What is progressive overload?

Progressive overload is one of the main factors for muscle growth and progress in general. In translation, you always need to aim for a progressive increase in training loads to make each next training a bit harder than the previous one.
Often, people think that this is just a matter of increasing weight, but there are several types of load increases we will be writing about.
1. External load increase
This is the most common way, you have managed to repeat the number of repetitions you have made and the next training increase the weight and try to reach the default number of repetitions. How much you increase the weight depends on you, the higher the weights you lift, the increases are smaller, it is important that you always perform the exercise properly. We will explain this in a simple example:
- you’ve done an exercise with 50 kilograms of external load
- next time do an exercise with 52.5 kilograms of external load
2. Volume increase
Another way is to increase the volume, which means that you will perform multiple repetitions with the default weight in the next training session. We will explain this in a simple example.
- you have made 3 sets of 8 repetitions
- next training try to make 3 sets of 9 or 10 repetitions
3. Reducing the rest between the sets
An optimal break between the sets is about two minutes, and if it’s harder for you to make a set, you can freely increase your rest time. In this case, if you keep the weight you are working on and if you keep the number of repetitions you are working on, measure the progress in the length of the rest time. We will explain this in a simple example.
- your rest between each set is 2.5 minutes
- next training try to reduce this time to 2 minutes
Conclusion
Progressive overload is a base for progression and muscle growth-based training should include this variable. Do not just move progressively from bad technique to a better technique, always first make sure the exercises are done properly, then increase the external load, increase the number of repetitions or reduce the rest between the sets
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