Question: How do I make sure my training is returning the most lean muscle and performance gains possible?
This is where progressive overload comes into play!
So, what is it and how do we do it?
Progressive Overload is the use of progressive increases in work (week to week, or month to month in the advanced) to force your body to adapt and overcome new stressors. Your body is a master of adaptation. Over time, your body adjusts to the stresses of your exercise regimen. By presenting the right types of new stressors, your body responds by becoming stronger and building lean muscle.
There are a few strategies we can use to increase work:
Increase load: add weight or resistance (my preferred method in most cases)
Increase intensity: lift more explosively, move faster/quicker, decrease time to completion
Increase volume: add reps, sets, an additional exercise, increase distance or time worked
Increase density: more work in the same time
Increase frequency: either daily or weekly
Very simply put, it's challenging your body more, over time.
This is why changing the exercises in a program too often is suboptimal and may yield LESS physique and strength gains.
The longer you stick to a program, the easier it is to make gains…assuming you are using progressive overload in some fashion. This is also why it is critical to keep a log of your workouts.
To prevent stalls, you will see if you are my client we focus on increasing load (weight moved) within prescribed rep/set ranges whenever possible, while working 1-2 reps away from failure. Essentially, we continually lift more weight week-to-week as we are able, within the rep ranges and intensity prescribed.
In other programs you may see weekly increases in volume, but this comes with downsides. This may ultimately lead to burn-out and is more appropriate in overreaching phases rather than as the meat and potatoes of your work. Maximum volume does not necessarily mean optimal for progress.
When increasing load is not an option, like many of my clients who train at home with limited weights, I feel that switching over to volume progression is certainly a solid idea (or when increasing training volume for newbie lifters). The current state of hypertrophy research states: "load progression should occur to maintain a specific loading zone. This ensures the stimulus 'keeps pace' with adaptations".
Since it's the best way to progress, that's what we use!
I'll give you an example from one of my client’s training logs: she’s been doing box squats in her current training cycle. When she started, she was doing 5x5 and her top set was at about 115lbs.
She went from this:
65x5, 85x5, 95x5, 105x5, 115x5
To this (over time, not a single week):
75x5, 95 x5, 115x5, 125x5, 135x5
Note that not every set needs to be heavier than the previous set. If you are continually shooting for a certain intensity (such as the 1RIR I discussed earlier), you may find you fatigue towards the later sets.
This is perfectly fine. If you have to drop weight in a subsequent set to maintain the proper intensity, there is no issue there. That’s normal. Even if you simply increased weight in your second set compared to the week before, well you lifted more weight this week overall than last week.
Heavier weight in just one set still means Progressive Overload.
One other thing to understand is that the more experienced you are with lifting, the less often you will be able to add weight (also the later exercises in a training day progress more slowly than earlier). In the beginning, you may be able to lift heavier weights every single week. When you become more advanced, changes in weight you lift will be seen over multiple month scales, rather than extremely often. This is also normal, and expected.
Final verdict? Keep a training journal that tracks the weight you use on every set of every lift you do. Continually try to increase the load lifted each week, understanding that you should be working within roughly 1-3 reps away from failure.
Learn to progress in this manner, and you will continue to see some supercharged gains!
Consistency is the secret sauce.
Need a program and a coach to help you show up?
If you haven't already joined my online program and you want to, message me back and I will get you signed up - you can hop into October’s block and sail into November with us.
I give you everything you need to maximize your results while being efficient with your time and equipment:
* Be as efficient as possible with your workouts


* Train at home or at the gym


* Have all the reps, sets, rest etc. taken care of


* Have access to exercise videos
* Have your form critiqued by me personally


* I tweak things just enough so you don’t get bored
My job is to help you be more efficient in the gym and get better results in less time while understanding this whole “fitness” thing a lot better.
I believe in you, do you?
Coach D.
Sources: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy. Brad Schoenfeld, PhD, CSCS, CSPS, CPT, FNSCA
