Strength · Go further · 01
Strength: What Is Progressive Overload?
Progressive overload means gradually increasing the demands you place on your body over time.
To keep improving, keep raising the challenge
Your body adapts to the demands you place on it. A weight or an exercise that challenges you today will feel manageable in a few weeks. To keep improving, the work has to get a little harder over time.
How you make it harder depends on what you're training for.
Ways to progress
- Add a little more weight.
- Do one or two more reps or sets.
- Slow the movement down, for more time under tension.
- Move faster or more explosively, for speed and power.
- Work through a bigger range of motion, for mobility.
An example
If you squatted 50kg for 10 reps last week, next week you could try 11 reps, or increase the weight to 55kg.
Your body responds to the challenge you give it. That challenge is what makes you progress.
General information, not medical advice. If you've an existing condition or injury, or you're unsure about starting something new, speak to a qualified professional first.
Strength · 01