We’ve all been there; you go to the gym 3, 4, 5 days a week and week after week, but nothing seems to be changing. You have tried all the machines, all the free weights and the cardio classes galore! But your physique refuses to budge, and you feel like your getting stronger but do you really know? You might be ready to try progressive overload! Of course, there is a large nutritional component that determines how your aesthetic changes. For today’s purposes let’s make sure your time in the gym is not time wasted.

So what does it mean?

Progressive overload is the process of systematically introducing more work over a specific period of time to increase work volume. This style of training allows for your body to adapt to the weight, sets, reps and overall quality of movement. It also creates the opportunity for increased muscular size, strength, and endurance. Plainly put, progressive overload ensures you are actually going to get results from all the hard work you are putting in!

Regardless of the type of exercise or the equipment you have available to you, everyone can use progressive overload in their choice of training style.

How do I do it?

There are a few ways to introduce progressive overload into you training.

1. Weight – One of the most obvious choices, is to increase the weight you are using for your exercises. For large muscle groups you may be able to increase a decent amount, but the ceiling for this can be pretty low when it comes to smaller ones. I mean, how long have we all been lateral raising 10 lbs in the gym. HA!
2. Reps – When adding weight is not an option, or you simply don’t want to, adding repetitions is a solid choice! Even 1 extra rep counts! Often we think it has to be an earth shattering amount, reaching over 30+ reps for it to be overload. The truth is even one extra rep means improvement. Don’t believe me? Try training to failure, then repping out one more.
3. Sets – So you’ve found the sweet spot with your weight and your reps. Muscular failure is real but you still want to increase your workload? Time to add another set. Of course there is a point of diminishing returns. It’s pointless to do more subpar work. If you can take a break, and come back and bust out another beautifully executed set – have at it my friend. Adding another set is a great choice. Beware here of going too ham though. If you begin getting into the 6, 7, 8, plus set range, it may be time to reevaluate your weight and rep selection.
4. Form – For all my yoga doing, pilates rocking, bodyweight working people out there, you can absolutely still introduce progressive overload. For example, if you have ever done a yoga class, think about chair or chaturanga pose. Going lower, longer and doing maybe even less reps but with perfect form, that’s a game changer right there.

How long should I do it?

There are many different schools of thought here, but generally it’s difficult to see progress in less than 4 weeks. Most of my clients run anywhere from 6-8 weeks cycles, and honestly upward of that it just depends on how well you handle boredom. When using progressive overload the only way to make sure you are increasing the workload is by repeating at least some of the same movements to measure your progress.

After all if you don’t know where you are going, does it matter where you’ve been?

Ready to give it a try?

You know I am a huge fan of tracking and gathering data, and if you haven’t read one of my first posts about tracking your workouts, now might be a good time to peruse that! https://themoxieproject.com/2023/03/30/one-thing-you-arent-doing-thats-killing-your-progress/

Basically, get yourself a very simple, easy way to track your workouts, make a plan for adding in weight, sets, and reps where it makes sense. If you’re not sure – ask me!