What is Progressive Overload? 5 Ways to Build Your Physique

Have you looked in the mirror lately, disappointed at what you see?

You’ve been working out regularly, lifting weights, completing your reps and sets, only to not see results?

What if we told you, you could be working out all wrong to meet your gains goal? That a simple technique called progressive overload could be all that’s in your way of loving your physique?

What is progressive overload, you ask?

Progressive overload is the gradual increase of stress put on your nervous system and muscles. Taxing your body continuously will lead to muscle gains, more strength, and even more power.

There are a lot of misconceptions about progressive overload, mainly that lifting more weight equals better gains. While this may be true for some body types, it’s not true for all. There are several methods of progressive overload you can use to see results.

Before we get into the methodology of progressive overload, let’s dive into the history of how this concept came to be.

The History of Progressive Overload

Dr. Thomas L. DeLorme was an army physician helping to rehabilitate injured World War II veterans. After the war, military hospitals were inundated with soldiers who had orthopedic injuries from the war effort.

In the 1940s, the rehab protocols for recovery were lengthy, making the delays in care even worse. At the time, Dr. DeLorme was an active weightlifter who believed that soldiers could benefit from a new technique.

He met fellow weightlifter Sergeant Thaddeus Kawalek, who was suffering from a knee injury, in 1944. Knowing the benefit of lifting weights, Kawalek agreed to work with DeLorme to test his theory.

As his first patient, Kawalek exceeded all expectations in recovery and went on to regain full use of his knee. Seeing his success, DeLorme was determined to help others through their rehabilitation.

His program was refined and by 1948, it was referred to as “Progressive Resistance Exercise.” At that point, his protocol was progressively heavier sets of 10 reps. The high-intensity program created a standard in both civilian and military physical therapy programs.

He published the text Progressive Resistance Exercise: Technic and Medical Application in 1951. The book was geared towards medical professionals and physicians to work with their own rehab patients.

Today, we know this concept of resistance exercise as progressive overload. While the name is slightly different, the method is much the same. The even better news is that there are multiple ways to use progressive overload, besides just increasing weight.

Let’s get into the different methods you can use to progressively overload your system for big results.

Methodology: How to Progressive Overload

Progressive overload is the key to reducing injuries and maximizing your results in the same amount of time. While progressive overload does mean lifting heavier weights, there are other ways to properly overload.

1. Increase the Reps

If you’re not at a point of increasing the weight just yet, try increasing the amount of reps you do. If you’ve been doing bicep curls with 50 lbs of weight for eight reps and three sets, try adding two reps per set.

Not only will you get six additional reps in, you’re also taxing your muscle fibers even more with not much more work. The more your muscle fibers are put under pressure, the more they tear. This is where muscle hypertrophy comes into play and increases the size of your muscles.

While increasing the rep volume does work, at some point you’re going to have to add more weight. Depending on the exercise, you’ll want to max out at between 12 and 15 reps per set. Eventually, volume-only overload will start to improve muscle endurance instead of muscle size.

If this is your goal, then keep going. But if you want more muscle volume, then you must add more weight.

2. Increase the Weight

Another way to build muscle mass is to increase weight. This method is the most commonly used way to max out muscle size. Once you’re able to easily perform your reps and sets with perfect form, it’s time to add more weight.

There is no hard and fast rule to adding weight in your progressive overload workout plan. Adding five pounds doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it could be for a beginner compared to an advanced lifter. For beginners new to lifting and progressive overload, add as little weight as possible to challenge your muscles.

Beginners should see results much faster than advanced lifters. A beginner shouldn’t be surprised if they can add weight and/or volume after a gym session. Eventually, you will reach a plateau and need to employ other methods to continuously build muscle.

When adding more weight, your reps will fall as your muscles adjust to the added stress from heavier weights. Don’t worry because soon enough, you’ll get stronger and be back to lifting your baseline reps and sets.

3. Increase the Volume

The volume is the total number of reps multiplied by sets multiplied by weight. Adding more sets to your workout makes progressively higher demands on your muscle tissue. Using this method, you may go from two sets of an exercise to three sets.

Another way to increase the volume is to add in another exercise entirely, working the same muscle. By stressing the muscle in a different way or at a different angle, you’re forcing the muscle to work harder.

An example of this type of progressive overload could mean adding the agility ladder to your calves workout. Or how about trying weighted toe walks or challenging your balance on the BOSU ball? 

Adding a set or new exercise to your current training program will not only improve using progressive overload, it’ll also reduce workout boredom.

4. Increase Workout Frequency

This method is best left for use when dealing with muscle imbalance or a weak body part. Most lifters only work the same muscle group once a week. With progressive overload, you can improve muscle hypertrophy by adding another day to your schedule.

Using this method in the short-term can strengthen the weak muscle and provide symmetry. However, too much training could cause injury from overuse, so be mindful when adding days for a particular muscle group.

