Progressive overload is a technique that’s as outdated as 6th century athlete Milo of Croton and his legendary bull carrying routine. With this coaching fashion, you’re attempting to enhance the depth of every exercise to keep away from a plateau in measurement and power. Mainly, it’s doing a little bit greater than you probably did beforehand. This may occasionally appear a no brainer to a lot of you studying, however a few of us overlook the plain, so it pays to refresh the message.
Growing weight, reps, and units is the best strategy to obtain progressive overload. Increase, immediate positive factors, however plateaus are unavoidable for those who’ve been within the lifting sport for any size of time. Then, attempting to bust out of them might result in some ego lifting, that’s good for the ego however not so good to your physique. You’ve all seen that particular person half-repping heavy squats or getting the barbell caught on their chest.
There’s no disgrace in pushing the envelope, however three higher and safer methods exist to realize progressive overload with out rising load. It’s so easy you would like you’ll’ve considered it.
3 Strategies To Attaining Progressive Overload
Growing Vary of Movement
Placing the muscle by a better ROM makes any train more difficult as a result of it will increase your time underneath stress (mechanical stress) and the suck. The muscular time underneath stress (and never the suck) is a driving power for muscle. Not solely does it encourage muscle-building, however it may well strengthen weak factors inside a carry.
As an example, rising the ROM with a deficit deadlift will work on weak factors like being gradual off the ground and lockout.
One other instance is the Rear Foot Elevated Cut up Squat. The elevated floor will increase the demand for hip mobility and makes the glutes and quads work exhausting to drag you up from the underside of the squat. The break up squat and the elevated variation are the identical train, however the elevated ROM will increase the depth.
[Please note this works for only specific exercises like the ones described above but not for pressing variations like the bench press, where increasing the ROM puts the anterior shoulder at risk.]
Including half a rep to an train is one other underrated methodology of accelerating ROM and time underneath stress. You take essentially the most difficult a part of the train, like the underside of a press or a squat, rise midway up, return down once more, after which rise all the best way up.
One in a half-rep methodology works for many workout routines however is especially efficient with squat and press variations.
Advantages of Growing Your Vary of Movement
There’s an outdated saying round gymnasium circles that mobility coaching is power coaching and vice versa. Taking your muscle tissue and cellular joints by an entire and prolonged ROM safely will increase time underneath stress and can enhance your mobility with out fancy drills. Including half a rep to particular workout routines will strengthen essentially the most difficult a part of the carry, hopefully strengthening your carry whereas including muscle.
How To Incorporate It
Growing ROM and including half a rep works finest utilizing sub-maximal weights (60-85% 1RM) as a part of your accent routine. Including half a rep works for many workout routines, whereas rising ROM primarily works for leg workout routines; exceptions to the rule exist. Performing two to 4 units utilizing a rep vary of six to fifteen works finest. Right here’s an instance.
1A. Rear Foot Elevated Cut up Squat: 8 to 12 reps per aspect
1B. Unilateral Dumbbell Row With Pause: 10 to fifteen reps per aspect
Attaining Mastery
The extra you push it, the extra good type begins to slide, which is okay generally however turns into an issue whenever you do it constantly. Sure, I see the one who’s swinging forwards and backwards doing barbell bicep curls.
Weaknesses and compensations might seem in your carry that don’t occur with sub-maximal weights —for instance, scuffling with a lockout within the barbell overhead press or dropping full physique stress within the deadlift. If that sounds such as you, utilizing accent workout routines to strengthen weaker factors to stop compensations from occurring is a great wager.
Some lifters make the frequent mistake of testing power slightly than constructing it as a result of who doesn’t need to see how a lot they will carry? Sometimes, testing your 1 RM is inspired, however concentrating on good type and mastering the train with the burden you’re utilizing is what you need to be doing more often than not.
Mastery is a extremely underrated type of progressive overload.
As a substitute, make sure you do the train to the very best of your capacity and with good approach. Take psychological notes on the way you’re doing and whether or not the burden is inflicting any type points. Work on these type points by programming accent workout routines to strengthen weak spot, lighten the burden, or cut back the reps to concentrate on approach.
Advantages of Attaining Mastery
You carry to get higher trying and carry out higher at life or your chosen sport; none of that occurs if you end up harm. Searching for mastery together with your power work will hold you more healthy for longer. Moreover, creating a greater mind-muscle connection will provide you with a greater sense of consciousness and help together with your muscle-building positive factors.
How To Incorporate It
There’s a time and a spot for physique English to get the job finished, however you need to be looking for mastery of your principal lifts more often than not.
Tempo Lifting
Every repetition you carry out has 4 components: the eccentric, backside place, concentric contraction, and lockout. Shortening or lengthening how lengthy every a part of the rep takes is tempo. Tempo, every a part of the rep, is represented by the variety of seconds it takes.
As an example, let’s use a 3322 tempo barbell squat for example—it takes three seconds to decrease into the underside of your squat (eccentric), a 3-second pause on the backside, 2 seconds to push again up (concentric), and a pair of seconds to pause on the prime.
Essentially the most important good thing about performing tempo lifting, in addition to embracing the suck, is it will increase the time underneath stress. Utilizing tempo encourages you to gradual the train down and concentrate on type, which is crucial for mastery and selecting up any type glitches. Kind hitches are simpler to choose up whenever you’re going gradual slightly than quick.
Advantages of Tempo Lifting
Growing the muscle’s time underneath stress is the place it’s at for constructing muscle and for higher type and approach. Tempo lifting, just like mastery, will create a greater mind-muscle connection to enhance your consciousness and positive factors,
How To Incorporate It
For tempo, use a 2-3 second concentric, and a 3 to 4 eccentric contraction works nicely for muscle and power. The pause and lockout may be manipulated to fit your targets.
Like rising the vary of movement, tempo works finest as a part of your accent routine utilizing weights between 60-85% of your one rep max. You won’t be able to carry out as many reps as you normally do with a given weight, however the enhance in stress will compensate for that. Three to 4 units utilizing a rep vary of six to 12 reps works nicely for many workout routines. Right here’s an instance.
1A. Tempo Bench Press (3131): 6 to eight reps
1B. Higher Again Foam Roll: 10 to fifteen instances.
