Ever wonder why rubber weights are used in Olympic weightlifting, but iron plates in most gyms?
We did. So, we looked into it.
The World’s greatest athletes demonstrate what it means to push the boundaries of human potential at each Olympic Games. In Olympic weightlifting, for example, new records are being set every year. Much is said about the athletes and how they challenge their limits to achieve new heights, but what about the equipment?
Weightlifting Equipment
- Has it always been the same?
- What kind of stress occurs when the bar is dropped?
- How could pushing the boundaries of design enable athletes to achieve more?
At GoEngineer, these are the kinds of questions that keep us up at night.
Here’s what we found; changing the material of the weights, changed the sport of weightlifting.
See our Simulation FEA Drop Test
Weightlifting has been an Olympic event since the very first Olympics in Athens in 1896. Back then, the bar and the plates were made out of iron. The rules required athletes to gently return the weights to the ground. This obviously wasn’t possible when an athlete was going for a max effort lift, and would miss.
