From wikipedia: "Roy "Reg" Park (7 June 1928 – 22 November 2007) was an English bodybuilder, businessman, and actor. His first title was Mr. Britain in 1949. He then won Mr. Universe in 1951, 1958, and 1965. He went on to star in five films. Later in life, he received renewed interest for being the first inspiration (and later a mentor) to Arnold Schwarzenegger." Reg Park plates come from the UK, where they were made in the 1960s. There is also another version with smaller block lettering that were reportedly made in South Africa, where Park lived out his later life. A pair of 45 lb. plates will run you about $400-500 plus the shipping costs to import them. The very shallow and sloping volcano hub makes hub lifting essentially impossible unless you are Brian Shaw. The plate diameter is 17 7/8 inches, so if you put it on the deadlift bar first then normal 17 1/2 inch plates will slide on without a bar jack.

My favorite exercise with these is Oberst Crunches. I imagined doing wall slams with them when first purchased but that rapidly proved untenable when the Dark Witch that lives in the house above the dungeon came unglued in response to the slamming. The minions love trying to play catch with the lighter ones.

I built a rack out of pressure treated 4 x 4 posts so that I would have something in the yard to use outdoors when the weather is nice. Sometimes you just don't want to be stuck in a basement dungeon when the sun is shining and you've been stuck working 12 hour days for a week straight. The materials were very inexpensive and I stocked it with a beater bar that cane free when I bought some cheap plates on FMP. Yeah, the stuff is all going to get rusty but who cares? It adds another dimension and option for getting under the bar. Tall enough for full extension pullups, which is better than my real rack. 1" iron pipe fittings from Home Depot for plate storage.

I love picking up natural stones from the wild environment. We are blessed with an endless supply of them here on the island. I have brought a number of them home and pick them up routinely. It definitely challenges the body differently than picking up a barbell.

As deep dish plates go, these are very inexpensive and not difficult to find. They have a great feel with a nice deep lip. An excellent choice for daily drivers.

perfectly designed for what it is meant for... to introduce little people to the fun of this sport. I have used it very effectively to teach my five-year-old how to bench press. It's light enough to keep them from getting hurt when they are still so uncoordinated. it's very short but the ends of the sleeves can rest in the J hooks on a rack. By the time she can bench enough weight to fill the sleeve she will already have moved up to a bigger bar.

Simple and affordable way to add more plate storage to your rack. I use mine at the bottom front of my rack posts to have counterweights against the loaded barbell on the back posts. The rack used to rock a lot with each rerack but now it is stable.

Of course I lined the gym floor with these. I moved them here from out of state when we relocated and in retrospect, I wish I had left them behind. The sheer tonnage of these bastards! They do the job, and I was lucky enough to buy them a decade ago when you could still get smooth ones (went to TSC a year ago to buy another and now they only sell them with diamond plate pattern) but if I was starting over I would use the 3' x 4' ones instead... way easier to trim and to tetris into all the corners of the basement. If I ever move this gym, I won't use the 4x6 ones again. Too much swearing and gnashing of teeth to wrestle these into place.