Muscle Gain Forum

Setting up deadlifts in my garage and worried about cracking the concrete and dinging my bar/plates. What's the best flooring and do I need a dedicated lifting platform? Trying to do it right without massive expense.

Horse-stall mats are the go-to - thick rubber, cheap, durable, protect both the floor and your plates. For deadlifts specifically, a simple DIY platform (plywood base + mats/hardwood centre strip) gives a solid, level surface and saves your bar and floor. Cheap to build.

A DIY platform sounds more affordable than I feared.

It's a weekend project - couple sheets of ply, some rubber, a hardwood strip down the middle. Way cheaper than a commercial platform and just as good.

Stall mats over the whole training area, platform under the bar for pulls and Olympic stuff. Don't deadlift straight on concrete - you'll chip the floor and crack plates the first time you miss a rep. The rubber pays for itself instantly.

If you drop heavy deadlifts get bumper plates too, even cheap ones - iron plates on repeated drops will crack and they're brutal on the bar and floor. Mats + platform + bumpers = a setup you won't damage. Worth doing once, properly.

Stall mats everywhere, DIY platform under the bar, bumpers for the drops. Clear and affordable. Building it this weekend, thanks all.