From weekend warrior to cardio bunny and juice head, you hear gym jargon everywhere. Progressive overload is one of the latest, but this one is worth thinking about. There’s a good reason why fitness trainers, exercise enthusiasts, powerlifters, influencers, and others are discussing this term. When you’re strength training and firing up those muscles, you should consider giving progressive overload a try to maximize your results. Read on to learn more about progressive overload, what it is, why it matters, and how to include it in your strength training workouts.
What is progressive overload?
Progressive overload refers to a specific type of strength training approach where you gradually increase the difficulty or intensity of your workouts over time. This way, you can optimize your results by continuing to challenge your body.
You can accomplish progressive overload in four main ways:
- Increasing resistance or weights.
- Increasing the length or endurance of your workouts.
- Accelerating your tempo or speed.
- Increasing your sets or reps.
You can apply this training approach to different types of workouts, but most people apply it to strength training.
Why is progressive overload beneficial for maximizing gains?
Seeing physical changes in your body requires safely and gradually pushing your limits. Incorporating progressive overload into your strength training helps you avoid hitting a plateau because you’re increasing the difficulty and keeping your muscles working in different ways. Some people are just exercising to achieve the benefits like mood-boosting endorphins, and they don’t care if they plateau. Others want to achieve muscle growth and improve athletic performance. Progressive overload is one way to accomplish this.
Another benefit is that you might be more motivated, and you’ll keep your workouts fresh and interesting while seeing better results from your efforts.
How can you include progressive overload in your strength-training or workout routine?
It can be as simple as grabbing a heavier dumbbell, running an extra mile, or powering through another two or three reps. For example, if you’ve been accomplishing 30-second planks for a few weeks now and it’s getting easier, now is a good time to shoot for a 45-second plank and up the challenge.
Some fitness trainers advise increasing your workout load, such as weight, reps, distance, or speed, by about 10% or less every two weeks. For example, if you’re squatting heavy with 45 pounds of resistance this week, your next step when you’re ready would be to up your weight by four or five pounds. This way, you can safely challenge yourself without increasing your risk of injury or reaching burnout. You can use a fitness tracker or your notepad on your phone to track your progress.
These little changes over time can make a big difference to your overall progress and hypertrophy. If you’re a beginner with a particular exercise, try to make sure you safely master your form and familiarize yourself with the movement before incorporating progressive overload and increasing weights, reps, time, or mileage. You might already be applying this concept because many people naturally want to achieve their true fitness potential.
