Microloading?

[Ganondorf]

What literature out there agrees that microloading works?
One of the powerlifters at my gym (who is also a exercise science major) says microloading is a fallacy and says I'm wasting my time. He is correct in regard to squat and deadlift though, correct (when you have to microload for them you need to adapt a more complex routine).
Also, I suppose this could be another thread for archival purposes, but I will put it here and let you decide.

I have been playing rec league softball and have noticed that my running/sprinting is awful. For that reason I have decided to do 10 (or so, don't really know what a good # is) 15m sprints and 5 sprinting of the whole basepath. In addition to this I am going to start jogging (slow jog to mildly improve lung capacity) 10 min 3X week. We also have games twice a week (1hour max) and practice on Sunday where we might hit 60-70 balls. I will be coming back from an injury so I will be starting the novice routine again for a while. Will this additional exercise interfere with training too much? Will it begin to when I reach intermediate training? If not, when should the sprinting/jogging be done?

I was thinking before the workout (so that I can explode out of the "blocks" with maximal explosiveness; i.e. doing it before my legs are tired) or on off days or a mixture of the two.
I was originally going to drop squats from my lifting on my game days (days I can lift) because I kept feeling like I was pulling my upper quads or hip flexors when sprinting. I am beginning to think it was just extreme soreness from not being used to that movement. Is that reasonable?

[Mark Rippetoe]

The literature? Just arithmetic books, the ones that say that 3+3 equals a bigger number than 2.5 + 2.5. It is used most effectively for presses, bench presses, and women's training, and I am not prepared to entertain any disagreement about its fundamental premise.

And you are going to start jogging to improve your lung capacity because your sprints are slow? Help me with this reasoning.

[elVarouza]

Small progress is better than no progress. Oftentimes the small progress will facilitate longer progress in general. For example, I never started really progressing on my press until I loaded 2.5lbs each workout instead of 5lbs.

[Ganondorf]

The purpose of the jogging would be to increase lung capacity so that when I sprint I don't get [what I feel is] insanely out of breath. The sprints are to practice sprinting acceleration. All this is of course if the sprinting, jogging and softball playing wouldn't interfere too much with lifting progress (softball lasts 4 months out of the year).

I guess the question for microloading would be asking whether increases that small would force the body to adapt or not. That powerlifter said it was a fallacy and was wondering if there was something there to prove him wrong (if I have to end up defending my position). I don't know if it really even matters at my gym as far as lifting is concerned because if I mark the weights (all "45"s don't weigh exactly 45) everybody always moves them all over the gym. So the weight is probably going to slightly change each workout anyway.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The purpose of the jogging would be to increase lung capacity so that when I sprint I don't get [what I feel is] insanely out of breath.

Don't you suppose that the sprints would adapt you better to sprinting that jogging does, since jogging never got a sprinter out of breath, and you have to get out of breath to adapt to it?

The sprints are to practice sprinting acceleration.

Yeah, got that part.

I guess the question for microloading would be asking whether increases that small would force the body to adapt or not. That powerlifter said it was a fallacy and was wondering if there was something there to prove him wrong (if I have to end up defending my position).

This is just real fucking weird. Why would an increased load NOT cause an adaptation if it was a small enough increase to actually perform? He thinks you have to take jumps you can't actually do to cause an adaptation? Why do you need to prove him wrong? Are you dating him?

I don't know if it really even matters at my gym as far as lifting is concerned because if I mark the weights (all "45"s don't weigh exactly 45) everybody always moves them all over the gym. So the weight is probably going to slightly change each workout anyway.

They're hiding the weights from you? All the way across the gym where you can't find them? Where they're just too far away to carry back? Those FUCKING assholes.

[OITW]

Not that I'm arguing against microloading, but a few decades ago when I was living the good life on Dad's dime at the university, I used to encounter a scale of perception (not adaption). For the average human, a hot item pressed against the skin had to be X% hotter before a human could perceive a difference, or a needle had to be pressed X% harder. This was in a psych department dominated by behaviorists. I forget the name of the scale, and avoid psychologists, but perhaps Dr Kilgore is familiar with it. It would seem to suggest that there is a certain point where microloading would no longer work, where the % of increase is too small to incur an adaptive response. Unlike the end of the novice phase, where the lifter can't move the weight, this would imply that a lifter can increase a load so incrementally that it produces no effective adaptation stimulus.

However, given both that there is evidence of adaptation at very small (less than 1%) increments, and given human variance, I don't know any way you could test for that.

Yes, I know that wasn't the poster's question, but it got me thinking. It's bad for me, I know.

[Rich_S]

One practical point to consider before you go out an buy a bunch of fractional plates or Platemates - weigh the actual weights that you're using. If you have a home gym, you can do this more effectively and mark your plates with their actually weight. Then you will be fine with microloading. In the gym, it's a little more difficult for obvious reasons.

A lot of people don't realize how much plates vary in weight. Especially the 45's. I weighed all of mine years ago and most were either over or under by 2-3 lbs. This can immediately negate any microloads you are adding. When you have 3 or 4 plates to a side, you can also injure yourself or at least screw up your workout if you ended up with the heavier ones on one side and the lighter on the other.

The Ivanko machined plates are the most accurate of the non-calibrated plates. They're guaranteed to +/- 2%, but that's still 0.9lbs on a 45. Most other 45s are +/- 2-3lbs in my experience. And some of the new ones coming out of China can be off by 5+ lbs on a 45.

[Ganondorf]

Well, light jogging takes too much out of me (lung capacity wise) so I thought light jogging would add more stimulus.

The PLer at the gym often tells me I am wasting my time and if I explained it to him maybe he would leave me alone.

People moving weights is only part of the problem. They pull the marking tape off (I don't own the weights so don't want to mark them permanently), throw the pairs everywhere (including under 4 or 5 45s). I tried doing it for a couple weeks and it took 15 minutes to find my 25s. How difficult is it to just put the weights back where you find them?

[Mark Rippetoe]

For the average human, a hot item pressed against the skin had to be X% hotter before a human could perceive a difference, or a needle had to be pressed X% harder. This was in a psych department dominated by behaviorists. I forget the name of the scale, and avoid psychologists, but perhaps Dr Kilgore is familiar with it. It would seem to suggest that there is a certain point where microloading would no longer work, where the % of increase is too small to incur an adaptive response. Unlike the end of the novice phase, where the lifter can't move the weight, this would imply that a lifter can increase a load so incrementally that it produces no effective adaptation stimulus.

The cumulative effects of the small increases is the relevant factor here, and perception of the load means exactly Dick. Some days the bar is heavy, some days the bar is light, some days the PRs happen when you don't think they will, some days the sure PR buries your ass.

[shizz702]

Stuart McRobert is a big advocate of microloading when peaking on a training cycle to continue further progress, and talks about it extensively in his book Beyond Brawn.

Also I recall reading an article by Bill Hinbern where he stated that microloading was one of the secrets a lot of old time bodybuilders and strength athletes used to continue to get stronger.

Think about it, just because 2 lbs isn't as much of a gain as 5-10 lbs it is still a gain, and as long as heavier weight is being lifted it is still giving the body something to adapt to.

There always comes a time when even 5 lbs is too much of a jump to handle, and when that dreaded plateau comes fractional plates are worth their wieght in gold cause chances are you will still be able to lift an extra 2 lbs for the prescribed sets/reps.

I personally microload when necessary and it has helped me numerous times with busting plateaus.