How plate loading works
Take the total, subtract the bar (20 kg in competition, 45 lb in most US gyms), subtract the collars if you're using them, and split the rest in half — that's the load per side. Then build it largest plate first. For 180 kg on a bare 20 kg bar: 160 ÷ 2 = 80 kg per side = three red 25s and a white 5.
Competition plates and colors
- Red 25 kg · Blue 20 kg · Yellow 15 kg · Green 10 kg · White 5 kg
- Change plates: black 2.5 kg, silver/chrome 1.25 kg (and 0.5 / 0.25 kg for record attempts)
- Competition collars weigh 2.5 kg each — a collared empty bar is 25 kg, so 117.5 kg is 46.25 kg of plates per side, not 48.75
Why kg and lb don't line up
Meets load in kilograms even in the US. A “405” deadlift is 183.7 kg, which doesn't exist on a competition bar — the nearest attempts are 182.5 and 185 kg. Plan your attempts in kg with the attempt calculator and your warm-up room with the warm-up calculator, then use this page to call the loads.