Progressive Overload Means Guaranteed Muscle Growth!
There is an absolutely scientific way to guarantee muscle growth.
Imagine yourself getting closer to your dream body every single week and knowing with certainty that you are building more lean muscle all the time; sounds good right? It is possible if one concrete law of bodybuilding is observed. Without further ado, here it is:
Progressive Overload = Muscle Growth!
The Law of Progressive Overload
The reason I refer to it as a law is that without this, you will NOT add a pound of muscle to your frame. Certainly if you’re a beginner you can add lean muscle without it, but not for too long. Once you get past your first 3-4 months you can say bye-bye to your gains if you do not put this law into effect on a consistent basis.
The law of progressive overload simply says that you must increase the amount of reps or the weight lifted every single workout (or as close to this as humanly possible) in order to ignite muscle growth. Let’s say you are working your biceps today and last week your session looked like this:
You want to be increasing either the amount of reps or the weight lifted in at least one of these sets for there to be any progression. Looking at the log, you should probably increase the 3rd set (EZ bar curl) to 95 lbs or so. I don’t think it’s wise to start increasing weight until you can get at least 8 good reps in any given set. See here for more about the best rep range for muscle growth).
There is another way to increase progressive overload and that is through increasing the number of sets you perform for a particular body part. So you can consider an ninth set of bicep curls if you are currently at a stage where you’ve plateaued as far as reps and sets are concerned.
However, don’t overtrain for the sake of progressive overload; more than nine sets on any one body part is asking for catabolism (muscle breakdown). I never go over 9 sets per body part and if you want muscle growth week in week out, you shouldn’t either.
Going To Failure Vs Progressive Overload
I have heard it time and time again; the most important factor in bodybuilding is working to failure. This means performing every set until the muscle(s) involved fails and cannot complete another rep. There’s nothing wrong with ‘going to failure’ but if it means that you can’t achieve progressive overload the following week, it’s not such a good idea.
Allow me to explain.
I know from experience that I progress at a rate of 1 extra rep in 2 or 3 sets per body part trained per week - 90% of the time. However, sometimes I know that I can get an extra 2 reps in a particular set before I fail. In this situation, I actually leave it at one extra rep.
Why?
This assures me that I can definitely attain progressive overload the following week as well. If, however, I had have completed the 2 extra reps, progressive overload might not occur next week.
This method guarantees that I achieve progressive overload every single week. This takes priority over ‘going to failure.’
Why Muscle Responds To Progressive Overload?
Our bodies adapt themselves to what we do. Our bodies are adaptation machines. This principle certainly applies to the world of fitness and bodybuilding too. If you are seeking to gain muscle tissue, you must not allow your body to adapt.
Every week you must encourage muscle fibers to grow.
The way to do this is by placing an ever-increasing load on them. Ignore this principle and there simply is no reason for the body to grow, it will already have adapted to the amount of stress you are submitting it to.
Do you ever notice people at the gym who are lifting weights religiously but after years still don’t have any noticeable improvements? One of 2 things is happening here; either they are in it for general fitness reasons and have no desire for growth, or they are not implementing the law of progressive overload. Don’t be one of those guys!
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Related posts:
- Progressive Overload Or Going To Failure - Which Is More Important?
- How to Train your Abs Scientifically
- The Secret to Progressing Every Single Workout
- Build Muscle Without Weights?
- How Much Protein is Needed to Build Muscle?
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November 6th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
I’ve repeatedly talked about and written about just this. There are gyms full of people who continue to do the exact same resistance workout (and aerobics workout for that matter) over and over and over, and they wonder why they never change their bodies!
Great article!
November 6th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Thank you very much for your comment Carol. Progressive overload is fundamental. I’m glad you tell your readers about it. Thanks for stopping by.
Mark
November 10th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
So, this sounds really good. I currently work in the 8-12 rep range and try to switch things up week to week. But can’t I do more than 9 sets for chest? And for legs would it be nine sets for quads, 9 for hams and 9 for glutes?
November 10th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
I often fail in that area and I don’t feel any growth for nearly one month. Thanks for pointing this out Mark!
November 10th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Tyler, 9 sets for chest is sufficient. If you have good form, full range of motion you can build an awesome chest. I currently work my chest in 7 sets once a week. As far as legs are concerned, I mean 9 sets in total. However, 12 sets would be an absolute max. Don’t use isolation exercises for legs e.g. leg extensions, compound is much better.
November 19th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
[...] Use this knowledge in conjunction with the optimum hypertrophic rep range and the the law of progressive overload to maximize muscle [...]
November 19th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Great post. I’ve just got the ‘bug’ and I am fairly new to lifting and have taken my fatass down 40 lbs in 4 months. I think you described the progressive overload very well.
-Caveman
November 19th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Thanks Caveman. I’m always pleased to see someone start hitting the iron. Hope to see you come back here. Nice blog by the way.
Mark
November 19th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
I subscribed to your blog and thanks for visiting mine. I would like to hear more from you about proper nutrition. I’ve been basically on a low carb, high protein (maybe) diet and in the gym 5 days a week. It’s really working. I’m not sure of how much protein I’m getting exactly. and can’t wait for you to post more about proper nutrition, quanitity, and frequency.
-Caveman
November 19th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Yep, I subscribed to your blog too buddy. I’m actually planning a mega post on this, it could weeks to get it ready though but I want to lay it all out really clearly. Stay tuned!
November 26th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
[...] Progressive Overload [...]
December 11th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
[...] I have stated in a previous article, one of the single biggest factors in building muscle is ‘Progressive Overload.’ As a beginner, you can easily increase the weight you can lift at every single session. [...]
December 15th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
[...] first thing to bear in mind is that the abs are just another muscle. They need to be forced to grow. In order to do this, they need weighted resistance for a maximum of around 16 reps. Your wasting [...]
December 18th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
[...] Seeking Progressive Overload each and every workout [...]
December 24th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
[...] * Build Muscle with Progressive Overload [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 1:05 am
i started lifting and working out january the first. I didnt really know what i was doing and still i need to be guided. do i need to do any cardio? also i undersand progressive overload, i just cant apply it properly, i am trying to print out a plan but imot too good at that either, anyway thanks for any advice.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Hi Brendan.
Don’t do any cardio when your goal is to build muscle. You can build muscle without adding fat on the MANS diet.
Too much cardio releases catabolic hormones which break down your muscle tissue. Lift and eat.
Cheers,
Mark
March 15th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
[...] rocket science either. Again, it’s all about using proper form and sticking to the principles of progressive overload and the anabolic rep range of 8-12 [...]
March 18th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
[...] Pursue Progressive Overload. I say at my site, “The law of progressive overload simply says that you must increase the amount of reps or the weight lifted every single workout (or [...]
March 21st, 2008 at 1:16 am
[...] Pursue Progressive Overload. The law of progressive overload simply says that you must increase the amount of reps or the weight lifted every single workout (or [...]
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:57 pm
[...] law of progressive overload simply says that you must increase the amount of reps or the weight lifted every single workout (or [...]
April 19th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
[...] to Build Muscle Mass Fast 1. Pursue Progressive Overload. The law of progressive overload simply says that you must increase the amount of reps or the weight lifted every single workout (or [...]
April 21st, 2008 at 7:36 pm
[...] ‘Progressive Overload’ is the most important factor in working out for muscle growth [...]