How To Micro-load With Dumbbells

You can make big gains with tiny plates.

If you've read my stuff before, you know I'm a big fan of micro-loading.

In case you're not aware, micro-loading is the practice of increasing the amount of weight on the bar by small (or micro) amounts.  Most guys try to add 5-10 lbs to the bar every time they increase they weight.

This inevitably leads to stalled progress.

But micro-loading is the practice of adding just 1 or 2 pounds to the bar every time you increase the weight.

It sounds like a slow way to make progress.

And it is. But if you added just 2 pounds to the bar once a week on your bench press for a year, you'd be benching 104lbs more today than you did last year. Suddenly, it doesn't sound like such a slow way to make progress.

Micro-loading with barbells is easy. You just have to buy (or make) some microplates and you can slap them on the bar when needed.

Micro-loading dumbbells takes a little more creativity.

Here's how I do it:

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Since most dumbbells come in pairs increasing by 5lbs with each jump (70lbs, 75lbs, 80lbs) every time you want to increase your resistance you are forced to increase your resistance by MORE than 10%.

This is a recipe for disaster. It's the equivalent of a guy who finally manages to bench press 300lbs... and then tries to jump to 330lbs next time. It's not going to happen.

So I use wrist straps and small plates to make smaller jumps.

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Ready to lift!

With this method, I'm no longer forced to make 5lb jumps when going up in weight on dumbbells.  I can make 2.5lbs jumps (as shown) or even smaller jumps if I wanted.   This allows for for sustained progress.  And progress is always the goal.

Hit me up in the comments if you have any questions.