If you are arseing in the gym jumping from exercise to exercise, thinking I’ll do this today and a bit if that tomorrow, with no idea of what weight you did last week or how many reps of a certain exercise you did yesterday and you are not seeing changes in body composition then this is one of the reasons why.
Progressive overload is when you gradually increase the weight, frequency, or number of repetitions in your strength training routine & will result in increased muscle & strength.
This challenges your body and allows your musculoskeletal system to get stronger.
By adding additional tension to your muscles, you can avoid plateauing, which is when your body adapts to the type of exercise you’re doing.
Doing the same workouts repeatedly or using the same amount of weight every time you strength train can lead to your body plateauing.
You may be able to easily lift weight that once was challenging, and you likely don’t notice any soreness, or any progress being made.
While a plateau can be seen as a positive sign that means you’ve made some gains in your fitness journey, it also signals that it’s time to mix things up.
By changing or progressing in your workouts, you’ll keep your muscles challenged and you’ll get stronger.
And there are other options that I haven’t even added above
You could try increasing intensity in other ways like:
- Movements with 1&1/4 reps
- Pausing in certain positions e.g bottom of a squat or bench press
- Dropsets
- Rest pause sets etc
An important aspect of this is recording your progress to know if you are stalling or maybe just stuck with a certain exercise that may need a little tweaking.
But also your form. If you are not using the correct form, progressing is futile & you could risk injury. So drop the ego and get it right from the first instance.
