🏋️ Rep-Max Plate Chart
Percentage charts tell you to lift 127.27kg. Barbells do not load to 127.27kg. This chart shows the percentage, the weight it asks for, the nearest weight you can actually load, and the plates for each side — all computed by the same functions behind the Rep-Max Percentage Calculator and the Plate Loading Calculator.
Worked for a 140kg max
A 20kg bar and a standard kilo plate set down to 0.25kg. If your max is different, put it into the percentage calculatorand the same relationships hold — the pattern of which rows land cleanly is what matters here, not these specific numbers. Don’t know your max? Estimate it from a set you have already done with the One-Rep Max Calculator.
| Reps | % of 1RM | Asks for | Load to | Difference | Really lifting | Each side |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100% | 140 kg | 140 kg | — | 100% | 25 × 2 + 10 |
| 2 | 93.75% | 131.25 kg | 131.5 kg | +0.25 | 93.93% | 25 × 2 + 5 + 0.5 + 0.25 |
| 3 | 90.91% | 127.27 kg | 127.5 kg | +0.23 | 91.07% | 25 × 2 + 2.5 + 1.25 |
| 4 | 88.24% | 123.54 kg | 123.5 kg | -0.04 | 88.21% | 25 × 2 + 1.25 + 0.5 |
| 5 | 85.71% | 119.99 kg | 120 kg | +0.01 | 85.71% | 25 × 2 |
| 6 | 83.33% | 116.66 kg | 116.5 kg | -0.16 | 83.21% | 25 + 20 + 2.5 + 0.5 + 0.25 |
| 7 | 81.08% | 113.51 kg | 113.5 kg | -0.01 | 81.07% | 25 + 20 + 1.25 + 0.5 |
| 8 | 78.95% | 110.53 kg | 110.5 kg | -0.03 | 78.93% | 25 + 20 + 0.25 |
| 9 | 76.92% | 107.69 kg | 107.5 kg | -0.19 | 76.79% | 25 + 15 + 2.5 + 1.25 |
| 10 | 75% | 105 kg | 105 kg | — | 75% | 25 + 15 + 2.5 |
| 11 | 73.17% | 102.44 kg | 102.5 kg | +0.06 | 73.21% | 25 + 15 + 1.25 |
| 12 | 71.43% | 100 kg | 100 kg | — | 71.43% | 25 + 15 |
What the chart shows
A percentage programme is always approximated. Only 3of the twelve rep targets — 1, 10, 12reps — land on a weight this bar can make. The rest sit between two loadable weights. The gaps are small, well under half a kilo, and none of them will decide whether a set succeeds. But it is worth understanding that “90.91% for three” is a target you approach, not a number you hit.
The small plates matter more than they look. Several rows here need a 0.25kg or 1.25kg plate to get close. A gym that only stocks down to 2.5kg forces noticeably coarser jumps, which is why lifters running percentage programmes end up buying their own fractional plates. If your gym is missing them, the plate-loading calculator will tell you what it can and cannot make from the plates you actually have.
Round consistently, not perfectly.The useful habit is picking one rule — always the nearest loadable weight, or always the one below — and applying it every session, so week-to-week comparisons mean something. Switching between rounding up and down introduces more variation than the rounding itself.
Percentages are a planning aid. Real rep capacity at a given percentage varies with the lift, the lifter, sleep, and how the session has gone so far — a number from a chart is a starting point for the day, not a target you owe the spreadsheet.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the chart show two different weights for the same rep target?
Because a percentage and a barbell are different things. A programme asks for a percentage of your max — 90.91% for a triple — and on a 140kg max that is 127.27kg. No combination of plates makes 127.27kg. The nearest the bar can be loaded to is 127.5kg, which is 91.07% of your max rather than the 90.91% on the sheet. The chart shows both so you are not doing that arithmetic between sets.
How many rep targets actually land on a loadable weight?
On a 140kg max with a 20kg bar and standard kilo plates, 3 of the 12: 1, 10, 12 reps. Every other row lands between two loadable weights. That is normal and not worth agonising over — the differences here are a fraction of a percent — but it is worth knowing that a percentage programme is always approximated in practice.
Where do these numbers come from?
They are computed, not typed in. The page calls the same functions the site's calculators call — the rep-max percentage table for the percentages and weights, and the plate-loading solver for what goes on the bar — and prints what they return. A test asserts every row still equals a fresh call to those functions, so this table cannot drift away from the tools.
Why does the plate list sometimes use a heavier plate than I expect?
The loader picks the fewest plates that make the weight without going over. That is not always the same as working down from the heaviest plate: with pound plates, which jump 45 to 35 to 25 with nothing between, 165lb loads as 35+25 a side rather than 45+10+5 — the same weight in two plates instead of three. With kilo plates the two approaches agree, because the kilo set is evenly nested.
Should I round up or down when the exact weight isn't loadable?
This chart shows the nearest loadable weight, which is sometimes fractionally above the prescription. The dedicated plate-loading calculator does the opposite and never exceeds the weight you ask for, because putting more on the bar than requested is the more dangerous error for a loading tool. For working sets the difference is immaterial; for a heavy single, use the calculator and load deliberately.