Progressive overload for dummies...

When you learnt to read did you read once and automatically know how to read any and all or did you start with easier material and progress to harder books?

The first time you wrote a school paper, was it your best paper? Or did you start by learning to write words, then sentences, and then formulate ideas into paragraphs?

How about riding a bike? Did you hop on your hot wheels two wheeler and burn rubber for the first time you sat on that sweet saddle? Or did you have to tack on some training wheels and hold mommas hand before you graduated to freedom on two wheels?

All these examples are things we all went through, and can all relate to the trials and tribulations of learning. The commonality amongst the three however is progression. Starting small, simple, and safe and slowly building incrementally upon what we learnt earlier to further build our understandings and abilities related to those skills.

This is progressive overload. The act of incrementally increasing muscular demand above that of which we previously asked of it the day/week/month before. Progressive overload allows the practitioner to maintain a specific rep range but increase intensity through increased load to elicit the physiological response of cellular growth.

See, cells react to internal and external pressures based on demand and requirement for change. In the light of muscle growth, an external pressure (resistance training) stimulates the cells to undergo growth as a response to micro tears in the muscle fibres. This happens so quickly that in order to see ample progress in strength and size this stimulation has to occur quite frequently. Thus, progressively adding slightly more weight to the bar each week under the same lifting protocol (program) will result in incremental strength gain. As the cells adapt and adhere to increased stimuli your body reacts with increased strength and muscle mass.

The immediate thought however, would lead you to believe that this growth curve is infinite. That all you need to do is add a bit more weight every week and you'll continue to grow and get stronger. This is not the case. Two reasons! Firstly, your genetic potential dictates your maximum natural size you can attain / how much muscle you can grow. Secondly, the process is too exhaustive on the body. A de-load or rest week is necessary to prevent over training. Returning to a baseline or new baseline maintenance phase of 2-4 weeks allows the body to reset and recuperate. Following a de-load phase another building phase may take place and progressive overload can be re-applied.

Progressive overload can be programmed two ways. It can be programmed as percentages. Knowing your current 1RM will allow you to dictate what percentage you start with. For example; Week 1 you perform the back squat at 65% for 4x3, week 2 you perform 4x3 again but at 75%...so on so forth, till you peak in week 4 to now determine a new 1RM. Progressively you would build upon the new 1RM to further build a new 1RM or you work with the same 4x3 working set till you reach a 3RM of 100% of your original 1RM.

You could also program it in a very simple fashion where you determine your 3-5RM and calculate your 1RM (use online calculator), take 75% of that extrapolated number and begin squatting 4x3 @75%. Each week add 5-10lbs continuing to squat 4x3. By week 8 you should be able to squat 100-130% of original 1RM for 4x3. All examples, and hypothetical. It's best to have a specifically designed program tailored to your needs to attain the best results.

Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day. Brick and mortar was laid day by day, progressively adding piece by piece till the job was complete. The only caveat? The job was never done! Much like Rome, your body must be maintained...the job is never done once the goal is reached, only a new goal made.

"Progression is built through consistency and tested by passion"

JB

*This is the basics of progressive overload. Other points to consider include; load, frequency, volume, and relative intensity.