Why You Need Progressive Overload In Your Workout Program
Progressive overload is probably one of the most important aspects of training whether your goal is to build muscle or lose weight. But, unless you have a background in fitness or have worked with a personal trainer before, you might not know what it is and how to implement it in your program.
Progressive overload is essentially just doing more over time. That means adding more load, or effort to your workouts. This can be done working out at home or in the gym- it really doesn’t matter! However, always keep in mind, that you need to have your form and technique for each movement perfected before any of the below tips will help you.
This is crucial to seeing results in your fitness goals because your body will otherwise learn to adapt to the stimulus and effort you’re putting into your workouts. If you always do the same or similar exercises, never changing your programming and rarely increasing your weights, you won’t be able to see the changes you wish to make. The human body is so smart!
Different ways to implement progressive overload:
Increasing Weight: this is what most people tend to think of when talking about progressive overload. It might seem like the most obvious or easiest way. How you increase your weight selection and at what speed is dependent on your form, the amount of experience you have with exercise and your goals. You don’t necessarily need to increase the weight selection on an exercise each week. Sometimes strength increases are very slow (especially if you are not new to lifting). I recommend tracking the weights you’re currently using and trying to increase them slowly over a period of 4 weeks first. Never choose a heavier weight if you can’t lift it with perfect form!!
Increasing Range of Motion: This is my personal preference and go-to for starting out. Being able to perform the same exercise/movement with the same weight, but with a greater range of motion is huge progress! This means your form and technique are improving. You are also getting the full effect of the exercise, and the full benefits. You may need to work on adding in stretching/mobility work to be able to get to this point. You can also use lower weights and focus solely on increased ROM. Once you can nail the lift with increased ROM, you can add more weight too!
Decreasing Recovery Time: If your body is requiring less recovery time (whether that means between each set, or between days in the gym), this can be another form of progressive overload. For example, switching to lifting shoulders two times per week instead of one. This gives your body less time to recover and therefore add another level of difficulty and stress to the muscles, forcing them to adapt.
Increasing Volume: This can mean adding more sets or more reps for an exercise. It may also be working the same exercises multiple times per week (similar example to above- lifting shoulders 2x per week, but focusing on the same exercises). By increasing the overall volume, you are again adding a new type of stress to the muscles. If you have always been only lifting 3 sets of 15 reps, I encourage you to add an extra set next time. Even switching to 4 sets of 12 would be a slight increase.
Where and How to start:
Now that we’ve covered what progressive overload means, how should you start incorporating it in your workouts? You absolutely do not need to start doing each of the examples above right away. I highly encourage you just focus on 1-2 ways you can work these tips into the workouts you are already doing on a weekly basis.
For example:
- If you are only working out 3 times per week, maybe your focus should be on simply adding a 4th workout for the next month.
- If you really want to focus on glutes, but only train them once per week, try adding an additional glute-focused workout into your schedule.
- Add an additional set to key movements in your current workouts.
- Increase the weights on a handful of your current exercises (think 5-10% increases at first).
The goal should be slow changes, because this will help ensure you are not over-training, or result in injury. Start small and stay consistent!!
If you have questions about how to program your workouts, or need some ideas, reach out to me on Instagram, or read this post! I am always happy to give suggestions or help with any nutrition/training and honestly LOVE doing that!