The Rogue Deadlift Platform is the best deadlift platform on the market today but there are other great options that may better suit your needs or budget.
A deadlift platform is a huge investment for your home gym, so you need to do your homework before purchasing.
To help you out we’ve highlighted some of our favorite deadlift platforms, based on durability, style, and price. We then list the benefits and buying considerations.
Let’s go!
Best Deadlift Platforms for Home Gyms
- Best Overall: Rogue Deadlift Platform
- Runner-Up: Vulcan Weightlifting Platform
- Most Affordable: Titan Deadlift Platform
- Best for Strongman Training: Valor Fitness PTFM-1 Weightlifting Platform
- Best Olympic Platform: Eleiko IWF Weightlifting Training Platform
- Best Drop Pads: Yes4All Silencer Drop Pads
Best Overall Deadlift Platform: Rogue Deadlift Platform
Rogue’s reputation as a provider is evident: great quality, great value. The combination is why the rogue deadlift platform is our best overall product.
Rogue’s deadlift platform is strong on the fundamentals with high-quality steel construction. The rubber matting is a good mix of strong and soft to reduce noise and shock, it includes band pegs as standard, and the securing brackets are a great choice.
You don’t need to bolt the platform to the floor for it to work well, but you can, and that versatility is great for a home gym.
The only problem we can see is that the plywood insert doesn’t come with the platform. Still, it is probably cheaper and easier to buy the plywood separately somewhere near home.
You’ll need to remember the rubber tiles are not included, so you need to bundle the deadlift platform and rubber tile frame together if you buy this product.
Key Takeaway: This platform is a great all-rounder, and the price is great at around $600 for the frame and tiles.
Runner-Up: Vulcan Weightlifting Platform
While this is technically a weightlifting platform, it serves as an excellent all-purpose platform for home gyms.
This platform is larger, at 4ft by 8ft, which has both pros and cons. However, the additional wooden mid-section is a great choice for a non-compressible material for comfortable, effective lifting.
The platform’s wooden center is a great feature, and the fitment of the tiles is good. This adds to the platform’s lifespan, and there’s even an ash insert option for better stability and durability.
This set includes everything you need for the platform, the construction is simple enough, and band pegs come as standard. However, they are quite small and set low into the platform’s edge.
Most Affordable Deadlift Platform: Titan Deadlift Platform
The Titan Deadlift Platform is a great, simple option for a deadlift platform. It’s comparable to the Rogue system but with a slightly lower quality of materials and design to offer a significant price decrease.
This model comes with removable band pegs as standard, which is a nice luxury.
The rubber is thick and has good density, and it’s going to fit well in a smaller home gym since it’s only a 4x8ft platform.
The quality of materials is slightly lower with Titan – the steel construction and the tiles’ foam density are somewhat lower, with a marginally less well-regulated fitment. However, the price is 20-30% lower than Rogue’s offering, which is significant.
Key Takeaway: The quality of the platform is good for the value, which is what matters: it might be affordable, but it’s not cheap – making it a great entry-level deadlift platform for a home gym!
Best Deadlift Platform for Strongman Training – Valor Fitness PTFM-1 Weightlifting Platform
Valor fitness’ platform is an excellent option for durability and function – it’s also nearly 7ft long and 8.5ft wide. It’s on the big side, which is great if you have the space for it.
It comes with a 2-material platform, so you’ve got wood in the middle, which is a great feature for strongman exercise training and safety.
Valor’s material choices are good, and their fitment into the frame is great. This really improves the longevity of the platform. It also comes with a transition plate as standard.
The bamboo finish offers excellent durability – strong and flexible – so you’re at less risk of cracking.
The one draw-back here is the lack of band pegs. Strongman training benefits from options, and this is the only area where we think this product could be improved for that purpose!
Key Takeway: A great durable platform due to the fitment and bamboo finish, but you need to make sure you’ve got the space, and the band pegs would be an improvement.
Best Olympic Platform – Eleiko IWF Weightlifting Training Platform
If you’re a serious weightlifter looking for the best home training solution, this is the platform for you. It’s more expensive than your standard platform but offers the elite experience.
Eleiko’s material quality, design, construction, and fitment are legendary. The platform uses top-quality thermoplastic-finished birch that offers a perfect level of stick and slide for weightlifting while lasting for decades.
