Progressive overload is a technique that’s as outdated as 6th century athlete Milo of Croton and his legendary bull carrying routine.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 model, you’re attempting to enhance the depth of every exercise to keep away from a plateau in measurement and power. Mainly, it’s doing slightly greater than you probably did beforehand. This will likely 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 only solution to obtain progressive overload. Increase, immediate good points, however plateaus are unavoidable in the event you’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 individual 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 attain 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 means of a higher ROM makes any train more difficult as a result of it will increase your time below stress (mechanical stress) and the suck. The muscular time below stress (and never the suck) is a driving power for muscle. Not solely does it encourage muscle-building, however it might strengthen weak factors inside a carry.
For 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 arduous to tug 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 technique of accelerating ROM and time below 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 way in which up.
One in a half-rep technique works for many workouts however is especially efficient with squat and press variations.
Advantages of Growing Your Vary of Movement
There’s an outdated saying round health club circles that mobility coaching is power coaching and vice versa. Taking your muscular tissues and cellular joints by means of a whole and prolonged ROM safely will increase time below stress and can enhance your mobility with out fancy drills. Including half a rep to particular workouts 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 workouts, whereas rising ROM primarily works for leg workouts; 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 typically however turns into an issue whenever you do it persistently. 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 workouts to strengthen weaker factors to forestall compensations from occurring is a brilliant wager.
Some lifters make the widespread mistake of testing power slightly than constructing it as a result of who doesn’t need to see how a lot they’ll carry? Often, testing your 1 RM is inspired, however concentrating on good type and mastering the train with the load you’re utilizing is what you ought to be doing more often than not.
Mastery is a extremely underrated type of progressive overload.
As an alternative, make sure you do the train to one of the best of your capacity and with good approach. Take psychological notes on the way you’re doing and whether or not the load is inflicting any type points. Work on these type points by programming accent workouts to strengthen weak spot, lighten the load, or cut back the reps to give attention to approach.
Advantages of Attaining Mastery
You carry to get higher wanting and carry out higher at life or your chosen sport; none of that occurs when you find yourself harm. In search of mastery together with your power work will hold you more healthy for longer. Moreover, creating a greater mind-muscle connection gives you a greater sense of consciousness and help together with your muscle-building good points.
How To Incorporate It
There’s a time and a spot for physique English to get the job achieved, however you ought to be looking for mastery of your major lifts more often than not.
Tempo Lifting
Every repetition you carry out has 4 elements: 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.
For 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 couple of seconds to pause on the high.
Probably the most important good thing about performing tempo lifting, moreover embracing the suck, is it will increase the time below stress. Utilizing tempo encourages you to gradual the train down and give attention to type, which is important 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 below 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 good points,
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 will 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 workouts. Right here’s an instance.
1A. Tempo Bench Press (3131): 6 to eight reps
1B. Higher Again Foam Roll: 10 to fifteen instances.
