Key Insights
- Micro loading emphasizes small yet consistent increases in training variables (e.g., reps, weights, etc) rather than focusing on larger but less consistent increases.
- Regardless of how you train, structure is essential to both measure progress and adjust training variables appropriately.
Definition & Scope
Micro loading is both a mindset and a strategy of improving physical performance.
More specifically, micro loading is a means of making progress by making relatively small, incremental improvements at frequent intervals. This stands in contrast to other methods of progression that often see larger jumps in weight or volume but doing so less frequently.
Why Micro Loading Works
Progressive Overload
At its core, micro loading is a method of progressive overload. In other words, it’s a means of increasing the challenge on the body over time to bring about continuous progress and avoid stagnation.
It doesn't matter whatsoever how we train, micro loading or not, without progressive overload we cannot expect to see notable improvements over any time frame. Micro loading checks this box.
Injury Prevention
Along with a generally better quality of life, staying injury-free also means not being forced to take time off from training. And more training time means even more capacity for progress.
Although it's necessary to push ourselves hard if we want to see progress in training, micro loading allows us to stay closer to our current known and tested performance capacity.
The further we push beyond our known capacity the greater the inherent risk of injury. Micro loading still requires us to push slightly beyond what we've done before, but it does so in a controlled and manageable way that prioritizes safety and sustainability.
More Consistent PRs
When we aren't trying to consistently add 5 or 10 pounds every week or jump several reps at a time, we can see more consistent PRs.
Why? Because of fatigue management.
Adding several pounds or reps week over week for several movements at a time can be done, but it is so taxing that it becomes unsustainable very quickly.
With micro loading, again, we're only pushing slightly outside our "normal" capacity so it's not going to be nearly as foreign or draining on the body.
This lower overall fatigue is what allows us to stay so consistent with our increases in weight, volume, or both.
Implementation Strategies
Fractional Plates
Traditionally, fractional weights go as low as a 1/4 pound a piece. For barbell movements this means you can make 1/2 pound jumps at a time rather than a minimum of 5lb jumps with the traditional 2.5lb plates.
Reps Increases
The simplest version of increasing reps while adhering to a micro loading mindset is to add a single rep to an exercise. And, to be clear, this doesn't mean you have to add a rep to every set of a movement. Adding a single rep across the entire movement is still progressive overload and will yield progress over time.
For example, if you had 3 sets and performed 36 reps (an average of 12 reps per set), then aiming for 37 total reps in the next session is completely acceptable.
Keep in mind this is just one example of micro loading with reps. Depending on how things are feeling you may deem it appropriate to add more than a single rep to a movement (which we go into more just below here).
Progression "Schedule"
Micro loading or not, we should plan to increase our overall capacity over time. The rate at which we do this, however, is what's going to vary.
All else being equal, periods of high stress (gym related or not) are going to also be periods of slower rates of progression. All stress, regardless of the source, will impact our body's ability to recover.
Periods of lower stress will allow us to recover quicker and perform better in training so we might be able to add extra reps here and there or some extra weight.
The key is to listen to your body and adjust accordingly. Maybe things are feeling good and you're able to add several reps to each set of a movement. Or, maybe, stress is a bit high and we're only able to get in 1 additional rep the the entire movement as a whole. All good! Progress is progress. This is part of the process and the importance of adjusting based on feel.
That said, even with micro loading, progress is not and cannot be linear forever. At some point we will need to dial things back momentarily (i.e., a deload) to solidify the foundation and allow us to build even higher. The very nature of micro loading means that we won't need to do a deload nearly as frequently as many other methods of progressive overload but they're still a useful tool to have in the toolbox.
Tracking
If you're not tracking your training performance over time, you don't know how much to adjust things by each session. Or, worse yet, you don't know if you're even making progress at all.
The best way to ensure ANY program is working, whether it utilizes micro loading or not, is to compare your performance now to things last week, month, quarter, or year.
Failing to track your performance means relying on guesswork rather than data.