[quote]MODOK wrote:
But I’m sure you’ve heard of fractional plates. 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 1.25 lb plates. [/quote]
Nope, smallest plate I’ve ever seen is a 2.5 :shrug:
[quote]MODOK wrote:
Where in the fuck did you folks get “5 or 10 lbs per week”? Yeah, no shit. No one is going to add 5 or 10 lbs a week for 52 weeks if you aren’t a rank beginner. I’m just not believing folks are that low-brow in their thinking.
But I’m sure you’ve heard of fractional plates. 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 1.25 lb plates. You bust your ass on say, bench press and hit 300 x 10. Next week are you going to try 310x 10? No. You aren’t going to gain that kinda strength that fast. But you CAN and WILL be able to get 301 or 302. So while bodybuilder A gets 300 x 10 and the next week throws 310 on the bar and it buries him, and he says “I can’t jump up every week”. Bodybuilder B does 301 x 10, then 302 x 10, etc. In 10 WEEKS worth of hard training later, he will bust through 310, because he’s had 9 more strength building workouts than bodybuilder A. [/quote]
You know that 95%-plus of lifters do not own fractional plates nor are they to be found in their gyms, 95%-plus of articles and books do not refer to using fractional plates, so it follows 95%-plus of individuals on hearing they should add weight every week take that to mean they have to add 5 lb lb per week. They have no means of adding any smaller increment.
Oh, you can add 2.5 lb by adding the screw-on collars as well as the spring clips, but though I do this I’ve never personally seen anyone else do it. Surely 95%-plus (again) of those reading such instructions do not do this.
For that matter, I’ve never seen anyone besides myself add a 2.5 lb plate to a cable machine weight stack. Gotta be the 5 lb increment or nothing – or 10 lb increment if the machine is set up that way – for the great majority.
Now, WHY don’t they own fractional plates and why don’t articles – except for a very few – refer to them? Because they are not as precise thinkers as you are, as a personal guess as to the reason. They probably start thinking “That is too much maths” and completely rebel. Or some other reason. But for whatever reason, it is not happening for most. I believe in microloading, you do, but most can’t be bothered and do not in fact employ it. They increase weight used with time by different methods, averaging (necessarily) much less than 5 lb per week.
[quote]MODOK wrote:
Holy shit, look what I found in two seconds!
http://www.prowriststraps.com/fractional_plates_fraction_plate_weights_lifting
http://www.qfac.com/gear/fraction_plates.html
Costs about as much as a tub of Surge Workout Fuel or a couple of boxes of those candy bars too. And they last forever.[/quote]
Geez dude, what’s with all the hostility, did I piss in your Metabolic Drive or something 
I’ve never heard of them and work in a gym (it’s not a powerlifting gym or bodybuilder gym), but we get those people in there, I’ve never had them ask about these plates, or seen them bring them in. We do have a set of guys that bring in their own heavy duty collars, I don’t think trust our spring loaded kind.
Thanks for posting the links though, I’ll have the gym order some.
Are standard barbells 1" or 2" holes?
It may be that the percentage in bodybuilding that have heard of microloading is more than 5%. As a guess maybe 10% might have heard of it? A minority anyway.
But as to practicing it, or having the means on hand to, nope.
As mentioned, most don’t even take advantage of the fact that they could use the screw-on collars that they have available to them to allow adding 2.5 lb at a time instead of 5.
Unfortunate but true.
[quote]MODOK wrote:
jehovasfitness wrote:
MODOK wrote:
Holy shit, look what I found in two seconds!
http://www.prowriststraps.com/fractional_plates_fraction_plate_weights_lifting
http://www.qfac.com/gear/fraction_plates.html
Costs about as much as a tub of Surge Workout Fuel or a couple of boxes of those candy bars too. And they last forever.
Geez dude, what’s with all the hostility, did I piss in your Metabolic Drive or something
I’ve never heard of them and work in a gym (it’s not a powerlifting gym or bodybuilder gym), but we get those people in there, I’ve never had them ask about these plates, or seen them bring them in. We do have a set of guys that bring in their own heavy duty collars, I don’t think trust our spring loaded kind.
Thanks for posting the links though, I’ll have the gym order some.
If its not a powerlifting or bodybuilding gym…what kinda gym is it? ( I am cringing waiting on this answer )[/quote]
Curves… kidding.
It’s a privately owned gym near DC.
Caters to all different crowds.
We have a lot of seniors, kids, avg aged people, general fitness people, we also have a core group of serious BBers (I’d say 15-20), with several of them that compete, with one of them that puts I’d say anyone on these boards to shame. And we have a small group of powerlifters (I’d say maybe 5).
