Progressive Overload Techniques for Strength Training in the Gym
The concept of progressive overload is to increase the intensity of your workouts over time and place greater stress on both your nervous and musculoskeletal systems. This method can help you encourage muscle growth, build endurance, and gain strength. So, if you’re working to build up your strength at your favorite Vacaville gym, this is a great way to reach your goals. However, you should also be careful and not increase the challenge too quickly. Keep reading to learn more about how to use progressive overload for improved strength in a safe and effective way.
Is progressive overload good for strength training?
You can apply this method to any strength training exercise, including squats, bench presses, deadlifts, biceps curls, and more. Here’s how it works:
Main principles
First, let’s have a look at the four essential principles of the progressive method that will help you approach your workouts correctly and prevent any injuries:
Keep proper form. At the initial stage of your strength training, pick the weight that allows you to maintain proper form while lifting and work your way up from there.
Take one step at a time. To prevent any injuries, make sure you only modify one aspect at a time. For instance, you can increase the weight first and only then go with the reps or sets. Shifting both aspects simultaneously can be too stressful on your body.
Focus on sets and repetitions. Increase the reps and sets first and add weight later.
Keep a log. Log your workouts so you have a track of the reps, sets, and weight, week to week. This will help better organize your workouts and decide what to change in the following week.
Techniques
There are different ways to increase the intensity of your workouts, so you can choose those that suit you best:
Increasing reps. If you choose to increase the number of repetitions, aim for the highest you can do without sacrificing form. To build strength, go for a 3 to 8 increase and try hitting an occasional one rep max (1RM). If you want to increase muscle size, aim for a 10 to 15 range.
Increasing sets. When you’ve increased the reps, you can then focus on your sets, aiming for 5 to 7 per lift.
Increasing weight. Make sure you can move the new weight at the equal number of reps with proper form. For instance, if you’re doing a 90-pound squat this week, the next week you can go for 95 pounds. You can try increasing the weight by 2.5, 5, or 10 pounds.
Decreasing rest period. If your resting time is 3 minutes between sets, you can try decreasing it to 1.5 minutes. However, if you’re doing heavier lifts or 1RP, it’s not recommended to reduce resting periods as your muscles need more time to recover.
Increasing intensity. You can experiment with increasing the range of motion, slowing down the lifting speed, or adding a hold at the bottom or top of the movement. This can help you build endurance.
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