Progressive Overload 101
Progressive overload: we hear it all the time from personal trainers, fitness influencers, and that one guy you always see at the gym no matter what time you train at. But if you’re newer to weight training, or even if you’ve been an avid gym-goer for a few years, you may not know exactly what it is and how you can implement it.
Let’s Get into it…
By definition, progressive overload is just the act of doing more over time. No, that doesn’t mean doing 10 sets of every exercise, or adding on 50lbs at each training session. It’s used in order to make a workout program more challenging, as over time your body learns to adapt to the stress placed on it from weight training. If you continue to do the same exercises over and over again and neglect incorporating progressive overload methods, you basically stop giving your muscles a reason to respond to the stimulus placed on them. This means that your progress can stall, plateaus are reached, and frustration grows when you feel like you can’t possibly make any more progress than you already have, whether that is in muscle growth, strength gains, or muscular endurance.
5 strategies to incorporate progressive overload in order to help you make the most out of your program:
*It’s important to keep in mind that implementing all of these at once can do more harm than good, especially if it means sacrificing proper form.
1. Lifting heavier loads:
Even a 2.5lb jump in weight on a lift can make it more challenging, and over time it leads to significant growth in strength. Increasing weight slowly and steadily, while maintaining good form and hitting your rep range is a huge way to progress.
2. Increasing volume:
Next time you hit your rep range but don’t feel like you can quite progress in weight yet, try adding in a few extra reps or even an additional set. Once you get comfortable with the added volume, go back to your original rep scheme and increase the weight.
3. Decreasing your rest times:
This trick will work to increase the intensity of your lift by keeping your heart rate elevated and not giving the working body part as much of a chance to relax between sets. It helps to increase endurance and metabolic stress.
4. Increasing range of motion:
Making small swaps in your movements to increase the range of motion can help create change in muscle stimulus. For example, swapping regular, static lunges for deficit lunges, or trying to squat just a little deeper than normal can create an entirely different feel.
5. Slowing down the tempo of your movement
Instead of focusing on just how much weight you can lift and rushing through your reps and sets, slowing down the eccentric portion of the movement (lowering of the weight) and increasing the time the muscle spends under tension is another way you can progress.
Remember that consistency compounds over time. Showing up weekly and pushing yourself in your sessions by incorporating any of these tips will add up. Progress is slow, and it certainly isn’t linear. Sometimes stalls happen despite using these methods- but the important thing is to keep showing up, challenging yourself, and eventually you will overcome your plateau and continue setting personal records, gaining muscle, and building that strength you’ve been chasing.