11,000 members, so I see it all
[quote]Tumbles wrote:
Are standard barbells 1" or 2" holes?[/quote]
I would think 2" meaning diameter
[quote]MODOK wrote:
Tumbles wrote:
Are standard barbells 1" or 2" holes?
2"
[/quote]
swhh, least I had the common sense to figure that one out on my own 
Another Pearl of Wisdom from Dave Tate:
2 people i go to with any questions probably Squat more than my main 3 put together 
People have mentioned it, but i lucked out i messaged 6 people who i thought looked big 2 responded - Modok & Cephalic. I will one day catch up with them lift and weight wise if it f*cking kills me but they treat me as a future big guy not as some hopeless case
Maybe people need to start talking to way bigger guys, i mean i have pestered Modok and Ceph so badly i think they are 1 step away from the “Ignore” button
The T-Cell was a great idea in the fact that it has all the huge guys in there, maybe set up a Question Forum for beginners that ye can discuss in there or add beginners. Everything i have achieved and according to some it’s come so fast it has to be BS, has come from those 2. Not that i’m saying everyone should bombard those 2 (lol) but if you want to get bigger talk to people bigger than you !
Modok has a great suggestion with the micro plates. I first heard about them from Stuart McRobert. Can’t remember if it was in Brawn or not, but while there are probably many that haven’t heard of them, there probably are some that heard about them and forgot. I do wish more gyms had them. I also like and wish more gyms had the magnetic platemates. Those are great for dumbells.
[quote]Tumbles wrote:
Are standard barbells 1" or 2" holes?[/quote]
If by standard you mean what you usually find in the gym, those are Olympic and are about 2" (I am not sure of the exact value.)
If you mean standard as opposed to Olympic, that is to say the size that is the same as standard dumbbell plates and barbells used in light duty home sets, that is about 1". (Again, not sure on the exact size.)
[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
Tumbles wrote:
Are standard barbells 1" or 2" holes?
I would think 2" meaning diameter[/quote]
Was my area of confusion! A measurement for a hole doesn’t mean much if they don’t tell you if it’s diameter or radius.
I’ve been adding weight every workout. of course I will plateau eventually and I will need to try different exercises for a while. My experience is that if you are not getting stronger then you are not eating enough.
I’m a big beliver in keeping a log and always pushing to “beat the log”. You may not always succeed, but as long as you bet the log from a month ago, or 6 months ago, you are making progress. Anything else is just spinning your wheels. I don’t always beat the log, today I missed my goal on rack pulls, but it told me something. My right glute was knotted up, making my lower back hurt. So I learned I need to do my damn foam rolling on the glutes. So, I do that, and I beat the f-ing log next week!
[quote]Tumbles wrote:
jehovasfitness wrote:
Tumbles wrote:
Are standard barbells 1" or 2" holes?
I would think 2" meaning diameter
Was my area of confusion! A measurement for a hole doesn’t mean much if they don’t tell you if it’s diameter or radius.[/quote]
Vendors of barbell plates, it seems to me, always mean diameter when they give the hole size.
Anyway, on this question regarding hole size to which differing people have given differing answers, some claiming that standard barbells are 2":
Do NOT order the standard plates if you want to be able to put them on the barbells at your gym, which almost undoubtedly are Olympic.
Order the Olympic plates.
If you get standard, they will fit DB handles and light duty home barbells.
I was broke so I made some fractional weights with lead, weighed out what I wanted and bent it to fit nicely on the bar. No idea what lead costs, I got mine for free, but im sure other things can be used if its pricey.
I should really get some micro plates. It’s just damn. No local carriers and shipping is too expensive for my liking off of online stores. And it annoys me how expensive they are compared to other plates. I have some 2.5’s… but who doesn’t? I should really buy some though. I have been stuck on incline benchpress for weeks.
[quote]krazykoukides wrote:
I should really get some micro plates. It’s just damn. No local carriers and shipping is too expensive for my liking off of online stores. And it annoys me how expensive they are compared to other plates. I have some 2.5’s… but who doesn’t? I should really buy some though. I have been stuck on incline benchpress for weeks.[/quote]
If you have a sufficiently large local hardware store, they may have 2" fender washers. Much cheaper.
[quote]MODOK wrote:
You really only need a set of 1.25 and a set of 0.5 lb plates. I’ve never used my 0.25 lb plates. [/quote]
Are these magnetic? I’ve seen them at another local gym that have 2.5lbs magnetic “plates” on a set of dumbbells.