Ever Heard of Plates Less Than 2.5 Lbs?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
41

[quote]MODOK wrote:
Mr.Purple wrote:
I still don’t get what is so wrong with adding reps until you are at the top end of your rep range, then add weight and start at the bottom of the range again. Is it much easier to get the same amount of reps with 2 added lbs than to get one extra rep with last weeks weight?

Yes, it requires a lot more strength gain to do that. If you can do it, its a GREAT way to progress. But once you start reaching your limit strength, its a little hard. Example from my training journal-

6/14/2009

Bench Press 417 x 6

6/15/2009

Bench Press 419 x 6.5 (fail on rep 7)

No way in hell I could do 417 x 7, but I did get 419 x 6 pretty good because:

417 x 7 = 2919 lbs lifted

419 x 6 = 2514 lbs lifted. Big difference. But, its improvemnet over

417 x 6 = 2502 lbs lifted.

See what I’m saying?[/quote]

I dont think it works like that.
If it was valid that would mean you could lift 2514 lbs1 or 100 lbs 25 only.

42

[quote]jasmincar wrote:
hey for you smart people out there

ever heard of a function where you can calculate improvement adding a rep to a given weight versus adding weight to a given rep number, volume wise

it would be a nice tool

(edit) forget about that[/quote]

43

[quote]goochadamg wrote:
xb-C wrote:
goochadamg wrote:

I recall reading somewhere that commercial gym 45 lb plates tend to be off up to 1 lbs. If you go in one day, and bench “315”, you’re probably not actually benching 315 lbs. It could be off by as much as 6 lbs. You might only be benching 309! Another day, you may grab all the 45# plates that are 1 lbs heavier than they should be. Now you’re benching 321 lbs!

This is why I take a scale with me every time I go to the gym. No point in lifting heavy ass weights if you ‘really’ don’t know how much you’re lifting in the first place.

If you thought people give you funny looks when you bring chains or bands in.
Just wait till you bring a scale in…and start weighing plates, luckily I’ve never been asked to leave.

I see from your blog you weighed 170 lbs at 6’4 (In may, so, maybe you’re 180~ now). Anyway, this problem doesn’t concern you, as a 1/45 per lb of weight variance isn’t a problem when you’re only using the 10 lb plates. ;)[/quote]

Uncalled for. Pretttty sure he was being sarcastic, bud.

44

[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
goochadamg wrote:
xb-C wrote:
goochadamg wrote:

I recall reading somewhere that commercial gym 45 lb plates tend to be off up to 1 lbs. If you go in one day, and bench “315”, you’re probably not actually benching 315 lbs. It could be off by as much as 6 lbs. You might only be benching 309! Another day, you may grab all the 45# plates that are 1 lbs heavier than they should be. Now you’re benching 321 lbs!

This is why I take a scale with me every time I go to the gym. No point in lifting heavy ass weights if you ‘really’ don’t know how much you’re lifting in the first place.

If you thought people give you funny looks when you bring chains or bands in.
Just wait till you bring a scale in…and start weighing plates, luckily I’ve never been asked to leave.

I see from your blog you weighed 170 lbs at 6’4 (In may, so, maybe you’re 180~ now). Anyway, this problem doesn’t concern you, as a 1/45 per lb of weight variance isn’t a problem when you’re only using the 10 lb plates. :wink:

Uncalled for. Pretttty sure he was being sarcastic, bud.
[/quote]

Sarcastic or not gooch is well…a fucking gooch. What a fucking douchebag. Talk shit all you want but xb-c works his ass off and someday will be a big mofo. Everyone starts somewhere.

45

OK. For all of you that think microloading is pointless, or inferior to using an ascending rep range then adding weight, here is an explanation.

Any time you increase your repetions by one (such as going from 250x5 to 250x6 on bench press) you are doing the equivalent of increasing the load by 3% for the same number of repetitions. If you don’t believe me, just look at all of your rep maxes, if you have been training long enough, the pattern will hold (and most 1 RM calculators use a similar formula).

Now, I can bench about 290 for 5 reps. Do you think I can just add a rep tomorrow? Lets see, adding one rep would be the same as adding 8.9 pounds to the bar for 5 reps. Can I add almost NINE pounds to my bench every workout? Hell no! Can I add 1 or 2 pounds to the bar? YES! Can I do that for four of five weeks consecutively? Yes. I have done this several times, and it always results in pretty damn linear progress.

46

[quote]HolyMacaroni wrote:
haha me either. i reall don’t even see the point in them[/quote]

If you add weight every week and at your limit, somtimes going up 2.5 lbs the next week can really help add the weight on the bar over a few weeks. When you work out at your max effort like at the end of a cycle.

47

[quote]MODOK wrote:
Sabastian525 wrote:
I like the gym that spray painted everything under 10 pounds a bright pink. Implying that unless you are a pussy or have a pussy, you don’t have any business putting these on an olympic bar. Competitions aside, of course.

-Sab

Thats completely fucking stupid, and I don’t give a shit who came up with it.[/quote]

Agreed. There was an article on this site about it and I thought the same thing.

48

[quote]hugh jass wrote:
OK. For all of you that think microloading is pointless, or inferior to using an ascending rep range then adding weight, here is an explanation.
Any time you increase your repetions by one (such as going from 250x5 to 250x6 on bench press) you are doing the equivalent of increasing the load by 3% for the same number of repetitions. If you don’t believe me, just look at all of your rep maxes, if you have been training long enough, the pattern will hold (and most 1 RM calculators use a similar formula).
Now, I can bench about 290 for 5 reps. Do you think I can just add a rep tomorrow? Lets see, adding one rep would be the same as adding 8.9 pounds to the bar for 5 reps. Can I add almost NINE pounds to my bench every workout? Hell no! Can I add 1 or 2 pounds to the bar? YES! Can I do that for four of five weeks consecutively? Yes. I have done this several times, and it always results in pretty damn linear progress.[/quote]

Well put adding weight each week does work!!!

