Progressive Overload—what is it? Why do it?

Do you feel like your weight training has plateaued? Have you been doing the same movements with the same weights every week? If you answered yes, then there’s your answer. That weight may have been challenging for you when you first started, but that’s the point! To get stronger! Now you need to continue to increase your weights as you increase your strength. It’s a great sign that your initial training is working, but we have to continue to increase the weight and further challenge our muscles.  

In order to train successfully and become stronger, we need to increase the amount of weight we use or the amount of reps we do. You’ll do the same exercise each week, increasing either the number of reps you do OR the weight you use. So when those 10-12 reps @ 30lb starts feeling easy, try 8 reps at 35lbs. Still easy? Try 40lbs. But only increase to these weights if you are able to maintain proper form.

Here’s an example of how to apply progressive overload in your next workout!

Week One: 3 sets of 10 reps at 15lbs

Week Two: 4 sets of 10 reps at 15lbs—4 sets too many? Try to do 3 sets of 12-15 reps instead.

Week Three: 3 sets of 10 reps at 20lbs

Week Four: 4 sets of 10 reps at 20lbs—4 sets too many? Try to do 3 sets of 12-15 reps instead.