Platforms are a great way to section off a weight room and make sure athletes have a clear space large enough to safely complete a lift. This area should have flooring that will help soften the blow on their joints and ideally lighten the acoustic blow as well. Raised up wood platforms used to be the norm across market with a wood center often with a logo and rubber on the sides to drop the weight. These look great but over time the wood will begin to chip when athletes miss the drop zone, which is easy to do due to the small margin for error on drop zones.
Raised up platforms
Kentucky Football Nutter Center Raised Up Platforms and Stray Dog Full racks from 2002
The main issue with raised up platforms is that they get in the way, they do a good job at sectioning off the weight room to give lifters a spot that is only for them to be inside of but this can be done inlaid in the floor as well. Raised up lifting platforms have a 2″ or higher lip (shown below) that can be a tripping hazard.
If you have raised up platforms that area can only be used for lifting, you cannot have athletes do sprints across them as the raised up platforms will be in the way. Space is always at a premium in facilities so having multi use spaces is vital.
When I was in High School in 2013 we still had raised up platforms in our facility, a starting wide receiver, took a step back off the platform and landed wrong twisting his ankle causing him to miss multiple games. An injury that would not of happened if the platforms were inlaid in the floor.
Pictured Above is an example of an inlaid platform, which means a platform that is flush with the rest of the floor allowing you to do sprints, jumps or other exercises in the area as well. The platform above was installed by our crew at Crooksville High School, the center is Rally ECORE Rolled Flooring with a C logo, the black Drop Zones are Beast Plus which is designed for continual heavy drops and the red that covers the rest of the floor is also ECORE Rally Performance Flooring. The Beast Plus Rolled Flooring is only installed in the drop zones to save cost, we can install it for the entire room if you want to do Olympic or other lifts away from the rack station.
Pictured below is a Platform made with ECORE Ultra Tiles, the center can have a logo added to it same as rolled flooring. The Drop Zones are Black Ultra Tile, The lifting zone is Grey Ultra Tile with a logo and the rest of the floor is red speckled. The purpose of Platforms is to designate a lifting area, letting other athletes know when someone is on the platform with a barbell to stay clear.
Logos
Pictured above is an inlaid logo platform at Elgin High School who got 12 Triad Half Racks with Platforms at each one. Like the Crooksville example it is ECORE Performance Beast Plus for the drop zones and ECORE Rally Rolled Flooring for the rest of the room other than the Turf Section we also installed.
Logos can be added to any part of the floor not just on platforms. The Logo above for Franklin Heights High School is right when you walk in the door to the facility, they opted to put logos on the Rally Flooring at the entrances and not on their platforms.
Platform without logos
Pictured above are the Platforms at Franklin Heights High School which are also made with ECORE Rolled Performance Flooring with Beast Plus Drop Zones and Rally Flooring everywhere else.
Conclusion
Platforms are an important part of any Sports Performance Facility or any facility where barbell training takes place. Platforms section off an area for the lifter to work in, letting other athetes know to stay clear to stay safe. Raised up platforms function very well for lifting but make the space not usable for sprints, agility or other activities. Inlaid platforms give you the best of both worlds, a platform to lift on to keep athletes safe while not limiting that space to just lifting movements. Reach out to us to begin planning your dream facility, our Flooring Division has over 10 years of experience and can help you with the entire process from conception to installation.
