Progressive overload
- taylorstaines
- May 20, 2023
- 2 min read
What is it?
Why is it important?
How to do it?
What
Progressive overload is a training principle that gradually increases demand on your muscles to promote muscle growth and strength development.
Why
The goal of progressive overload is to maximise results by strategically challenging the body overtime.
How
If you decide to implement progressive overload it is important to follow and plan and monitor your progress in each session and remember form comes first before applying any of these training techniques! There are various different ways to apply the progressive overload principle to your workouts, here are some examples:
Increasing weight:
Gradually placing further stress on a muscle group by adding further weight will cause it to break down and the rebuild when you are resting and therefore become stronger. For example:
Week 1: perform a deadlift with 50kg
Week 3: perform a deadlift with 55kg
Week 6: perform a deadlift with 60kg
Everyone will progress at a different pace so the weight increments may differ, whats important is that you are increasing any amount of weight over time, even 1.25kg!
Increasing reps or sets:
Increasing the amount of times the muscle have to perform the same movement is another way of increasing strength and muscle mass. For example:
Week 1: perform 4 sets of 8
Week 3: perform 4 sets of 10
Week 6: perform 4 sets of 12
Increasing time under tension:
Slowing down the movement and increasing you control will mean your muscle are activated for a longer period of time during an exercise, which will result in muscle growth.
Decrease the rest time:
Resting for less time between sets can help your body increase metabolic efficiency and use fat as energy to fuel your workout. For example if you currently have 3 minutes rest between reps try decreasing this to 60-90 seconds overtime.
If you need support applying progressive overload to your workout routine contact Taylor-Made coaching.
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