Free Tool
Enter your target weight and get the exact plates for each side of the bar. Includes a full loading chart so you can check common weights without typing anything.
Take it to the gym
Save your bar preference, calculate instantly from your pocket, and automatically track your PRs as you load up.
Enter your target barbell weight, select your bar type, and the calculator instantly tells you which plates to load on each side. It uses a greedy algorithm - always choosing the largest plate first - to minimize the total number of plates used.
Olympic barbells use these standard plate sizes: 25 kg (red), 20 kg (blue), 15 kg (yellow), 10 kg (green), 5 kg (white), 2.5 kg (gray), and 1.25 kg. In pounds: 45, 35, 25, 10, 5, and 2.5 lb.
Mental math at the gym wastes time and risks loading errors - especially under fatigue or when dealing with odd weights like 142.5 kg. A plate calculator eliminates the guesswork so you can focus on lifting.
Got your number. Now keep it.
The app saves every result and shows the trend, so the next calculation starts from something real.
A loaded barbell is the bar plus the plates on both sides, and plates always go on in matching pairs. So the arithmetic every lifter does in their head is:
plates per side = (target weight − bar weight) ÷ 2
Worked example: you want 100 kg on a standard 20 kg olympic bar. That leaves 80 kg of plates, so 40 kg per side, which loads as one 25 kg plate plus one 15 kg plate. In pounds: 225 lb on a 45 lb bar leaves 180 lb of plates, 90 lb per side, which is two 45 lb plates.
The greedy rule is to work from the heaviest plate down. Load the biggest plate that still fits, subtract it, repeat. That gives you the fewest plates on the sleeve, which matters for both changeover speed and how the bar feels.
| Total weight | Plates per side | Weight per side |
|---|---|---|
| 40 kg | 1 × 10 | 10 kg |
| 50 kg | 1 × 15 | 15 kg |
| 60 kg | 1 × 20 | 20 kg |
| 70 kg | 1 × 25 | 25 kg |
| 80 kg | 1 × 25 + 1 × 5 | 30 kg |
| 90 kg | 1 × 25 + 1 × 10 | 35 kg |
| 100 kg | 1 × 25 + 1 × 15 | 40 kg |
| 110 kg | 1 × 25 + 1 × 20 | 45 kg |
| 120 kg | 2 × 25 | 50 kg |
| 130 kg | 2 × 25 + 1 × 5 | 55 kg |
| 140 kg | 2 × 25 + 1 × 10 | 60 kg |
| 150 kg | 2 × 25 + 1 × 15 | 65 kg |
| 160 kg | 2 × 25 + 1 × 20 | 70 kg |
| 180 kg | 3 × 25 + 1 × 5 | 80 kg |
| 200 kg | 3 × 25 + 1 × 15 | 90 kg |
This is the chart behind questions like "how many plates is 155" and "how much is 3 plates a side". Three plates a side on a 45 lb bar is 315 lb.
| Total weight | Plates per side | Weight per side |
|---|---|---|
| 95 lb | 1 × 25 | 25 lb |
| 115 lb | 1 × 35 | 35 lb |
| 135 lb | 1 × 45 | 45 lb |
| 155 lb | 1 × 45 + 1 × 10 | 55 lb |
| 175 lb | 1 × 45 + 2 × 10 | 65 lb |
| 185 lb | 1 × 45 + 1 × 25 | 70 lb |
| 205 lb | 1 × 45 + 1 × 35 | 80 lb |
| 225 lb | 2 × 45 | 90 lb |
| 245 lb | 2 × 45 + 1 × 10 | 100 lb |
| 275 lb | 2 × 45 + 1 × 25 | 115 lb |
| 315 lb | 3 × 45 | 135 lb |
| 365 lb | 3 × 45 + 1 × 25 | 160 lb |
| 405 lb | 4 × 45 | 180 lb |
Competition plates follow the IWF colour code, which is worth memorising because it lets you read a loaded bar across the gym without counting.
| Colour | Weight |
|---|---|
| Red | 25 kg / 55 lb |
| Blue | 20 kg / 45 lb |
| Yellow | 15 kg / 35 lb |
| Green | 10 kg / 25 lb |
| White | 5 kg / 10 lb |
| Chrome or black | 2.5 kg, 1.25 kg, 5 lb, 2.5 lb |
Not every number is loadable. With standard plates the smallest jump you can make on a barbell is twice your smallest plate, so with 1.25 kg plates you move in 2.5 kg steps. If your programme calls for 82 kg and you only have 2.5 kg plates, you are choosing between 80 and 85. Round down on heavy work and up on light work, or buy a pair of fractional plates (0.5 kg or 0.25 kg) which is the cheapest way to keep linear progression alive once your jumps get too big.
This calculator gives you one number. The app remembers every number, charts your progress and tells you when you are due for a new PR.
Free on iOS and Android. No account needed to start.