Every garage gym needs a weightlifting platform. It safeguards both your machinery and, more importantly, your house. Here’s how to construct a do-it-yourself weightlifting platform that can be connected to a squat rack.

There is no need for a platform for weightlifting. It can be quite pricey, occupies a lot of space, and is very heavy.

But I can say with absolute certainty that it is a necessary component of your home gym if you are working on the Olympic lifts.

It reminds me of using a bearing barbell, in my opinion. If you’ve never used one, you have no idea what you’re missing. But once you experience the sensation of your weightlifting shoes’ soles pounding against the wooden platform during a split jerk, there’s no turning back.

Additionally, it muffles the sound of the barbell, which is advantageous for your neighbors or any sleeping kids. Therefore, I made my own and it has been a wonderful addition to my garage.

Weightlifting Platform

First of all, a variety of equipment manufacturers have been selling platforms for many years. Considering the astronomical prices they command, I have yet to use and see one that I would want in my own gym. It’s fairly simple, significantly less expensive, and, in my opinion, produces a better platform to lift on your own platform(s).

The location of your platform and the surrounding environment will have some bearing on how you construct it. For instance, to preserve the flexibility of the space, many CrossFit gyms prefer lifting platforms that are flush with rubber flooring. Although it’s a good solution in these circumstances, this isn’t really a platform in the traditional sense of the word. The alternative is a real special raised platform.

Raised Platform

If it’s possible in your gym, a raised, dedicated lifting platform is the best surface for lifting. Its benefits include improved noise reduction for your stupid neighbors, better force absorption for dropped weights, and the creation of an athlete-specific lifting area. This results in less wear and tear on the apparatus and the floor beneath. The increased cost of materials, the lengthier construction time, and the disruption of floor space for other uses are the drawbacks.

The standard lifting platform is 8 feet by 8 feet. This is a practical size because typical sheets of plywood and the like are 4×8 feet, and it provides enough room for everything a weightlifter would need to do during a workout, even with a squat rack on one end of the platform.

Build the platform’s base with two layers of inexpensive 3/4″ or 1/2″ plywood; these sheets don’t need to be of the highest quality because they won’t be seen or directly lifted on; they just need to provide a base of support and absorption. The seam between the two 4×8 sheets should run from front to back as you place them side by side along the long edges. Then, place the other two plywood sheets on top perpendicularly with their seams extending from side to side. You can’t use too many screws in this situation; secure these sheets with screws along all edges and through the middle. You could use glue or glue and screws instead, but I prefer not to because it makes it difficult to disassemble the platform for later moving or repair. The sheets will continue to lie flat against each other even if you remove a lot of the screws, which may be difficult to do later.

The lifting surface must then be created by putting the top sheet in place. The plates on the bar will just barely extend outside the edges if a standard 4×8 sheet of plywood or MDF is used, which is common and will work. To provide a little more room for the bumpers to land on rubber, I like to trim this top sheet down to 3’6″. Cut if necessary, then place this sheet in the center of the platform without attaching it just yet.

I prefer using ¾” MDF on the top because it is significantly less expensive than plywood of the necessary quality for this application, is heavy, and is naturally flat, so there is less risk of it bowing up in the middle. When using plywood, make sure the sheet is of high quality and has a perfectly flat, smooth surface on at least one side.

The rubber landing surfaces must now be added to each side of the lifting surface. There are many places to purchase this rubber, but the best options are rolled rubber sheeting or horse stall mats from ranch supply businesses. It’s overly expensive to purchase “fitness” mats. I can’t stand platforms with rubber that has diamond plating patterns on them, so make sure your rubber has a smooth, flat surface, at least on one side. It makes it challenging to set up in the ideal lifting position because the bar bounces imprecisely. Other rough surfaces are difficult to clean and quickly become icky.

Two pieces of rubber measuring 27 inches by 8 feet must be cut if your lifting sheet has been reduced to 3’6″. The rubber needs to be 2×8 feet if you’re leaving the wood 4 feet wide. If you choose to use a 4-foot wide lifting surface, you can buy rubber in 4-foot widths that can be cut in half to create your two 2-foot wide pieces. This is where additional cost and labor come into play. When using a narrower lifting surface, you are left with a piece of rubber that is 21 inches wide and cannot be used on the platform without having seams. Is it worthwhile to get more narrow? I believe you can use the extra rubber for other projects or on the ground in between several platforms.

