--- title: "Barbell Plate Calculator | Furlani Fitness" description: "Free barbell plate calculator: the total on the bar, drawn across both sides or on two loading pegs, and the same weight in the fewest plates." canonical: https://www.furlanifitness.com.au/plate-calculator/ image: https://www.furlanifitness.com.au/og-card.png --- # Plate calculator. [Calculator](https://www.furlanifitness.com.au/calculators/) Choose the bar, then set the plates. Counts both sides together, not just one end. 01 Bar - 20 kg - 15 kg - None 02 Plates Arrows add and remove a pair. Total 20 kg A bare 20 kg bar. Add a plate. Bar 20 kg Plates 0 kg Per side 0 kg Plate count 0 ## The same weight, fewest plates The lightest way to load the same total, once there is one. ## How the numbers are worked out. The arithmetic Addition, one halving, and a search over seven numbers. ### The total Every plate, plus the bar. A count is how many of that plate go on altogether, so four 20 kg plates on a 20 kg bar make 100 kg. The bar is counted once, whatever is hanging off it. ### Two sides Half of each count goes on each side, heaviest first, which is the order plates go on. The arrows move in pairs, so a count you build with them divides. Type an odd number and it stays odd: the spare plate is drawn on one side and the answer says the two sides differ, because they do, and rounding the plate away would report a weight that is not on the bar. ### Fewest plates The bar comes off the total and what is left is halved, which gives the weight one side has to make. The fewest plates that make it are found by working up from nothing, which always finds the shortest stack there is. Grabbing the biggest plate each time happens to give the same answer on these seven plates; on a set with a 3 kg plate in it, it would not. Where two stacks tie, the heavier plates win: 40 kg a side is 25 and 15. A warm-up ladder then changes one plate a step, where the evener answer would have you strip the bar at every one. ### What will not divide Every plate here is a multiple of 1.25 kg, so a side can make any multiple of 1.25 kg and nothing else. A total that leaves an odd 1.25 kg once the bar is off cannot be split evenly, and the block says so. Plates are drawn larger as they get heavier so the list reads in order at a glance. Competition plates do not actually grow that smoothly, and nothing here states a diameter. Every result is calculated locally. Nothing is stored and nothing is sent anywhere. Privacy is a core value, and maths are as much freedom of speech as words are. ## Need help with a better program or diet? Consultation Begin with a 30-minute consultation. We'll talk and get clear on what you want, where you are today, and what's needed to hit your goals faster. 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