Enter the total mass you want the assembled bar to represent, then the actual bar, combined collar mass and the individual plates available. The calculator shows what goes on each side. It never spends an odd spare by making one side heavier.

The starting example is 60 kilograms total, a 20-kilogram bar, zero collar mass counted, and four individual 10-kilogram plates. Two of those plates go on each side: 20 + 2 × (10 + 10) = 60 kilograms. These are example inputs, not a recommended load or a claim that every bar weighs 20 kilograms.

Count individual plates before loading pairs

An inventory line of 10,4 means four individual plates of 10 units each, enough for two matching pairs. It does not mean four plates per side. Use kilograms for every mass in kilogram mode or pounds for every mass in pound mode. The selector changes the expected unit; it does not convert existing entries.

Duplicate lines at the same entered mass combine. Five individual 10-unit plates provide only two usable pairs in this mirrored model, leaving one unpaired spare. The calculator considers the entered mass, not whether two models share the same opening, diameter, material or permitted use. Those physical checks remain separate in the plate-opening and bar-sleeve reference .

Keep the bar and collars in the equation

The per-side plate target is (total − bar − both collars) ÷ 2. Use the mass for your exact bar rather than inferring it from its length, name or grip diameter. Enter both collars’ combined mass if you include them in the stated total. Zero excludes their mass from the calculation; follow the equipment’s actual collar instructions.

For the same 20-kilogram bar and two 10-kilogram plates on each side, counting 2.5 kilograms of collars changes the total to 62.5 kilograms. A target below the entered bar-and-collar mass cannot be reached by adding plates.

When your inventory cannot make the target

With a 20-kilogram bar, no collar mass counted and only four 10-kilogram plates, the reachable totals are 20, 40 and 60 kilograms. For a 55-kilogram target, the sheet shows 40 below and 60 above, with each difference stated. Those are inventory results, not advice to choose the heavier load.

The search considers bounded combinations and selects the fewest plates per side for each displayed total. It is not a largest-plate-first shortcut: if a six-unit side can use two three-unit plates but a four-unit plate leaves an unavailable two, the valid combination is still found. Equal-count ties retain one valid arrangement.

Masses use exact integer thousandths of the selected unit. More than three decimal places is rejected rather than rounded into a different target. A target requiring half a thousandth on each side can therefore remain unavailable. The tool supports 20 inventory lines and 100 individual plates; it also rejects a search above 50,000 distinct side loads instead of substituting an approximation.

Keep the result with the equipment record

CSV and print include actual inputs, each displayed total, identical left/right plate lists, unused inventory and calculation limits. There is no account or automatic saving. Blank inventory means no plates have been entered; it can show the entered bar-and-collar total without inventing a set of weights.

Mass arithmetic does not establish sleeve room, collar compatibility, the bar’s rating, rack fit or an appropriate exercise load. Use the exact equipment instructions for those decisions. The barbell and plate buying guide covers the published dimensions of its named candidates; the gym-flooring calculator handles a separate floor-layout job.

Source and method

Desk research, checked October 15, 2026. Hevy’s official plate-calculator documentation documents the practical need to enter available plates and custom bar masses. This page supplies its own original bounded-inventory arithmetic and explicit nearest-below/above results. No equipment testing, training prescription or software affiliation is claimed.