Lay the rubber along the outside edges of your lifting surface on the platform once it has been cut. Align and firmly press these three pieces against one another before fastening the wooden top sheet. If you don’t even intend to replace it or move the platform, you can glue it. Countersink the screws and fasten them along the edges.

Finally, screw the rubber into place. I only screw in a few places along the outside edges and at the corners. This is sufficient to keep it firmly in place, and since there are no screw heads where the bumpers will be dropping, you won’t hurt them.

The second layer of rubber can be added if more soundproofing is required. To keep the lifting surface flat, a layer of equally thick wood can also be placed underneath the top sheet. Underlayment made of this rubber is an affordable and absorbent option. However, if the lifting surface is stable and hard as it should be, dropping heavy weights will still be loud no matter what you do.

Flush Platform

Although it’s very easy to build a flush platform, how you go about it will determine whether it’s simple or difficult. It has the above-mentioned advantages of simplicity, lower cost, and flexible space use. Lack of a clearly defined lifting area to contain lifters and limited force absorption and protection of the subfloor are some of its drawbacks.

Determine the size of the actual wooden lifting area first. These are frequently a little smaller than a conventional platform, like 4×6 feet. The same thickness as your rubber flooring should be purchased for a sheet of wood. Remember that these layers must be the same height for this to function properly and safely; you don’t want a raised edge where toes and heels could catch. If you’re going to use plywood, you should spend a lot of money on a high-quality sheet with a smooth, constant surface that won’t warp easily. Another option is MDF, which is advantageous because it is heavy and naturally very flat and is also significantly less expensive than high-quality plywood.

Lay the wood where you want to sink it on the floor after cutting it to the required sizes. Once you’ve got it in the ideal spot, carefully trace its edges with a pencil. If you’re feeling bold, you can also score the rubber right away with a utility knife. In the latter scenario, exercise caution and make sure that you’re scoring in close proximity to the edge.

Finish cutting the rubber after removing the wood. The rubber should be cut with the bottom being very slightly wider than the top, so I advise attempting to angle the cuts slightly inward or downward. As a result, the wood sheet can slide in all the way without difficulty without bunching the rubber and fit snugly along the top edges.

To keep it from shifting, the wood needs to be secured in some way to the floor. In one gym, I built a flush platform that was not attached to the floor and it worked just fine, but it was only successful because of luck—a good piece of wood, a flat, smooth floor, and extremely accurate, tight cuts. It’s not a strategy I advise using. If you have the tools and the patience, you can use masonry screws into cement flooring to hold the wood down. If you decide to screw it down, make sure to countersink the screws sufficiently so the lifting surface is perfectly flat. This will prevent the wood from bowing up in the middle.

Finishing the Wood

I prefer not to finish the lifting surface. It will be a stable, non-slippery surface, even with MDF, as long as it is kept clean—dusted and very lightly mopped on a regular basis. Why invest the time, resources, and mental energy to finish your platform if it won’t function as well? Varnished surfaces tend to be slippery. Some people add very fine sand to the finish to give it a slightly rough surface, but I think this is a lot of extra work that is not necessary.

The Benefits Of A Weightlifting Platform

safeguards your garage floor. The biggest justification for constructing a platform in a garage gym is probably for this reason. Damage may result from dropping and lowering weights onto a cement surface that is only covered with a rubber mat. Matt experienced this while living in his first house, where he had a garage gym that was entirely made of hard rubber mats. He engaged in rigorous strongman and barbell training that required him to repeatedly throw a lot of heavy objects to the ground. The cement floor was full of holes and cracks from years of impact when it came time to move. He had to make a costly and time-consuming concrete repair.

Using a lifting platform solves this issue. The floor and the plates are separated from one another by a layer of thick particle board or plywood and a layer of thick rubber matting.

safeguards the hardware. Dropping weight on a hard floor can harm both the floor itself (even when covered with a rubber mat) and your equipment. Bars and bumper plates may be harmed by the intense force that results from dropping or lowering a weight onto a concrete surface. Your home gym equipment works longer because a lifting platform absorbs some of that force.

Makes lifting safer. Lifting is safer in a few different ways with a platform. First off, it makes it simple to bolt your rack to a solid surface, guaranteeing that it will stay in place throughout all of your lifts. As previously mentioned, the only thing I had for anchoring my squat rack before my platform were two 55-pound bumper plates resting on its back legs. It worked, but whenever I was re-racking a heavy barbell for squats or performing pull-ups, my rack was always fairly shaky.