The fitment makes this platform incredibly durable. The rubber tiles’ thickness and construction are perfectly tailored for weightlifting to provide the right amount of bounce while absorbing most of the sound and shock from dropping weights.
The price point for this product is unforgiving, and it doesn’t support band pegs, but they’re not crucial for weightlifting, and you’d be paying for life-long quality.
Key Takeaway: It’s a big investment, but it’s the cream of the crop.
Deadlift Platform Buying Guide
What is a Deadlift Platform?
A deadlift platform is a specific flooring option that helps mitigate the impact of barbells on the floor. It helps absorb the shock and reduce the noise, which is an essential choice if you’re going to deadlift heavy at home.
Deadlift platforms are essential when damage to concrete floors is a real risk.
Deadlift platforms protect your floors – they’re an investment in not replacing your garage floor in the future.
Some platforms are also large enough to fuse with squat stands for the same purpose, and others include band pegs to give your more options for training your deadlift. It’s an all-around option that makes deadlifting at home much easier, safer, and even more effective.
Benefits of Deadlift Platforms
The most obvious benefit of a deadlift platform is protecting your floor. Regular deadlifting can put some real stress on your floor, even if you’re using horse stall matting or other forms of rubber flooring.
This shock-absorption also helps you cut down on the noise and shaking caused by dropping the bar. For home gyms, that can be a total game-changer, especially if you’re worried about the response from your neighbors!
Improving Your Training Experience
A good deadlift platform is a training tool: more comfortable to use than matting, providing an even surface for lifting on.
As the name implies, this is usually to account for deadlifts. Still, they’re also useful if you’re squatting from squat stands or a half-rack where you need secure footing and can dump the bar on a bad rep.
If you can get a platform with a 2-material construction (e.g., wood and rubber), you can use a non-compressible material. This is great for improving your deadlift training’s fidelity: less force is lost through compressing the rubber, meaning a better training experience.
However, smaller rubber-tile-based deadlifting platforms are perfect for home gyms. Higher-density rubbers in these platforms are a great economical choice. They can make the whole experience a lot better.
A Versatile Training Space
Platforms can also offer a variety of training benefits outside of just deadlifting. You can put squat stands or a bench on a larger platform to reduce the noise and impact of other lifts. They also make exercises like slam balls much easier and safer.
This can add real versatility to your home gym, contributing to a wide range of exercises. It’s a single investment that pays off all over your workout routine.
Deadlift Platform Buying Considerations
Size
A bigger platform isn’t always better. If you’re only planning on deadlifting without Olympic lifts (e.g.), then a smaller, better-built platform is a better choice. The size is only relevant if you have the room for it in your home gym and you’re going to use the full size.
Platforms usually come in 4-foot and 8-foot lengths and are a standard 8-foot across. A smaller platform is better if you’re only deadlifting on it. In comparison, a larger platform has a wider variety of uses – such as allowing squat stands or Olympic lifts.
The key is to find what suits your home gym: a full platform (8x10ft) is an excellent investment, but it’s going to eat up a lot of space. You’ll need a big garage for this kind of platform, and a deadlift-only platform (like the Rogue example) is much better for a small home gym!
Materials
Better materials are an essential consideration. A deadlift platform is a very long-term investment, and you don’t want to pay for repairs/replacements in a year or two. Better materials tend to produce a better experience.
This is especially important on the rubber or foam where the plates are intended to land. You want a thickness and quality of material that’s going to absorb shock and reduce noise, but nothing so foamy that it’s going to degrade rapidly due to friction and use.
If your deadlift platform has two materials – such as a wooden inner and then rubberized sides – the quality of what you’re standing on is going to be important. Ideally, your central area should be a non-compressible material, which is why wood is a classic choice for weightlifting platforms and deadlift platforms.
The quality of simple, crucial materials like screws and the quality of joinery will be a massive deal for a platform. Better construction on these essential materials is a direct factor in durability since areas like screws, joinery, and rubber matting are where platforms tend to fall apart first.
Durability
The durability of a platform is heavily reliant on the materials, but it’s not just that. Factors like the fitment of tiles and the quality of small connecting parts make a huge difference.
Poorly-fitting tiles absorb force less effectively and are more likely to degrade over time. The fitment of tiles to the frame is critical. Factors like securing screws can help with long-term durability (as seen on the Rogue platform).
