Free tool · runs in your browser · works offline
Plate calculator
Type the weight you want on the bar. You get the plates for each side, using only the plates you actually own, and how close you can get if the exact number isn't loadable.
Calculator
Each side
25 + 15
100 kg on the bar · 4 plates total
How the plate math works
Subtract the bar and both collars from the target, then split what is left in half. That half goes on each side. For 100 kg on a 20 kg bar with clips: (100 − 20) / 2 = 40 kg per side, which is 25 + 15.
The calculator searches every combination of the plates you ticked, within the counts you gave, and picks the one that reaches the target with the fewest plates. If two options use the same number of plates it prefers the heavier plates, because that is how most people load a bar. If the exact weight can't be made, it shows the closest load below the target and the gap.
Practical notes
- Heaviest plates go on first, closest to the collar of the bar. Small change plates go on last.
- Gym plates are not exact. Calibrated competition plates are made to tight tolerances. Ordinary iron and bumper plates can be off by a few percent, so the same "100 kg" can differ between gyms. Log which bar and gym you used.
- Mixed units. Some gyms mix kg and lb plates. Pick one unit here and convert the odd plate yourself: 1 lb = 0.4536 kg.
- Microloading. Small plates (0.5 kg, 1.25 lb) let upper-body lifts keep progressing when a 2.5 kg jump is too big. Tick them if you own them.
Planning a whole block? The lifting log generator rounds every target to loads you can build.