Working out consistently and still not seeing the amazing results you want? Progressive overload may be your missing link.
What exactly is progressive overload?
Progressive overload is about gradually increasing the demands you make on your muscles in order for them to get bigger and stronger. There are multiple ways to apply progressive overload. In general, it consists of increasing weight, frequency or repetitions.
New here? Thanks for stopping by or welcome back. After you read this blog, be sure to check out some of my other articles for women over 50 who want to lose body fat, build muscle, create phenomenal bodies they love.
Why is progressive overload important?
You want amazing results, but how does progressive overload help you get there?
Progressive overload…
- forces your body to change. Your body is stubborn. It won’t change unless it has to.
- challenges your muscles to get bigger and stronger
- adds variety to workouts when you need a change of pace. Never get bored even with the same exercises.
- increases confidence as you set new personal best records
- gets you faster results when you don’t get stuck in the same workout routine, same weights, same reps
- ends plateauing. Plateauing occurs when your body adapts to the exercise and your workouts are no longer challenging enough.
How can you implement progressive overload?
There are a variety of ways you can implement progressive overload. This gives you options so you can continue to overload your muscles, maintain consistency, get stronger and avoid plateauing.
Following are some of the most common strategies for beginners:
- Increase resistance -using a heavier weight with fewer reps
- Increase the number of repetitions
- Reduce the length of rest time between sets
- Increase number of sets
- Increase number of workout days. Remember, you still need rest days.
Putting progressive overload into practice
If you’re brand new to exercise, progressive overload can wait. It’s best to start with light weights and gradually increase as you get stronger.
However, if you’ve been following a strength training routine for a few months, it may be time to think about adding progressive overload.
There is no one way to time when you should increase your weights or number of reps etc. Our bodies all adjust at different rates so never compare yourself to others. So, while I can’t give you an exact plan to follow, here is a sample of how it might look.
Increase resistance
Let’s say you’ve been doing 12 bicep curls with 8-pound weights and you’ve decide you’re ready to implement progressive overload. You could pick up the 10-pound dumbbells. There is an inverse relationship between weight and reps so instead of 12 reps you may only get 8 – 10 reps with the 10-pound dumbbells.
Increase repetitions
So what if you don’t have a10-pound dumbbell? You can add overload by increasing the number of reps while still using your 8-pound dumbbell. Instead of 12 repetitions, increase up to 15 reps.
Reduce your rest time between sets
Currently resting 1 minute between sets? Try cutting your rest time to 30-40 seconds.
Increase number of sets
As a beginner, you may be doing 2 – 3 sets of each exercise. To add progressive overload, pick one of your exercises and increase the number of sets by one.
Increase the number of workout days
Before you consider adding another workout day to your fitness routine, make sure you are allowing enough days for rest. Your body needs rest in order to get stronger.
When you first start a fitness routine, you may start with 1 – 3 days. Once you’ve been able to maintain consistency with these workout days, you can consider adding a 4th or 5th day.
When you’re implementing progressive overload, keep it simple…
use one strategy at a time
take it slow
be patient
Pin it now... Read it later.