The finish on wooden platforms also makes a huge difference to the durability. Softer finishes will mark more easily but are crack-resistant. In contrast, thermoplastic finishes like the Eleiko are hard-wearing and extend the life of a platform.
Look for quality parts and quality construction – brands’ reputations are a great guide here.
Fastening Brackets
The attachment of a platform to the floor isn’t always necessary, but it’s a great option to have – and one to look out for.
The Rogue platform, for example, offers four brackets for bolting the platform into the floor. This is an excellent way of improving the platform’s fitment and stability, thus improving how it performs and its long-term durability.
The quality and number of these brackets are a good indicator. The four brackets in the Rogue platform, for example, are perfect: they secure the corners and reduce the stress on any one bracket – which could cause damage and shearing bolts.
Sound-dampening
For many neighborhoods, the dampening of sound on a deadlift platform will be a major draw. A good deadlift platform will absorb a lot of the shock that would typically cause noise and shake the ground.
There are some really interesting quiet platforms, like the Eleiko SVR range. Still, the main factor will usually be the thickness and material of the platform. A denser material will conduct force, leading to more shaking and noise, so you need a balance between protecting floors, durability, and reducing noise.
A noise-reducing platform is always a better choice if you’ve got the budget, but you can buy crash mats or SVR inserts after the fact if you run into major issues. Most platforms will be good for this, but classic deadlift platforms are among the best due to the thicker tiles.
Rogue’s deadlift platform is an excellent example of this – the material is thick enough to reduce sound and impact while still being dense enough to be great for lifting on.
Band pegs
Deadlift platforms that have band pegs are generally a better choice than without them.
It’s a great feature that allows you to use bands in your deadlifts and hip thrusts, for example. Band pegs allow you easy access to banded exercises without the cumbersome effort of rigging up your bands under dumbbells or other household items.
Band pegs are great for training versatility, and you can usually get them without a huge mark-up. However, they’re a bonus feature and not essential unless you already know you’re going to use banded deadlifts.
Warranty
A good deadlift platform could be a life-long purchase if you treat it right and make the right choice the first time around.
A warranty offers two great benefits:
- It’s a vote of confidence from a company in the quality of their product.
- It saves you any expense in the future if your platform does need repair/replacement.
A longer and more comprehensive warranty on a product makes it a wiser purchase. Most platforms have a 1-2 year warranty, which is a good start, and they’re likely to last a lot longer than their warranty, but it’s always good for your peace of mind.
Check the warranty information on any platform before you buy it. It’s essential to understand what your cover is at the time of purchase and based on your location and intended use!
Deadlift Platform FAQs
Should you Buy or Build your Deadlift Platform?
The main factor in whether you should buy or build your deadlift platform is how good you are with your hands – and how patient you are!
For most people, the easy-building of a pre-made platform that only needs bolting together is the best choice. It’s difficult to source many of the higher-quality, purpose-made materials that you’d get from a good platform – and they’re probably going to more expensive in small cuts.
You can get plenty of platform blueprints and design advice online. If you have the time and you’re willing to learn along the way, building a platform can be a satisfying process, as well as a way to save money – but only if you get it right.
Getting platform-building wrong can add some costs, so make sure you’re taking your time if you can get high-quality materials and want to build your own.
What is the difference between Deadlift and Olympic Platforms?
Deadlift platforms are for deadlifting alone, while Olympic platforms are designed for practicing the Olympic lifts – snatch and clean and jerk.
Olympic platforms are significantly larger, to start with. They need to be longer than a deadlift platform to accommodate for positions like the split jerk, which might require 6-7 feet of clearance, depending on the athlete.
This also gives larger tolerances for “walking a lift-out,” where an athlete needs to take a step to regain balance.
Because of this purpose, Olympic platforms also need a central wood or other non-compressible section.
This prevents the floor from dissipating force during a lift or changing under a lifter’s feet, meaning spongey materials are a no-go for Olympic platforms.
Conclusion
Platforms are a huge investment for your home gym and should be considered carefully. Prioritize what kind of exercise you’re planning on doing and space you have when choosing a platform.
Durability, style, and price are the main factors for any choice – and we’ve highlighted some of our favorites.
Keep your core needs in mind, and you’ll not go far wrong when choosing the best deadlift platform for your home gym!
