What plates to load on the bar
Plates per side come from taking the bar off the total and halving what is left: plates per side = (total weight − bar) ÷ 2. With a 20 kg Olympic bar and a 100 kg target, that is 40 kg per side, loaded as one 25 and one 15. With kilo plates the smallest usable jump is 2.5 kg on the total, because the smallest common plate is 1.25 kg and plates always go on in pairs.
The formula
Plates per side = (Total weight − Bar weight) ÷ 2. That figure is then built by always taking the heaviest plate that still fits: 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, 2.5 and 1.25 kg. The smallest jump on the total is 2.5 kg, which is the pair of 1.25s.
What each variable means
- Target total weight
- The number you want on the bar, bar included. If the programme says 82.5 kg, that is the total, not what goes on the ends.
- Bar weight
- The standard Olympic bar is 20 kg; the women's bar is 15 kg; technique bars run 7.5 to 10 kg. Plenty of commercial-gym bars fall short of 20 and are worth weighing once.
Precomputed values
| Total weight | Per side | Plates |
|---|---|---|
| 40 kg | 10 kg | 10 |
| 60 kg | 20 kg | 20 |
| 70 kg | 25 kg | 25 |
| 80 kg | 30 kg | 25 + 5 |
| 100 kg | 40 kg | 25 + 15 |
| 102.5 kg | 41,25 kg | 25 + 15 + 1,25 |
| 120 kg | 50 kg | 25 + 25 |
| 140 kg | 60 kg | 25 + 25 + 10 |
| 180 kg | 80 kg | 25 + 25 + 25 + 5 |
The 102.5 kg row is the one that matters: it is the smallest possible jump from 100 with kilo plates. Any weekly progression asking for less than 2.5 kg on the bar cannot be loaded, and that is where 0.5 and 0.25 kg micro-plates come in — which almost no commercial gym stocks.
Run it on your numbers
How to read the result
When the target cannot be built exactly, the result shows the closest reachable weight below it and the shortfall. Rounding down and keeping the technique is worth more than forcing the exact number: 1.25 kg does not change the stimulus, but a broken set does change the log.
Assumptions and limits
- Kilo plates in the usual sizes: 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, 2.5 and 1.25 kg. A gym stocked in pounds reaches different totals.
- Plates go on in pairs, one per side. That is why the smallest jump on the total is twice the smallest plate.
- Collars add real weight, between 0.5 and 2.5 kg per pair depending on the model, and are not counted here.
- It assumes enough plates of each size. With a single pair of 25s the loading changes even when the total does not.
