Progressive overload and periodisation

I thought i’d write a brief post on progressive overload and priodisation as i’ve had a few questions about it in the last few weeks, and the more education you have the better and more you can get out of your training right?

Knowing how to add weight to the bar, or pick up the next weight up of dumbbells can be confusing, and also sometimes it takes some training and body intuition if you’re not coming into a session crash hot. 

I thought i’d overlay some basic principles of progressive overload and periodisation so as to help empower you in your weight selection and also a small insight into programming.

Firstly, progressive overload relates to the tools we have in our belt that we can use to progresviely make something harder, and continues to add intensity to a session as we adapt and avoid plateaus.

We have a few tools available to us to use, as we may not always be able to nor do we want to always just be looking at adding weight.

We can look at load, so this is the amount of weight we are lifting. Choosing the right load will depend on if we’re looking to build muscle or build strength, more on that later, but in general you should be able to lift the weight for the selected reps with good form and on the last few reps be very close to failure. If that feels good, then we can add weight, we can add reps, we can add sets, so overal volume, we can also play with tempo, the slower we work the harder we make the exercise for the same weight used, and we can also play with rest time. All these tools can be used to progressively overload the muscle so to keep us moving forward and getting stronger and building more muscle.

An example of this for muscle growth, which we call hypertrophy, is week 1, we might do 3 sets of 8 shoulder press at 8kg. From there, week 2 we might add 2 reps and do 3 sets of 10 reps with the same weight. Week 3 we add 2 more reps, providing we can do that the 4th week we might take the reps to 14 for 3 sets with the same weight. If we can do this, then we can look at using the next weight up. Drop back the reps to 8 and start again. So 3 sets of 8 with 10kg, and build from there again.

Obviously this is how it would work in a perfect world without hitting plateaus which everyone will naturally hit at some point, but hopefully you get the point. So if you feel like you’re not working close to your max, and you have the energy to do more then this might help you in selecting the right weight.

When it comes to strength training, the protocols are the same, but we often look at having more rest time, and work in a fashion by which we add a bit more weight with each set, working in a very low rep range and I would say typically working a little less closely to failure, but still challenging ourselves.

There are many strength training systems that have been devceloped and popularised over the years, but if you’re new or returning then we usually start light. Starting light decreases the risk of getting hurt, reduces soreness and give you room to progress. The goal is to slowly add weight and challenge yourself, this stimulates your body to build more strength and muscle, and you should not be lifting the same weight week in week out for a year.

One of the reasons to start lighter than what you could lift it so systematically add load over time well within your capacity that will ensure the most progress without hitting a plateau.

It should be noted that you will not be able to add as much weight to the bar for an upper body exercise vs a lower body exercise. For example you may be able to add 5kg in weight for your squat one week to the next, and only half of that for you bench press, and maybe not even that, potentially it’s more like 2.5kg for a lower body exercise and 1.25kg for an upper body exercise, it also depends on the rep scheme.

This is where smart periodisation comes into play. I like to work with increasing the weight as the sets progress, I’ve had the most success with programs such as Wendler 5-3-1, 5x5

, or Texas method. The principle being that you may have 3-4 sets of 5 reps in week one, aiming to go heavier with each set. The following week you have 3-4 sets of 3 reps, aiming to go a little heavier on each set than your week of 5 reps, then the following week  a set of 5, 3 and then 1 ore more reps, again hitting heavier than your week of 3 for your set of 1 or more.

Then we repeat the cycle, but start our week of 5 with 2.5kg more than the previous cycle. It can be a little confusing at first, but I’m here to help guide you if you have any question.

Anyway, I got a little bit technical there and I don’t want to confuse you as there are many ways to progressively overload in order to keep challenging yourself and making progress. As long as you’re trying top push yourself when you feel good, and maybe stay the same or a bit lighter when you’re not feeling great, then I’ve taken care of the programming and you can ask for advice on the weight or approach that day.

Some season are for going after it and others are for maintaining and showing up, and there will always be ebbs and flows when it comes to that side of training.

Anyway, hopefully a little helpful, but if not, message me :)

Lawrence x