Search the Community

I've read Strong Lifts 5X5 a couple of times, and he says that you can't Row or DL with Hex plates. That you should switch gyms if the one you're at has them. I've also read around the internet about Hex plates, DL, & Rows, found some different suggestions, though I found it hard to understand some of the complaints & ideas, either because I'm such a visual person or being new to the terminology. Unless I move to a house with an indoor pool, switching is not an option, because I'm not giving up swimming. The other gym that has an indoor pool has Hex plates as well. My first question is, why can't you use Hex plates? I couldn't find anything to really explain the issue with Hex plates, other than these vague references to balance, rolling and gyms not wanting people to deadlift b/c of liability. I'm there at 5am, there's only one employee in the area at that time, so I think I can get away with it if they're one of "those" places. That being said, I did my first 5X5 today, and when it came time to Row I set the plates on top of another plate. I didn't experience anything bad or extraordinarily difficult, maybe because I've never done this before, or because there wasn't much weight on there. Some of the suggestions I read were what I did(use other plates to raise my bar up), as well as "resetting" after each set, and/or placing a mat under the weights. Question 2, what do they mean by resetting? Taking the plates off and then back on again? I do see a home gym in our future, but that is still at least 2-3 months from now, or longer.