Plate Calculator — Barbell Loading Guide

How to Load a Barbell

Loading plates sounds simple until you're standing in front of a rack doing mental math at 6 AM. This calculator takes your target weight, subtracts the bar, and tells you exactly which plates go on each side — with a color-coded visual so you can spot-check your setup.

The algorithm works from heaviest to lightest: it loads as many of the largest plate as possible, then fills in the remainder with smaller plates. This is how experienced lifters load in practice — it's faster and keeps the bar balanced during loading.

Standard Plate Weights and Colors

Competition plates follow the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) color coding. Most commercial gyms use similar colors, though not all are strict about it:

Kilogram Plates

• Red — 25kg: The heaviest standard plate. Used primarily in powerlifting and strongman.
• Blue — 20kg: The workhorse plate. "A plate" in most metric gyms refers to a 20kg blue.
• Yellow — 15kg: Common in CrossFit boxes and as a secondary loading plate.
• Green — 10kg: Fine-tuning plate for working up in 20kg increments (10 per side).
• White — 5kg: Small change plates for 10kg jumps.
• Red — 2.5kg: Fractional plate for 5kg jumps. Critical for pressing movements where progress is slow.
• Silver — 1.25kg: Micro plate for 2.5kg jumps. Many gyms don't have these, but they're essential for long-term progressive overload on upper body lifts.

Pound Plates

• Blue — 45lbs: "A plate" in American gyms. The standard loading unit.
• Yellow — 35lbs: Less common, used for finer weight selection.
• Green — 25lbs: The go-to for moderate weight adjustments.
• White — 10lbs: Small plate for 20lb jumps.
• Red — 5lbs: For 10lb increments.
• Silver — 2.5lbs: Smallest standard plate. Enables 5lb jumps.

Common Milestones and Their Plate Setups

Gym culture tracks progress in "plates" — meaning the number of 20kg/45lb plates per side. These are the milestones that every lifter works toward:

Common barbell weight milestones

Milestone	Metric	Imperial	Plates/Side
1 plate	60 kg	135 lbs	1 × 20kg / 1 × 45lbs
1.5 plates	80 kg	185 lbs	1 × 20 + 1 × 10
2 plates	100 kg	225 lbs	2 × 20kg / 2 × 45lbs
3 plates	140 kg	315 lbs	3 × 20kg / 3 × 45lbs
4 plates	180 kg	405 lbs	4 × 20kg / 4 × 45lbs
5 plates	220 kg	495 lbs	5 × 20kg / 5 × 45lbs

A 2-plate bench press (100kg/225lbs) is a common intermediate milestone. A 3-plate squat (140kg/315lbs) marks the transition to advanced. A 4-plate deadlift (180kg/405lbs) is where things get serious.

Check where your lifts stand against these milestones with the Strength Standards Calculator.

Loading Tips

• Always load evenly. Put plates on both sides before adding more to one side. An unbalanced bar can tip off the rack — dangerous and embarrassing.
• Load heaviest plates first. Big plates go against the collar, small plates on the outside. This keeps the bar stable and makes it easier to add/remove plates between sets.
• Use clips/collars. They keep plates from sliding off during lifts. Non-negotiable for any movement where the bar could tilt.
• Know your bar. Not all bars weigh the same. Standard Olympic bars are 20kg, but training bars, curl bars, trap bars, and specialty bars all differ. Always check.
• Buy micro plates. If your gym doesn't have 1.25kg/2.5lb plates, buy a pair online. They cost under $15 and unlock 2.5kg/5lb jumps — essential for long-term progress on overhead press and bench press where you can't just throw on 5kg jumps forever.

Why Plate Math Matters for Training

Getting the plates right isn't just convenience — it affects your training quality. Fumbling with plate math between sets wastes rest time, breaks focus, and occasionally leads to loading errors that either make the set too easy (wasted effort) or too hard (injury risk).

This is one reason RepStack shows plate loading for every working set in your workout. When the app tells you to load 92.5kg, you don't have to think — you just grab the plates shown.

Combine this calculator with the 1RM Calculator to find your training percentages, then look up the plate loadings for each percentage. That's your complete workout setup.