PROGRESSIVE

O V E R L O A D
What Is Progressive Overload Training?

• Progressive overload is when you gradually increase the weight,

frequency, or number of repetitions in your strength training routine.
This challenges your body and allows your musculoskeletal system to
get stronger.

• By changing up your workouts and adding additional tension to your

muscles, you can avoid plateauing, which is when your body adapts to
the type of exercise you’re doing. With progressive overload, you may
notice you feel fitter and stronger.
 What are the limitations of progressive
overload?
• One drawback of progressive overload training is that it must be done
gradually. It can be dangerous to increase the load or frequency of your
training too quickly, which can lead to injury. You may not notice
changes as immediately with this type of training as with others. But it’s
the safest way to progress.

• Working with a certified personal trainer (either in a gym or online) who

can customize a progressive training routine for you is the most effective
and safest way to meet your fitness goals.
 Examples of progressive overload training
You can add progressive overload to your training routine in different
ways. This depends on your fitness level and types of workouts you do.
Below are general examples of progressive overload.

Increase volume
● Week 1. Perform 10–12 squats, with or without weight.
● Week 3. Perform 12–15 squats, with or without weight.
● Week 5. Perform 15 squats, with or without weight.
Increase weight used
● Week 1. Perform bicep curls with 10- or 12-pound weights.
● Week 4. Perform bicep curls with 12- or 15-pound weights.
● Week 8. Perform bicep curls with 15- or 18-pound weights.
Increase mileage in running
● Week 1. Run 20 minutes at a light to moderate pace, 2 days per week.
● Week 3. Run 30 minutes at a light to moderate pace, 2 days per week.
● Week 5. Run 30–40 minutes at a light to moderate pace, 3 days per week.

A certified personal trainer can create a plan that’s customized to your

goals.
4 PRINCIPLES OF
PROGRESSIVE
OVERLOAD
TRAINING
The four main principles of progressive overload training are:

1. Keep good form.

• When you begin strength training, choose the weight you can lift while
maintaining proper lifting form. Only when you can move that weight
with proper form should you increase the difficulty of the workout.

2. Change one thing at a time.

• To avoid injuries, change the difficulty of a lift one aspect at a time. For
example, to make deadlifts more challenging, shift the weight you are
lifting before you change the reps or sets. Increasing the weight and
reps simultaneously might create more tension than your body can
handle.
3. Focus on repetitions and sets.
• Before adding weight, make sure you can move your current weight for
the number of reps and sets the exercise recommends. When you can
complete the reps and sets, add more weight, add a hold, or reduce rest
time.

4.Log your workouts.

• Keep track of your workouts so you can remember the weight, reps,
and sets you do week to week. Logging your progress will help you
determine what to change in the next week.
6 PROGRESSIVE
OVERLOAD
TECHNIQUES
There are a variety of ways to change the intensity of your weight-
training workouts. Some progressive overload techniques include:

1. Increase the weight.

• The simplest way of achieving progressive overload is to lift heavier
weights than the week prior while maintaining proper lifting form. Make
sure you can lift the new weight at the same number of repetitions as
before with proper form; only when you can do that should you move
onto a higher weight. For example, if for one week you were able to do a
100-pound squat, the next training session, you might do 105 pounds.
Depending on the lift you are doing, you can increase the weight by 2.5
pounds, 5 pounds, or even 10 pounds.
3. Complete more sets.
• After you increase your reps, you can then increase the number of sets to
boost training volume. You can aim for 5 to 7 sets per lift. You can also
increase the weights you are lifting to continually challenge your muscles.

