Micro loading the press - when small is too small

[David Mitchell]

Is there a consensus on when micro loading jumps are too small for the press on an LP?

[John Hanley]

Is there a consensus on when micro loading jumps are too small for the press on an LP?

Depends. A half-pound represents a very different relative load for granny vs. a college football player.

Also depends on equipment. Are you always using the same plates session-to-session? Using an increment that falls within the plates' error margins is - well - not all that useful.

I've found 1/4# plates (so 1/2# increment) to be personally useful

[Kregna]

Depends. A half-pound represents a very different relative load for granny vs. a college football player.

Also depends on equipment. Are you always using the same plates session-to-session? Using an increment that falls within the plates' error margins is - well - not all that useful.

I've found 1/4# plates (so 1/2# increment) to be personally useful

So 0.5lbs a week - 2lbs a month. Is that how you do it?

I guess at your weights, 20lbs a year (allowing for some missed sessions / illness / life) is pretty good

[Tom Narvaez]

Anything less than ~0.5-1% of previous workout load is kind of silly, IMO. Just periodize at that point.

I don't put as much stock into plate error margins as John, though. I think you can still get a quality stimulus from 100x5x3 even if you did 103x5x3 last time. What's more important is that load trends up predictably over time.

All that said, TONS of people have extended their LP by using 1# jumps (half pound plates per side).

[David Mitchell]

Can't speak to the error margin in the plates, though it does bring up an interesting consideration. There isn't an accurate enough scale in the gym to check them... nor would I want to weigh a hundred or so plates.

[Adam Nelson]

Now that there have been some useful answers, time for the jokes...

I think you can still get a quality stimulus from 100x5x3 even if you did 103x5x3 last time.

You sure about this? I have it on good authority that if you did 100x5x3 last time, anything less than 105x5x3 will generate no stimulus, and potentially lead to de-training. Anything more than 105x5x3 will lead to overtraining, loss of genital function, and potential death.

[Euby]

Problem is that loading at that low amount means you're pushing your press maximally week in and week out. You can't sustain that for a year, so the 20lb gain wouldn't happen. If it's truly LP, then I'd think at least a 1-2 lbs per week should be sustainable throughout the course of the LP, say 3 to 6 months. After that, if you haven't moved on to intermediate training then you're doing something wrong.

[David Mitchell]

Problem is that loading at that low amount means you're pushing your press maximally week in and week out. You can't sustain that for a year, so the 20lb gain wouldn't happen. If it's truly LP, then I'd think at least a 1-2 lbs per week should be sustainable throughout the course of the LP, say 3 to 6 months. After that, if you haven't moved on to intermediate training then you're doing something wrong.

Thanks. I was thinking right around 1 - 1.25. This has nothing to do with where I am at right now, but the press is the only thing I have had to load in 2.5# increments and I was a little concerned it might run out well before my other lifts.

[cgeorg]

Problem is that loading at that low amount means you're pushing your press maximally week in and week out. You can't sustain that for a year, so the 20lb gain wouldn't happen. If it's truly LP, then I'd think at least a 1-2 lbs per week should be sustainable throughout the course of the LP, say 3 to 6 months. After that, if you haven't moved on to intermediate training then you're doing something wrong.

Maximal pressing doesn't take that long to recover from. The most likely reason that press programming will need to change from novice LP is that more volume becomes required to accumulate enough stress to produce an adaptation.

Without more info from the OP (height, weight, sex, current lifts and programming) it's hard to really get more specific than "Yes 1lb increments can be useful for the press".

[David Mitchell]

I should have a done a FILL IN THE BLANK:

"Generally speaking, the average trainee - running their LP - will be better served with a programming change than by incrementally loading _____ pounds per session on the press".