Ask ten different trainers for the secret to better results and you will get ten different training philosophies. But almost all of them agree on one underlying principle: progressive overload. Whatever style you train in, it is what actually drives change.
What is progressive overload?
Progressive overload simply means increasing the demand you place on your body over time, gradually adding more stress from week to week and month to month. It applies to every goal in the gym. Want to build size? Get stronger? Become more explosive? Run faster or further? Progressive overload is the mechanism behind all of it.
Why your body needs to be forced to change
Your body is not naturally inclined to change. Muscle tissue is metabolically expensive to maintain, burning more energy even at rest, so your body prefers to stay as efficient as possible. If you do not give it a reason to adapt, it simply will not. Progressive overload is that reason: consistent, gradually increasing stress that tells your body it needs to get stronger, fitter or more capable to keep up.
How to apply progressive overload
You do not need a complicated system, just one or two ways to nudge the stress up each week.
- Add weight. If you can lift a little more than last time, your muscles are being forced to adapt to a new level of stress.
- Add reps. Can’t add weight this session? Aim for one or two extra reps in a set instead. Once you can comfortably do more reps, that is your cue to add weight next time.
- Increase volume. Adding an extra set to an exercise increases the total work your muscles perform.
- Adjust intensity. Training closer to your one-rep maximum on certain lifts increases the demand without necessarily adding volume.
- Increase frequency. Training a muscle group or movement pattern more often across the week can drive faster progress, provided recovery keeps pace.
- Reduce rest time. Shortening the rest between sets increases the metabolic demand of a session without changing the weight at all.
Progress is usually slow, and that is fine
Change tends to come incrementally rather than in leaps. A small plate added to the bar, the pin moved one notch on the weight stack, one extra rep completed: these small wins are progressive overload in action. If the numbers are moving in the right direction, however slowly, you are progressing.
Make it work for you
The exercises, equipment and training style you choose matter far less than whether you are applying this principle consistently. Track your sessions so you can see what you did last time, and aim to beat it in some small way each time you train.
Get a program built around progressive overload
If you would like a structured plan that applies progressive overload properly to your specific goals, our personal trainers at Hammers Gym can build one for you. Hammers Gym is a 24/7 gym in Nunawading, minutes from Mitcham, Blackburn, Box Hill and Doncaster. Try a free trial or view our membership options.