PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD MAY NOT MEAN WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS…
This is arguably the most common phrase used in the “fitness industry”, more specifically in the lifting community. And for good reason.
It’s a, if not, THE key element to seeing the progress that we want to see. But from what I frequently observe in discussions and posts regarding it, there’s definitely some confusion about what this term really means.
Hopefully by the end of this article things are a bit more clear.
WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN?
One of the most common “misuses” of this term is when people say “I’m doing” or “I’m using” progressive overload. And those simply don’t make any sense; it isn’t so much something that you do, but rather something that occurs.
Progressive overload quite literally means you ARE GETTING or HAVE GOTTEN stronger/bigger/faster.
It’s a BYPRODUCT of your training not a method, strategy, or approach to it.
It’s the ability to “do more” BECAUSE you have adapted. BECAUSE you have built new muscle tissue or your current tissue is now capable of contracting more forcefully, more efficiently, or for a longer duration.
So the confusion comes by mixing up “proof that adaptation has occurred” (progressive overload) with “overloading strategies necessary to elicit a stimulus needed to drive future adaptations”.
- Adding weight to the bar is an overloading strategy.
- Doing more reps with the same weight is an overloading strategy.
- Doing more sets is an overloading strategy.
- Increasing your ROM is an overloading strategy.
- Adding more time under tension (tempo) is an overloading strategy.
And while those are things we NEED TO BE DOING, the “act” of doing so isn’t necessarily what we’re looking at; it’s the ABILITY to do so.
It’s “lifting more” because you are now physically capable because you’ve adapted and added muscle and/or strength.
It’s “lifting more” to STAY within a relative intensity threshold/approximation to failure because if you didn’t, your sets and reps would get easier over time, be less stimulating, be less fatiguing, thus reducing anabolic signaling.
The key factor here is the approximation to failure/intensity of our work. That’s what we’re consistently targeting. That’s what makes our training effective. That’s “where the money is”.
And the adaptations we’re training to achieve (muscle and strength) move the needle on that threshold; on where that adequate approximated to failure point lies.
In short, progressive overload is a byproduct of effective training leading to positive adaptations; it’s not a “requirement for future adaptations”. It’s not something you do or apply; it’s something you realize or achieve.
STILL A BIT CONFUSED? LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT AN EXAMPLE…
Here’s a hypothetical example that may help “visualize” what I’m talking about:
Week 1:
Trainee performs 10 sets of 10 using 100 lbs.
Each set is RPE 10.
Stimulus is effective for driving adaptation.
Trainee builds muscle and strength.
Week 2:
Trainee performs 10 sets of 10 using 100 lbs.
Each set is RPE 9.
Stimulus is effective for driving adaptation.
Trainee builds muscle and strength.
…..
Week 10:
Trainee performs 10 sets of 10 using 100 lbs.
Each set is RPE 3/4.
Stimulus is no longer effective for driving adaptation.
Trainee does not build muscle and strength.
Week 11:
IF trainee performs 10 sets of 10 using 120 lbs.
Each of the sets would be RPE 10 (as in week 1).
That is REALIZATION of progress. This is a byproduct of “effective training”. That is progressive overload even though over the last 10 weeks no weight or reps were added.
In this example you can see that “effective training” drives progress, the accrual of muscle and strength. Over time, you need to utilize ADDITIONAL acute overloading strategies to ensure that your training STAYS “effective training” or else no future progress would be made.
In the example the overloading strategy that worked for 8-9 weeks was essentially just “lift something that is very challenging and then do that over and over again”. WHICH DOES WORK! Just only to a point. Once you get to that point, once you HAVE to “do more” in order to meet your required intensity threshold, that is when you “realize” that progressive overload has occurred.
That your capabilities have increased.
That what you did before is now too easy.
That, so far, your training has been effective.
So, once again, adding weight or doing more reps is not “required” for your training to be effective; they are overloading strategies to keep it as such.
Progressive overload is the realization that those overloading strategies in fact worked.
UNTIL NEXT TIME - COACH JOHN