How to load a barbell

Step by step

1. Find out what the bar weighs: usually 20 kg or 45 lb.
2. Subtract it from your target. For 100 kg on a 20 kg bar, that leaves 80 kg.
3. Halve it. 40 kg goes on each side.
4. Pick plates from heaviest to lightest that add up to that: 25 + 15.
5. Slide the heaviest plate on first, against the inner collar, then the next.
6. Load the other side with the same plates in the same order.
7. Clip the collars tight against the last plate.

Why heaviest first

Heavy plates near the middle keep the load close to your hands and the bar balanced. It also makes warm-ups and back-off sets quick: you add or strip the small plates on the outside without unloading everything.

Loading in a rack

Never load one side fully before the other. A bar on the hooks with 60 kg on one sleeve and nothing on the other will tip. Alternate: a plate on the left, the same plate on the right, and the same when you unload.

Loading on the floor

For deadlifts, start with the largest plates so the bar sits at the right height. Getting a big plate on a bar that is on the floor is easier if you lift the sleeve first: roll the bar onto a small plate, or use a deadlift jack.

Kilos and pounds

Many gyms mix kilo and pound plates. They look similar but are not: a 20 kg plate is 44 lb, a 45 lb plate is 20.4 kg. Use one kind on a bar so the number you log is the number you lifted. In kilo gyms, the colours help: red 25, blue 20, yellow 15, green 10, white 5.