You’ve likely heard the saying, “Doing the same thing and expecting different results is insanity.” The same holds true in training—at best, you’ll maintain your current fitness; at worst, your progress may reverse. To keep improving, it’s crucial to embrace the principle of progressive overload.

 

Progressive overload involves gradually increasing the demands placed on your body to stimulate continuous adaptation[1]. It drives lasting improvements in strength, endurance, hypertrophy, power, and movement competency. As your body becomes more efficient at managing a specific workload, that initial stimulus loses its effectiveness. To keep advancing, training intensity must evolve—whether by lifting heavier weights, increasing volume, training more frequently, or introducing more complex movement patterns[1]. In response, the body rebuilds itself stronger to handle future challenges.

 

The science behind this process is described by the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), which outlines the three stages in which the body responds to training stress[2]:

 

• Alarm: The body recognizes a new or increased demand. This phase often involves fatigue, soreness, or temporary dips in performance.

 

• Resistance: With sufficient recovery, the body adapts by rebuilding stronger and more resilient than before (aka supercompensation).

 

• Exhaustion: If stress is applied too frequently or recovery is inadequate, performance declines and injury risk increases.

 

Functional overreaching, a concept closely tied to GAS, involves deliberately pushing the body into the alarm phase through planned, short-term increases in training stress. When followed by proper recovery, this approach enhances supercompensation, leading to significant performance gains. However, if recovery is insufficient, overreaching can develop into overtraining, ultimately hindering progress and increasing injury risk.

 

 

Implementing Progressive Overload

 

Progressive overload can be achieved by manipulating training variables, such as:

 

• Load: refers to the amount of weight or resistance used.

 

• Volume: usually defined as the total amount of work (sets × reps × load), but listing sets and reps is fine for clarity.

 

• Intensity: often refers to the relative effort or percentage of maximum capacity (like % of 1RM in strength training).

 

• Rest periods: time between sets or exercises, which can affect training density and recovery.

 

• Frequency: how often you train a muscle group or movement.

 

• Movement complexity: how challenging the movement pattern is (e.g., single-leg squat vs. bodyweight squat).

 

• Tempo: the speed of each phase of the movement (eccentric, concentric, pause).

 

• Range of Motion: the degree of movement in the joint(s) during exercise.

 

It’s important to note that there is no fixed amount or universal formula for progression. Adaptation rates vary significantly between individuals, influenced by factors like training experience, nutrition, sleep quality, psychological stress, and genetics. For most athletes, especially beginners, adjusting one training variable at a time allows for better monitoring of progress and helps reduce the risk of overtraining. Therefore, coaches and athletes should use a combination of objective measures (i.e., load lifted, sets, reps) and subjective feedback like perceived exertion (RPE) and fatigue levels to tailor training appropriately.

 

 

References

 

1. Plotkin D, Coleman M, Van Every D, et al. Progressive Overload without Progressing load? The Effects of Load or Repetition Progression on Muscular Adaptations. PeerJ. 2022;10(10):e14142. doi:https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14142 
2. Burgess L. General Adaptation syndrome: What It is, stages, and Examples. www.medicalnewstoday.com. Published November 28, 2017. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320172#the-three-stages-of-gas