5. Reduce Rest Time

The final method that would increase muscle overload is reducing rest time between sets. Depending on the load and exercise, you could be resting for a minute or more between sets.

If you reduce the time between sets, you’re improving the metabolic efficiency of your anaerobic system. It will also reduce the amount of time you spend during your workout, which isn’t a bad thing.

Don’t do a drastic cut in rest time between sets at first. If you normally rest for 30 seconds between sets, reduce your rest time to 20 seconds. If you can still complete the remaining sets with perfect form, then go down to 15 seconds. 

The Best Progressive Overload Method for You

Each person will have to determine which method is best for them and their current goals. If you’re looking to build muscle mass, you’ll likely want to focus on adding more weight. If you want endurance to improve in sports, for example, increasing reps would be more beneficial.

The next step is to figure out what your goals are in the gym before you try a method. It’s best to try one method at a time so you can see how it works for you. This way, you won’t risk injury from going all in and trying all the things at once.

A Progressive Overload Example

To start, you should know what your current max reps are for each exercise. This is the total number of reps you can perform through a full range of motion with perfect form. This could be working your glutes in the glute bridge at 50 pounds for eight reps and two sets. 

Once you have this baseline information for all exercises, determine your goal. From there, figure out what you want to improve on: volume, reps, weight, or duration. Using the above example, here is how you could use each method for improvement:

• Reps: Increase from eight reps to 10 reps
• Weight: Increase weight from 50 pounds to 55
• Volume: Increase the sets from two to three
• Frequency: Go from one day per week working glutes to two
• Rest: Reduce rest time of 30-seconds between sets to 20 seconds

Again, don’t try all these at once, but one at a time. Try adding more reps until you notice your body has adapted. Then, work on adding more weight to improve your strength.

Progressive Overload for Beginners

If you’re new to working out, then you need to start with the basics before trying these progressive overload methods. 

To begin, try out one exercise per muscle group with bodyweight only. Your goal here is simply to complete each exercise with perfect form for a base number of reps and sets. Once you can complete that, you’re ready to start adding in weights.

If you need help with creating a beginner routine, check out:

• Best Beginner Workout
• Best Home Workouts & Exercises
• How to Create a Workout Plan
• Bodyweight Workout: A 2020 Guide for Best Results
• How to Build Muscle: Tips & Workouts Included
• What is Circuit Training? The Basics & Benefits

You can also check out our training library for building muscle. Not ready to hit the gym yet? You can build your own home gym, even on a budget, and do at-home strength training instead.

Progressive Overload for Athletes and Advanced Lifters

If you’ve been working out or training for years, you’ll have to get a little more creative compared to a beginner. Like a beginner though, you’ll need to prioritize form and range of motion to avoid complacency and see results.

To achieve progressive overload, you’ll need to:

• Lift properly and completely
• Squat deeper
• Always lock out complete
• Stay in control of the weight at all times, completing a full range of motion

Adding more weight is a natural progression for lifters, but not at the cost of form. This puts you at a higher likelihood of injury and also eliminates your chances of building muscle and strength.

Eventually, you’ll max out on weight in a particular lift or be unable to add more reps. In this case, you could:

• Change up your exercise routine with new exercises
• Create a list of exercises to rotate for each muscle group
• Use a different overload methodology

Making tweaks to your exercise routine can help you reach your goal of building muscle or stamina. Remember, no matter what way you choose to challenge progressive overload in your workout, never sacrifice form. It just makes you look sloppy and could cause unnecessary injury, completely derailing your goals.

Tip From The Coach

“I agree that progressive overload is probably the most important factor for making improvements. Too many people do the same workout with the same weights, same reps, and same sets, workout after workout.

Once the body adapts to the stress you are imposing on the muscles, it won’t go any further. You have to gently force the muscles to do more each week in order for the muscles to get bigger and stronger.

I’ve always been an advocate of using heavier weights for the 6-10 rep range for building more muscle mass. Of course, you can’t make continuous progress week after week but by using short cycles of 6 weeks long, you can make progress each week.

When the cycle is completed, you can take a break for a week and start up a new cycle using different exercises.”

— John Hansen, 3-time Natural Olympia winner and OSL ambassador

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Final Thoughts

Using progressive overload methodologies can help you bust through plateaus and meet your fitness goals. Never sacrifice form to add more weight, reps or sets, regardless of how seasoned a lifter you are.

By increasing reps, sets, volume, and frequency, or reducing rest time between sets, you can improve your PR. Beginners will see quick results using these methods while experienced lifters may take some time.

To aid in building muscle during your workouts, include Vintage Build™ in your routine. This highly-effective blend of amino acids will keep fat at bay and speed up recovery between workout sessions.

Do you use progressive overload to improve your workout results? Which method have you found to be the most successful to help you meet your goals? Let us know what works best for you in the comments below.