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Micro-loading

Also called microloading, fractional plates, microplates, micro plates, small plates

Micro-loading is adding weight in steps smaller than your gym's usual smallest jump, using very light plates of 0.25 to 1 kg.

1041 kgSmallest plates
20 kg bar + 10.5 kg a side = 41 kg. A 41 kg overhead press: a 20 kg bar, 10 kg a side and a 0.5 kg plate a side, a step of 1 kg instead of 2.5 kg.

In plain words

The small plates are often called fractional plates, and they weigh 0.25, 0.5 or 1 kg each. The smallest step you can take on a bar is twice the lightest plate you own, because one plate goes on each end. With 1.25 kg plates the smallest step is 2.5 kg. With 0.5 kg plates it is 1 kg. Micro-loading does one thing: it makes the next step smaller. Small plates are standard kit in competition. The IWF's discs go down to 0.5 kg, and the IPF allows discs down to 0.25 kg for record attempts.

An example

Your overhead press is 40 kg: a 20 kg bar with 10 kg a side. Add a 0.5 kg plate to each end and the bar reads 41 kg. That is a step of 1 kg, or 2.5%. The usual 1.25 kg plates would take you to 42.5 kg, a step of 2.5 kg, or 6.25%. The ACSM's 2009 position stand suggests load increases of 2 to 10%, so 6.25% on a light lift sits at the large end.

Plate A plate is a disc of metal or rubber with a hole in the middle that slides onto a barbell's sleeve.
Progressive overload Progressive overload is the principle that training has to get a little harder over time: more weight, more reps or more sets than before.
Double progression Double progression is a rule for progressing in two steps that take turns: reps go up at the same weight to the top of a range, then the weight goes up.
Linear progression Linear progression means adding the same small amount of weight to a lift every session, with the sets and reps left alone.
Barbell A barbell is a long steel bar that takes weight plates on both ends and is lifted with two hands.

Go deeper

Double progression: reps first, then weight Double progression explained with numbers. Add reps to the top of your range, then add the smallest plate. The rule as a table, a worked example, and the sums. Updated

Sources

  1. ACSM 2009. Position stand: Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc 41(3):687–708 Read
  2. International Weightlifting Federation, Equipment (archive copy of 17 October 2026) Read
  3. International Powerlifting Federation, Technical Rulebook, effective 1 March 2026 (v3) Read

Updated . How these pages are researched and corrected: editorial policy. Every term in the glossary.