acalculator

What barbell plates do I load?

Pick pounds or kilograms, then type the target weight, the bar weight and the plate sizes in your gym. The barbell plate calculator lists the plates for each side, heaviest first.

Your numbers

Units
Read as: 45; 35; 25; 10; 5; 2.5
Plates on each side
2 × 45

Load 2 × 45 on each side, for 225 in total.

Weight per side
90
Plates per side
2
Total loaded
225
Short of target
0

Plates on each side: 2 × 45. Load 2 × 45 on each side, for 225 in total.

How to calculate

Works out the plates to load on each side of a barbell for a target weight in pounds or kilograms, from the bar weight and the plate sizes you have, heaviest plates first.

Example with the default inputs (Units lb, Target weight (lb) 225, Bar weight (lb) 45, Plates you have (lb) [45, 35, 25, 10, 5, 2.5]): Load 2 × 45 on each side, for 225 in total.

Method: Per side = (target − bar) ÷ 2. Going from the heaviest plate size to the lightest, load as many of each as fit in what is left of the side.

  • Each plate size can be used as many times as needed, and both sides are loaded the same.
  • Plates are chosen heaviest first, the way lifters load a bar; this is not always the fewest plates (60 lb per side is 45, 10, 5 rather than 35, 25).
  • Collars are not counted; add their weight to the bar weight if you use them.

Machine-readable copies: Markdown, JSON.

Worked examples

Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.

  1. Units lb, Target weight (lb) 225, Bar weight (lb) 45, Plates you have (lb) 45, 35, 25, 10, 5, 2.5 gives Plates on each side 2 × 45, Weight per side 90, Plates per side 2, Total loaded 225, Short of target 0.Source: Wikipedia, Weight plate (Olympic plates: 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 35 and 45 lb; 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 kg), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight_plate; IWF, Equipment (men’s bar 20 kg), https://iwf.sport/weightlifting_/equipment/
  2. Units lb, Target weight (lb) 185, Bar weight (lb) 45, Plates you have (lb) 45, 35, 25, 10, 5, 2.5 gives Plates on each side 45, 25, Weight per side 70, Plates per side 2, Short of target 0.Source: Wikipedia, Weight plate (Olympic plates: 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 35 and 45 lb; 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 kg), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight_plate; IWF, Equipment (men’s bar 20 kg), https://iwf.sport/weightlifting_/equipment/
  3. Units lb, Target weight (lb) 137, Bar weight (lb) 45, Plates you have (lb) 45, 35, 25, 10, 5, 2.5 gives Plates on each side 45, Weight per side 46, Plates per side 1, Total loaded 135, Short of target 2.Source: Wikipedia, Weight plate (Olympic plates: 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 35 and 45 lb; 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 kg), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight_plate; IWF, Equipment (men’s bar 20 kg), https://iwf.sport/weightlifting_/equipment/
  4. Units kg, Target weight (kg) 142.5, Bar weight (kg) 20, Plates you have (kg) 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, 2.5, 1.25 gives Plates on each side 2 × 25, 10, 1.25, Weight per side 61.25, Plates per side 4, Total loaded 142.5, Short of target 0.Source: Wikipedia, Weight plate (Olympic plates: 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 35 and 45 lb; 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 kg), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight_plate; IWF, Equipment (men’s bar 20 kg), https://iwf.sport/weightlifting_/equipment/
  5. Units kg, Target weight (kg) 20, Bar weight (kg) 20, Plates you have (kg) 25, 20 gives Plates on each side none (the empty bar), Weight per side 0, Plates per side 0, Total loaded 20, Short of target 0.

How it works

All weights are in the unit you choose (lb or kg); the calculator does not convert between them.

  1. Weight per side = (target − bar) ÷ 2.
  2. Sort the plate sizes you typed from heaviest to lightest (a size typed twice counts once).
  3. For each size in turn, put on as many plates of that size as fit in what is left of the side: count = the whole part of (what is left ÷ size). Subtract count × size from what is left.
  4. What is left at the end cannot be made with your plates. Short of target = 2 × what is left, and total loaded = target − short.

The default plates are 45, 35, 25, 10, 5 and 2.5 lb, or 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, 2.5 and 1.25 kg. The default bar is 45 lb or 20 kg, and the default target is 225 lb or 100 kg.

Rules

  • The target and the bar are numbers from 0 to 10,000. The plate list holds 1 to 20 sizes, each from 0.01 to 1,000 ("Every plate size must be from 0.01 to 1,000." otherwise).
  • A target below the bar weight has no answer: "The target weight is less than the bar weight."
  • More than 100 plates on one side has no answer: "That needs more than 100 plates on each side; add heavier plate sizes."
  • Typed numbers are read as exact decimals and every step above is exact, so 0.1 + 0.2 is exactly 0.3.

What the calculator shows

  • Plates on each side: the plates of one side, heaviest first, separated by a comma and a space. A size used more than once is written once as count × size (2 × 45); a size used once is written alone (10). Sizes are written as typed numbers (2.5, 1.25). With no plates it reads "none (the empty bar)".
  • Weight per side, Total loaded and Short of target: in the chosen unit, rounded half up to at most 3 decimals.
  • Plates per side: how many plates are on each side.

Worked examples by hand

225 lb on a 45 lb bar: (225 − 45) ÷ 2 = 90 lb per side. 45 fits twice (90 ÷ 45 = 2), leaving 0. Plates: 2 × 45.

185 lb on a 45 lb bar: (185 − 45) ÷ 2 = 70. One 45 leaves 25; 35 does not fit; one 25 leaves 0. Plates: 45, 25.

137 lb on a 45 lb bar: (137 − 45) ÷ 2 = 46. One 45 leaves 1, and no plate is 1 or less. Plates: 45; total loaded 137 − 2 × 1 = 135 lb, 2 lb short.

142.5 kg on a 20 kg bar: (142.5 − 20) ÷ 2 = 61.25. Two 25s leave 11.25; 20 and 15 do not fit; one 10 leaves 1.25; 5 and 2.5 do not fit; one 1.25 leaves 0. Plates: 2 × 25, 10, 1.25.

20 kg on a 20 kg bar: 0 per side, none (the empty bar).

Other questions people ask

How do I work out the plates for each side?

Subtract the bar weight from the target and halve it: that is the weight on each side. For 225 lb on a 45 lb bar, (225 − 45) ÷ 2 = 90 lb per side, which is two 45 lb plates.

How much does an Olympic barbell weigh?

A men’s Olympic weightlifting bar is 20 kg and a women’s bar is 15 kg (IWF). Gyms in the US often label their standard bar 45 lb. Check your bar, because training bars vary; type its weight in Bar weight.

What if the plates cannot make the target exactly?

The calculator loads as much as fits without going over and shows how far short the bar is. With 2.5 lb as the smallest plate, totals go up in steps of 5 lb, so a 137 lb target loads 135 lb and is 2 lb short.

Why does it not always use the fewest plates?

It loads the heaviest plate that fits first, then the next, the way most lifters load a bar. For 60 lb per side that gives 45, 10 and 5 rather than 35 and 25. Leave 35 out of your plate list if your gym has none.

Do collars count?

Not unless you add them. Competition collars weigh 2.5 kg each (IWF); spring clips weigh little. To count them, add both collars to the bar weight.