Plate Calculator
What plates do I put on the bar? Enter a total weight and this free calculator shows exactly which plates go on each side, in kg or lb, for a standard or women’s bar, using only the plates your gym has. No sign-up.
Warming up to that weight? Try the warm-up calculator.
How to use the plate calculator
Pick kg or lb and the bar you’re using, then type the total weight you want on the bar. We take off the bar, halve the rest, and load each side heaviest plate first, the same way you would in the gym.
Missing some plates? Open Configure plates and switch off what your gym doesn’t have. If the exact weight can’t be made, we show the closest load you can put on.
Frequently asked questions
Subtract the bar weight from your target, divide by two for the load per side, then add the heaviest plates that fit, working down. For 100 kg on a 20 kg bar that’s 40 kg a side: one 25, one 15.
A standard men’s Olympic bar is 20 kg (45 lb). A women’s Olympic bar is 15 kg (35 lb). Specialty and technique bars vary, so check the end cap.
No. Spring clips weigh next to nothing, but competition collars are 2.5 kg each. If you use them, add 5 kg to your target.
They follow the IWF/IPF competition standard: red 25 kg, blue 20 kg, yellow 15 kg, green 10 kg, white 5 kg. Most gym plates are black, so go by the number.
The plate maths, mid-set.
The same plate calculator lives inside SYNCT, right where you log your sets, and it remembers which plates your gym has.
