
• Inhale, bend your elbows, and lower your body slowly until your elbows are at shoulder height. Keep your elbows close to your body and your forearms pointing down.
• Using your triceps, push your body up to return to your starting position. Ensure you don’t lock your elbows
• Repeat 8-12 reps for a set and 3 sets to complete a session.

Weighted Crunch

The weighted crunch is one of the best weight plate exercises for targeting and working your ab muscles. The weight plate makes the exercise more challenging and helps build more muscles.

You will need an exercise mat for the weight plate exercises.

The weight plate exercises are very challenging and can put lots of pressure on your muscles. Start with a lighter plate and build on from there.

Steps to follow

• Lie on the exercise mat with your face looking at the ceiling, holding the weight plate at your chest.
• Bend your knees and place the sole of your foot on the mat.
• Exhale as hard as possible and lift your torso as far as possible by flexing your waist. Ensure your lower back stays on the floor. Don’t put your hands behind your neck, as that can increase the strain on your neck.
• Lower your torso slowly until your shoulders touch the floor mat to return to your starting position.
• Repeat 8-12 reps for a set and 3 sets to complete a session.

Single Leg Squat From Bench

The single leg squat from bench is an effective exercise for strengthening the leg muscles.

Holding a weight plate while doing the exercises increase resistance to help improve results. They are some of the best weight plate exercises for improving balance, building unilateral strength, and achieving symmetry between your legs.

Including the single leg squat from bench weight plate exercises in your training regimen can help boost core strength, stability, balance, and coordination.

You will need a weight bench or similar for the exercise.

Steps to follow

• Hold a weight plate in front of your chest and extend your arms until you lock your arms.
• Stand on one leg, about 6 inches in front of the weight bench.
• Keep the other leg slightly off the floor, pointing forward, and lock the knee.
• Push your hips back, bend the knee of the leg on the floor, and squat until your buttocks touch the bench. Ensure you keep the knee of the raised leg locked as you squat
• Pause, push through the leg on the floor, raise yourself slowly, and return to your starting position.
• Repeat 8-12 reps for a set and 3 sets to complete a session.

Overhead Step Up

The overhead step up is an effective compound exercise for working the leg muscles. It involves holding a weight plate overhead while you do the step up exercise.

The weight plate exercises will target and work many upper and lower body muscles, including the quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves, abs, shoulders, upper back, traps, and adductors.

The exercise challenges the shoulders and the core to stabilize your shoulders and the overhead weight plate.

You will need a raised platform or a box, 8-12 inches high for the exercise.

Steps to follow

• Stand in front of the box, holding the weight plate overhead with locked elbows.
• Raise one leg and place the foot on the platform
• Push through the leg on the platform, extend your knees, lift the back foot, and stand on the raised platform.
• Lower back to your starting position slowly.
• Repeat 8-12 reps for a set and 3 sets to complete a session.

Weight Plate Front Raise

The weight plate raise targets the front delts. You use a weight plate for the movement instead of a barbell or dumbbell.

They are some of the best weight plate exercises for boosting strength in your hands and forearms.

Steps to follow

• Grasp a weight plate at the 3 and 9 o’clock positions. Your palms should face each other with your thumbs pointing up.
• Stand upright, extend your arms and hold the weight plate in front of your body.
• With a slight bend in your elbows, raise the plates until your arms and the floor are parallel. Exhale as you make this move, and do not move your torso.
• Pause, inhale, and lower the weight back to your starting position in a slow and controlled manner.
• Repeat 8-12 reps for a set and 3 sets to complete a session.

Bus Drivers

The bus driver exercise involves holding a weight plate in front of you and slowly rotating it.

It is one of the best weight plate exercises that put your deltoids under continuous tension. The movement can work angles that are usually not normal with many exercises.

Steps to follow

• Stand upright, and using a neutral grip, hold a weight plate with both hands at the 3 and 9 o’clock positions.
• Inhale, engage your core, raise your arms, and make them parallel to the floor, ensuring a slight bend in your elbows.
• Rotate the weight plate clockwise and counterclockwise in a controlled manner. Keep your body straight, and don’t allow your head to stick out
• Lower the weight plate back to your starting position in a slow and controlled manner.
• Repeat 8-12 reps for a set and 3 sets to complete a session.

Russian Twist

The Russian twist is one of the most effective exercises for building your core and shoulder muscles. You can use the exercise to improve rotational movement, which is beneficial in many sporting activities.

Holding a weight plate while doing the exercises increases resistance and makes it more challenging.

Steps to follow

• Sit on the floor and bend your knees and hips at 90 degrees.
• Hold a weight plate at the 3 and 9 o’clock positions in front of you. Stretch your arms and hold the weight plate straight out.
• Keep your back straight and make your torso form a 45-degree angle with the floor.
• Explosively twist your torso and the weight as far as possible to one side of your body.
• Reverse the motion and twist them as far as possible in the opposite direction to complete a rep.
• Repeat 8-12 reps for a set and 3 sets to complete a session.

Weighted Wall sit

The wall sit is a bodyweight exercise for building the front of the thighs.

You can use the weighted plate exercises to build isometric strength and endurance in the quads, glutes, and calves.

Stand upright with your back and torso against a wall and feet at shoulder width. Position the weight plate by your side on the floor or against the wall

Steps to follow

• Engage your core, tighten your abs and slowly slide down the wall until your thighs and the floor are parallel. Your feet must be directly above your ankle.
• With the help of a partner, place the weight plate on your thighs. Ensure your back stays flat against the wall.
• Remain in the position for up to 60 seconds.
• Remove the plate from your thighs, push through your feet and slowly slide up the wall to return to your starting position.
• Repeat 3 more times with 30 seconds rest between each set to complete a session

Plate Squat to Press

The plate squat to press combines a squat with an overhead press. It is one of the best weight plate exercises for building your lower and upper body muscles in a single movement.

Steps to follow

• Grasp a weight plate with both hands at the 3 and 9 o’clock positions.
• Stand upright with your feet at shoulder width, holding the weight plate in front of your chest.
• Engage your core, bend your knees and go into a squat.
• Push through your feet and forcefully stand upright while pushing the weight plate overhead.
• Lower the plate back to your chest in a controlled manner to complete a rep.
• Repeat 8-12 reps for a set and 3 sets to complete a session.

Svend Press

The Svend press is one of the best weight plate exercises for targeting your chest muscles.

The exercise involves standing upright and pressing two weight plates together.

You will need two lightweight plates for the exercise.

Steps to follow

• Hold two weight plates together with your palms. Ensure you keep your fingers stretched and point them away from your body. Do not wrap your fingers around the plates.
• Stand upright and bring the plates to your chest.
• Press the plates tightly and extend your arms ahead of you and slightly upward.
• Bend your elbows and return the plates to your chest to complete a rep. Ensure you maintain the pressure on the weight plates throughout the movement

Final words from LiveLIfe

Weight plate exercises can replace many movements that use dumbbells and barbells.

You can also use them to increase resistance in many bodyweight exercises, helping you to reach your goals much more quickly.

Weight plate exercises will add variety to your workout and could target your muscles in ways others may not be able to.

Incorporate them into your strength training regimen to help build strength and muscle mass.