Barbell Loading Calculator
Enter the total weight you want on the bar and see exactly which plates to load on each side. Choose calibrated competition plates for a powerlifting meet-style setup or switch to regular gym plates.
Available plates
Competition mode uses the standard powerlifting color convention for the main kilogram plates.
Click any plate below to add that weight to each side of the bar. The calculator automatically consolidates the load into the fewest, largest available plates. For example, adding 20 kg + 5 kg becomes one 25 kg plate per side.
Competition mode: In IPF competition, standard discs are 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, 2.5 and 1.25 kg. The 25 kg plate is red, 20 kg blue and 15 kg yellow; 10 kg and lighter may be any color. This calculator uses the familiar meet-style convention of green 10 kg, white 5 kg, black 2.5 kg and chrome change plates. Collars add 2.5 kg per side.
Pound mode: Competition-style pound plates use common calibrated equivalents (55, 45, 35 and 25 lb) for a familiar meet-style display. This is a loading aid rather than an IPF rules representation, because IPF competition loading is specified in kilograms.