It’s true that I could have secured the rack to the garage floor with anchors, but I didn’t want to drill holes in it, and anchoring to cement can be challenging. With a platform, you don’t need to drill any holes in your garage floor to attach your squat rack to a sturdy surface; instead, you just need a few lag screws.

Another way a lifting platform makes lifting safer is by giving you a level, level, and hard surface on which to perform your lifts. I occasionally discovered bulges beneath my lifting area with the old mats I was using because debris had somehow gotten underneath the mats. Additionally, I occasionally had to kick mats back into position to close gaps between them. The lifting platform no longer causes a problem.

Feels better. A platform not only makes lifting safer, but it also just feels more pleasant. First, a lifting platform’s ability to absorb force can make deadlifting a little more comfortable. Try lowering a 475-pound bar to a cement floor; even with a controlled release, it still causes an unpleasant shock to run through your arms. It is somewhat lessened by a lifting platform.

Additionally, it feels more comfortable to stand on a platform than on the garage floor. Contrary to what you might expect, it feels more level and even than mats or a cement floor. There’s also something appealing about being a little off the ground.

quiets the lifting process. The noise that results from loaded barbells hitting the floor during deadlifts and Olympic lifts is one drawback of having a garage gym. When I deadlifted a 405-pound barbell, the noise it made was audible on the other side of the house with just a 1/4″ hard rubber mat. My kids’ bedrooms are directly above the garage, so the noise from my workouts would occasionally wake them up. This was especially problematic when I worked out in the morning.

The platform’s thick rubber horse stall mats and wood base significantly less noise when lifting. It won’t eliminate all the noise, but it does dampen it.

It just looks cool. I’ll admit it: The fact that lifting platforms look cool is one of the reasons I wanted one in my garage. The smooth piece of maple plywood bearing John L. It has Sullivan emblazoned on it, and the black horse stall mats frame it, indicating that this is a place where strength is forged. I’ve had the platform in my garage for a few weeks now, and every time I pass it I still pause to look at it. Maybe stupid, but I think anything that helps motivate you to exercise and gives you a psychological lift is a good idea.

How To Build A Lifting Platform

It’s remarkably inexpensive and simple to construct a lifting platform. I spent $170 and an hour building it with Matt. Here’s how to go about it. You’ll have a platform that measures 8 x 8 when you’re done.

You will be two inches higher off the ground if you use a lifting platform. In order to accommodate that, make sure you have enough space above you. The last thing you want to happen is to install a platform only to find that your garage isn’t tall enough for it after your plates use an overhead lift to pass through the ceiling.

Update: Robert Heffern, an AoM reader, created this CAD of the project for your use.

Materials

• (4) 4′ x 8′ pieces of 5/8”-thick OSB/particle board
• 1 piece of 3/4”-thick, smooth maple or oak plywood
• Box of 1 1/4” construction screws
• (4) 3 1/2” lag screws (these are used to bolt your rack to the platform — make sure the diameter of the screw fits the holes in the feet of your rack)
• (8) washers
• (2) 4′ x 6′ 3/4&thick horse stall mats in prime condition (I purchased mine at Tractor Supply Co.)

Materials’ total cost: ~ $170

For $20, Home Depot (and most other big box home improvement stores) will rent you a pick-up truck so that you can transport the full-sized pieces of particle board and plywood.

Tools

• Power drill
• Box cutter with plenty of blades
• Chalk line
• Straight edge

Putting The Platform Together

Place the First Layer of Particle Board

Choose your platform’s location carefully because once it’s there, it’s difficult to move without disengaging your squat rack from it. Place two pieces of particle board next to one another. Make sure there isn’t a space between them.

Place the Second Layer of the Particle Board

Lay your second piece of plywood across the first layer in the opposite direction that you laid the first pieces. Meaning, align it so that it is parallel to the base layer.

Here is how it appears after completion:

Screw the Particle Board Together

The two pieces of particle board should be screwed together using your drill. Don’t skimp on the screws; the more you use, the more secure. A few screws should then be placed down the sides of your developing platform, one in each corner.

Place and Secure the Screw of the Particle Board Togetherwood

The lifting surface should now be laid! In the exact center of the particle board, place your lovely piece of plywood. The plywood should have two feet of particle board on each side (you will place your rubber matting here). Once it is in position, use construction screws to secure it to the particle board platform.

Measure and Cut First Mat

Take one of your horse stall mats, measure it lengthwise, and mark a line right in the center (the 2′ mark). By doing this, the mat will be split into two pieces, each measuring 2 x 6 inches.