49

To get back to the original question: heard of - yes (http://www.ironwoodyfitness.com/fractionals.php and http://www.eleikosport.se/weightlifting/product.asp?PageNumber=&Product_Id=225). Currently I use collars for small adjustments.

50

I have them. I have 0.25 kilos olympic, 0.5 kilos and 1.25 kilos.

Sometimes if you add only a kilo a week or even half a kilo, you can make good progress.

I can’t remember where I got them but they were expensive.

You could get your smallest olympic plates and drill holes in them to lighten them(1.25 kilo plates are cheaper than ones smaller…? yes) or get big washers, then there are the platemate magnets, chains and all kinds of ways to add just a little to the bar.

I totally agree MODOK, I worked this out myself before. Adding 1 rep adds much more work done than adding a small amount of weight for the same reps;a more gradual, and achievable, increase.

51

[quote]MODOK wrote:
jasmincar wrote:
MODOK wrote:
Mr.Purple wrote:
I still don’t get what is so wrong with adding reps until you are at the top end of your rep range, then add weight and start at the bottom of the range again. Is it much easier to get the same amount of reps with 2 added lbs than to get one extra rep with last weeks weight?

Yes, it requires a lot more strength gain to do that. If you can do it, its a GREAT way to progress. But once you start reaching your limit strength, its a little hard. Example from my training journal-

6/14/2009

Bench Press 417 x 6

6/15/2009

Bench Press 419 x 6.5 (fail on rep 7)

No way in hell I could do 417 x 7, but I did get 419 x 6 pretty good because:

417 x 7 = 2919 lbs lifted

419 x 6 = 2514 lbs lifted. Big difference. But, its improvemnet over

417 x 6 = 2502 lbs lifted.

See what I’m saying?

I dont think it works like that.
If it was valid that would mean you could lift 2514 lbs1 or 100 lbs 25 only.

I think some of you are SLIGHTLY missing something in my post.

I bench press over 400 lbs for over 6 reps. I don’t use a bench shirt. I weighed 211 lbs this morning. Don’t use drugs. I’ve used microloading consistently for 15 years. I think that pretty much puts an end to the strange second guessing as to its effectiveness and to dumb asses painting small plates pink.

This is “theory vs practice” at its finest. You give theories about why it doesn’t work, and I show you that it does. This should be the end of the thread.[/quote]

If I remember, that gym owner (don’t remember exactly who it was) painted the plates pink to get people to stop taking all kinds of pics and videos every time they hit a 5lb PR. I agree and disagree at the same time. Every 5 I put on the bar is an accomplishment, but then again, I’ve never taken pics or video of it.

52

[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
Uncalled for. Pretttty sure he was being sarcastic, bud.
[/quote]

Aww, I was being sarcastic too. See the :wink: ?

53

Never before coming to this site. Today was a Strongman competition in our town, combined with some recreational deadlifting, and I saw that they had 0.1 kg, 0.25 kg plates too.

54

1.75lb I use them one on each end to ‘micro add’ when I plateau on my bench.

55

I use chains cut to 1.25lbs. Clip the ends together and viola…

56

http://www.prowriststraps.com/inc/searchresults?start=0

Heard of, used, and own these. Nothing like more weight on the bar.

I personally prefer using a set rep scheme as opposed to a rep range for my work sets.

57

I have some 0.5kg (std plates) I also have some 0.625kg discs a friend made for me.
I use them on light exercises (where using 1.25kg oly plates would mean too great a % rise: ~1-2% increase is ideal say for curls)
I also use them, along with a 0.25kg disc another friend machined down from a 0.5kg for external rotation exercises.

58

FWIW
I bought a set of Plate Mates for a female friend who was getting into lifting years ago, because there was a huge difference between Shoulder Presses with 15 pounds and with 20 pounds for her, and the fractional weight allowed her to make progress.

Amusing Anecdote on 2.5-pound plates:
A few years ago I started working out with another guy. He was (and is) in much better shape than I, stronger (and younger), and had achieved a lot from routines in Weider magazines.

One of the first things I learned about his philosophy was “There’s no reason to have 2.5-pound plates in a gym.” I started introducing him to routines from T-Nation that were clearly more demanding than what he’d been used to. By the time we got to TBT, he was seeing the wisdom of incremental loading.

59

I’m not going to judge people that enjoy microloading, but personally I don’t see the point. I push my set until I can get 10 good reps at the current weight, then I add a minimum of 5(x2) pounds to the set. I’ve never had any need to increment my weights by less than 5(x2) pounds, and am not sure why anyone would need to do this.

If you can do 10 reps at a given weight, you should be able to do at least 8 reps after adding 10 pounds to the lift.

I could see it if you are doing 15+ reps/set, but how many of us do that?

60

Yes ive used small weights for the last 3 years and made great progress!!! some people arn’t as good at ‘adding reps’ with the same weight like I found it hard to add another rep so adding a little weight in good form with the same reps worked great!!! I didn’t even know I added it.

The best way is to purchase a long chain, weight one link and then you can figure out how many links are required to make the right weight. I made a set of chains each with a snaphook then its easy to add them to Dumbells, Barbells and even machines.