By Zencalcy Editorial TeamLast reviewed About us
Work out which plates to load on each end of a barbell to reach a target weight. Because the plates are matched on both sleeves, the calculator halves the added weight, loads the heaviest plates first, and reports the plates per side. If your plates cannot build the exact target, it tells you the closest load instead.
Find the plates to load on each side of the bar.
per side = (target − bar) ÷ 2 load largest plate first, repeat achievable total = bar + 2 × plates per side
Loading is greedy, so the biggest plate that still fits is used before smaller ones. This finds a minimal plate count but not every possible combination, and if the target is not reachable the nearest load with the chosen plates is shown.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| target | The total weight you want on the bar, including the bar itself. |
| bar | The weight of the empty bar, typically 20 kg or 45 lb. |
| plates | The denominations available, which decide what totals are reachable. |
For a 100 kg target on a 20 kg bar, the plates must add 80 kg, or 40 kg per side. With the full kilogram set that is one 25 kg and one 15 kg plate per side. A 100.5 kg target cannot be built from the set, so the closest load is 100 kg.
Loaded barbell weight comes from the bar plus the plates on both ends, so the total added is twice the weight on one side. A standard Olympic bar is twenty kilograms, and the common kilogram plates are twenty five, twenty, fifteen, ten, five, two and a half, and one and a quarter kilograms.
The calculator loads greedily, taking the largest plate that still fits the remaining weight on each side, then repeating until only an amount smaller than the lightest plate is left. Because the same stack goes on both sleeves, the achievable total moves in steps of twice the smallest plate, which for kilogram plates is two and a half kilograms.
If your goal is not a multiple of that step above the bar weight, the exact target cannot be built, and the calculator reports the closest load it can make. Finer resolution needs smaller or fractional plates.
Pound plates change the step as well, since the smallest common increment is two and a half pounds per side, and mixing kilogram and pound plates forces a conversion that usually breaks the neat per side symmetry.
Continue with the 5/3/1 Calculator, Bench Press Calculator, or the Lifting Percentages Calculator — or browse more weightlifting tools and all sports calculators.
The same plates go on both ends, so the total changes in steps of twice the smallest plate. A target that lands between those steps cannot be built, and the nearest reachable weight is reported.
Every result is computed locally in your browser from the formulas shown above. Nothing you type is uploaded, logged, or stored, and no account is required.
Reference material used to build and check this calculator:
Last reviewed: September 2026. See how we build and check every tool on the about page.
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Content updated: September 2026