About BarWeight
BarWeight is a set of free barbell calculators and reference data. Plate math, rep math, unit conversion, and straight answers about what the bar weighs. That is the whole product.
Why it exists
Every one of these calculations is trivial and everybody gets them wrong anyway, usually in the same three ways: forgetting the bar, assuming 45 lb and 20 kg are the same thing, and asking for a total that no plate set can build. Doing them on a phone between sets is faster than doing them in your head, and the tool does not get tired at rep eight.
How it stays honest
- Every formula is published and cited on the page where it is used.
- Bar and plate weights are labelled as nominal manufacturer sizes, because that is what they are. We have not weighed anything.
- The calculators ship with a test suite of hand-computed cases. If the arithmetic breaks, the build breaks.
- When a weight is not loadable, the tool says so instead of quietly rounding.
- No fabricated testing, no invented ratings, no made-up review counts.
The full detail is on the methodology page, including every citation and the exact algorithm behind the plate solver.
What this is not
It is not medical advice and it is not coaching. An estimated one-rep max is a programming input, not a number to chase. If you have any doubt about loading heavy, talk to someone who can actually watch you lift.
Who writes it
Tim Parker writes and maintains BarWeight. The author page states exactly what that does and does not mean, including the credentials nobody here has.
Questions about this site
▶Who writes BarWeight?
Tim Parker writes and maintains the site, and that is the whole biographical claim we make. There is no certification behind it, no years-of-experience number and no competition record, because none of those have been established and decorating a byline with them would be a straight lie to you. What is defensible is the method: the figures are computed from public data or quoted from published rulebooks and manufacturer spec tables, and every source is linked on the page that uses it.
▶Why are the calculators free, and how does the site make money?
The calculators are arithmetic. They cost nothing to run, there is no login, no paywall and no account, and putting one behind a signup would be absurd. The site earns through Amazon affiliate links on the equipment cards — we are paid a percentage of qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. It cannot bend a calculator, because the calculators are covered by a test suite of hand-computed cases and the build fails if the math changes. The full arrangement is on the affiliate disclosure page.
▶Do you test the equipment on this site?
No. We have 180 listings verified in the sense that we read the specs off the live product page and recorded the date — not in the sense that anybody lifted on them. There are no star ratings, no scores and no review counts anywhere here, because inventing them is the fastest way to wreck the one thing this site has. Where a seller did not publish a spec, the field stays blank.
▶Can I use these numbers for competition or medical decisions?
Competition weights should always be confirmed against the current rulebook of the federation you are lifting in — we cite the IWF specifications, but rules change and a federation may differ. Nothing on this site is medical advice or coaching. An estimated one-rep max is a programming input, not a target, and if you have any doubt about loading heavy, talk to someone who can actually watch you lift.