Weight Plate and Dumbbell Chart
Home gym equipment is sold in two incompatible sizing systems (standard 1 inch and Olympic 2 inch) and two unit systems (kg and lb), which is how people end up with plates that do not fit their bar. This chart covers plate weights, bar weights, and the conversions that matter when buying.
Bar weights
Olympic barbell (men's): 20kg / 44 lbs, 2.2m long, 50mm sleeves. The standard for most home gyms.
Olympic barbell (women's): 15kg / 33 lbs, 2.01m long, 25mm grip diameter. Thinner grip, same sleeve size.
Standard barbell (1 inch): typically 7-10kg / 15-22 lbs and highly variable by manufacturer. Not compatible with Olympic plates.
EZ curl bar: typically 5-10kg / 11-22 lbs depending on Olympic or standard sizing.
Trap/hex bar: typically 20-30kg / 45-66 lbs, which is why deadlift numbers are not directly comparable between a trap bar and a straight bar without accounting for the difference.
Olympic plate weights and diameters
Full-diameter plates (450mm / 17.7 inches) are what allow a bar to sit at the correct height off the floor for deadlifts. In kg these are 25kg, 20kg, 15kg, and 10kg; in lbs, 45, 35, and 25 lbs.
Smaller plates are physically smaller in diameter: 5kg, 2.5kg, 1.25kg, and in lbs 10, 5, and 2.5 lbs. These do not reach the floor when loaded alone.
Bumper plates are all full diameter regardless of weight (including 10kg and 15kg), made of dense rubber so they can be dropped. This is the key practical difference from iron plates, which should never be dropped.
Standard versus Olympic: the compatibility trap
Olympic plates have a 50mm (2 inch) centre hole and only fit Olympic bars. Standard plates have a 25mm (1 inch) hole and only fit standard bars. They are not interchangeable and no adapter is a good long-term solution.
Olympic is the better buy for almost everyone: it is the gym standard, plates and bars are widely available secondhand, and equipment tolerances are far better. Standard equipment is cheaper upfront and is mostly worth considering only for very light training or severe budget limits.
Adjustable dumbbell increments
Selectorized adjustable dumbbells typically adjust in 2.5kg / 5 lb increments up to 24kg / 52.5 lbs per hand, which covers most home training. Some go to 41kg / 90 lbs at considerably higher cost.
The practical limitation is that large jumps between settings make progression harder on smaller lifts: going from 10kg to 12.5kg on a lateral raise is a 25 percent jump. Micro-plates or fractional add-ons solve this if your set supports them, which is worth checking before buying.
Common kg to lb conversions worth memorising: 20kg = 44 lbs, 24kg = 52.9 lbs, 32kg = 70.5 lbs, and 1kg = 2.2 lbs.