4. Decrease your rest period.

• Resting for less time between sets can help your body increase metabolic
efficiency and use fat as energy to fuel your workout. Instead of taking a
3-minute rest between sets, try resting for only 1.5 minutes. This will also
help you work through a particular exercise faster. (Resting for a couple
of minutes is not recommended for heavier lifts or lifts that are close to
your 1RM because it takes longer to recover when you’ve exerted
yourself close to your max.)
5. Change your training frequency.
• If there’s a muscle group that you want to focus on, you can change the
training frequency by adding more resistance exercises that specifically
target that muscle group. For example, if you want to build stronger arms,
add an extra upper body workout to your weekly exercise plan. Make sure
you build in enough rest, so you’re not working out the same muscle
group multiple days in a row.
6. Change the intensity.
• To make a workout more difficult, you can slow down your lifting speed,
increase the range of motion, or add a hold at the top or bottom of the
movement. For example, if you are squatting, you can squat more slowly
or pause for a few seconds at the bottom of the squat. Holds can increase
the time that your muscles are under stress, which can help build
endurance. Understanding how progressive overload works
• Gradually increasing stress on your body triggers its natural, adaptive
responses. These responses only kick in when the body is placed under
a certain level of pressure. As the pressure increases so does your
body’s strength. Hence the term: gains.
• It might sound simple and a little obvious: push harder to increase
performance. But progressive overload takes planning and strategy. If
you’re not tracking what you’re doing, you won’t know how to progress,
right? And if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get
what you’ve always gotten!
How does progressive overload benefit training?

• Progressive overload benefits your training because you’ll avoid a

plateau. By changing or progressing in your workouts, you’ll keep your
muscles challenged and you’ll get stronger.
For example, in the first month of strength training, you might
perform 10 repetitions at one weight. Then, the next month, you’d perform
12 reps of the exercise. Or maybe you’d stick to 10 reps but increase the
weight you’re using instead.
How does progressive overload benefit training?

• A 2011 study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology

tested a progressive overload regimen. The researchers observed 83
people over a period of 12 weeks as they performed a series of arm
strengthening exercises. Researchers found progressive overload
gradually increasing the weight and number of repetitions of exercises to
be effective for increasing bicep strength and muscle growth in both men
and women.
 4 Benefits of
Progressive Overload
Progressive overload is an important component of strength training: Go into
your next training session looking to do better than last time. Progressive
overload can allow you to continue to build muscle and strength, meet your
fitness goals, and continually challenge yourself.
1. Build More Strength
• By pushing and stressing the muscle to move more weight, it will do what
it must to meet the demands placed on it. Your central nervous system will
adapt to the stress of heavier weight by increasing their contraction
capacity through neural adaptation. When your muscles can contract
harder, this means you are stronger!

• You’ll also get stronger when your muscle fibers adapt to the increased
stress by growing in size. This brings us to the next benefit of progressive
overload:
2. Increase Hypertrophy
• Hypertrophy is the proper term for physical growth of the muscle.
Physiologically, the muscle will grow in size only under certain
conditions.

• While strength can be improved fairly easily through neural adaptation

when using heavier loads, hypertrophy is more dependent upon overall
training volume (sets and reps at a given weight). Though, other tactics
(which I’ll discuss later) can stimulate growth, too.
3. Experience Faster Gains
• Having a challenging and dynamic routine sets you up for fast results —
regardless of if your goal is building muscle, strength, speed,
explosiveness or endurance.
• The average gym-goer falls into the trap of following a static regimen
after a while, which means they miss out on a lot of potential gains.

4. Keep Your Training Interesting

• Getting out to the gym 4 or 5 or 6 days a week can become boring, especially if it’s
always the same predictable workout. This gets tedious, easy, and unfortunately,
boring.
• Progressive overload is NOT just about changing weight/reps/sets. It’s also about
using other exercises and training tactics to challenge the same muscles in different
ways. By doing this, your training sessions will incidentally be more exciting.
Safety tips

• Progressive overload training should be done only after you’ve mastered

an exercise with proper form. You should’ve also been doing the same
routine for at least 2 weeks ideally a month before you start to train
harder.
• Working with a certified personal trainer in the gym or online can help
you meet your goals. They can create a personalized plan to guide you
on how to progressively overload safely.
• Always give your body time off to rest between workouts. Stop training
or scale back the intensity if you feel very sore or injured.
PROGRESSIVE
O V E R L O A D