PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD

By Brandon Pieterse

Why do you go to the gym?

For many of us the answer is simple, we want to change.  We either want to get bigger, we want to get stronger, or we want to get fitter. Or maybe we just enjoy the rush of endorphins our body releases after a workout. Ultimately, it’s about change.

How do we change? The answer may seem simple: go to the gym and eat correctly. But our body is anything but simple. Our body is not going to change because we want it to, or by going to the gym and doing the same thing over and over again.

Our bodies need a reason to change; we are trying to force an adaptation onto ourselves and in order to force this adaption we need to implement progressive overload.

As the name suggests, we need to progressively overload our bodies to entice adaption to take place. The way we go about progressive overload is a relatively simple conception. It is all about gradually but constantly placing more and more physical demand on the body via overall volume.

This can be achieved by an increase in the load or an increase in the reps, or even both. This means that once a certain load can be comfortably performed within the required rep range, the body will no longer need to get any stronger to do that weight within that rep range.

Therefore you can either increase your reps, within your target range, or increase the load, and start again. This cycle will continue indefinitely as long as your goal is still to progress. If you want to continue getting stronger, bigger or fitter, you will need to be implementing progressive overload.

There is no competition point. If you wish to progress you will always need to provide your body with that stimulus.