You can mark a straight line down the mat with chalk that you can use as a cutting guide.

Create a scoring line in the mat by cutting a line parallel to your chalk line with your box cutter. You can use a straight edge to direct the blade down the chalk line for more precision when cutting. Matt simply freestyled it, and it turned out fine.

Once you’ve made the score mark, you’ll need to elevate the mat on a sawhorse or another object, like a garbage can, to complete the cut.

Place the First Mats and Secure

You’ll see in the image that we positioned the 2 x 6 mat strips flush against the platform’s back. The issue with that is that it would leave a seam at the front of the platform where our 2 x 6 and 2 x 2 mat pieces would meet. I didn’t want any seams there that might come apart when lowering weights because that’s where I’ll be lifting. Furthermore, it is ugly. So we ended up moving the 2′ x 6′ mats to be flush with the front of the platform.

Starting at the front of the platform, place your freshly cut 2 x 6 mm strips of matting on each side of your maple plywood. They ought to fit precisely in the area where the particle board is visible. Where you made your cut, there will be a rough edge. To create a neat, tidy appearance along the edge of the platform, we placed the rough edges of each piece facing the maple plywood. To the particle board below, screw the mats down.

Two 2 x 2 squares of the exposed board will be left on each side of the platform. The next step will be to cut mat squares to fit those openings.

Measure and Cut Your Second Mat

Okay, let’s add some more mats to those 2 x 2 exposed squares of particle board. Taken together, the second and first horse stall mats will be divided down the middle to accomplish this. We will then have two pieces of 2 x 6 mats. We’ll only be using one of them, so move the other one out of the way.

Take one of those 2 x 6 mats, measure the area, and mark off a spot 2 down from the top. A square measuring 2 by 2 will result from this. Cut it.

Repeat the procedure once more to create a second 2 x 2 square.

What should I do with this extra matting, you’re likely wondering.” Cut everything into 2 x 2 squares and place them somewhere in your gym, that’s a great question. Deficit deadlifts can be performed by standing on a few of them stacked on top of one another. Alternately, two stacks can be made to perform block pulls. Boom!

Places Second Pieces of Mat and Secure

These mat pieces should be laid out and secured to the particle board with construction screws.

The squat rack needs to be bolted to the platform to complete the project.

Bolt the Rack to the Platform

Now is the time to fasten the rack to the platform. Placing your rack atop the plywood lifting surface close to the back of the lifting platform is a good idea. You can mount it flush to the back or leave a small space between the rack and the back edge.

Drill the pilot hole for the lag screws once the rack is perfectly aligned, as shown above.

Once the pilot holes have been drilled, use a socket wrench to insert the lag screws through the holes in your rack’s “feet.” Make sure there are two washers between the rack and the screw head. Repeat for the remaining three corners.

Finished Product

Check that out, please. A floor-saving, noise-reducing lifting platform in less than an hour, isn’t she a beauty? The mats on the sides serve as a cushion for the weights of your barbell while the maple wood in the middle gives you a stable surface to stand on.

You already have a function; all that’s left to do is add some form. The Gentleman Barbarian flag (which you can purchase here) in the background already gives the scene some punch. But there is still a minor detail to be added to the platform itself.

Resistance Point: John L. Sullivan Logo

Adding a vinyl logo to a lifting platform to personalize it is a common practice among people. Naturally, I listed none other than John L. Obtaining a vinyl logo is simple. Sullivan on mine. Fast Signs offers custom ones that you can upload and order. The logo is simple to apply and costs around $30.

If it helps, for the past few weeks I haven’t experienced any problems with the logo peeling off after lifting it. Matt uses a platform with a Reynolds Strong logo, and it’s still holding up, well, strong, after all these years. There are no problems with the lifting surface becoming slick due to the logo.

Before And After

You now know how to construct a weightlifting platform for your garage at home. I hope these guidelines were helpful. I want to thank Matt Reynolds for driving all the way from Springfield, Missouri, to Tulsa to help me put it together and for continuing to support me in my gains!

Lift heavy and maintain your manliness until the next time.

When using any squat rack, as well as when performing kipping pullups and other dynamic movements in the rack, you can feel secure by bolting the squat stand to the weightlifting platform. The review of the Rogue SML-2 Squat Stand, which I bolted to the platform, can be found below.

Overall, the weightlifting platform is a great addition to any garage gym, but if you don’t care about noise and don’t Olympic lift, I would say it isn’t that important.