There really is nothing quite like the feeling of hitting a new personal best in your training, or when a new movement finally clicks and unlocks the gratification of a certain exercise. As much as it may be satisfying for all of you working towards those personal records, it is just as rewarding for your coaches helping you achieve them.
No matter your training level, be it the recreational trainer or the professional athlete with hall of fame aspirations, progression is the key in all forms of training to achieve your goals. The issue is that in a strength and conditioning setting when someone hears the word progression, all they can think of is continuously adding weight to the bar. Unfortunately when someone fails to see the weight progress in the direction it is supposed to, they become increasingly discouraged, which leads to an even greater lack of progress. Understanding how progression works and its variety is crucial in making consistent gains, avoiding roadblocks and becoming more well rounded physically.
I want to examine different forms of progression, why they are important and why one may be more important for your athletic development.
The Classic Route to Getting Stronger
The most common way to measure progress when it comes to strength and conditioning is examining the amount of weight moved on an exercise. This is what first comes to mind when people talk about training progression. This is a solid form of progression because for muscles to grow, get stronger and increase their capacity to perform they need to be provided with enough resistance to adapt. On top of this, it is one of the easier forms of progression to measure, if the weight goes up we’re getting somewhere. However, it’s not always as easy as slapping more weight on the bar and expecting gains. Additional load should be added strategically in order for your body to properly adapt.
There are some drawbacks to this form of progression. Progressing the load on a lift could be an all consuming thought, so much so that it may matter more than the technique or intention behind the exercise, which should be priority. It could also discourage some that don’t see the weight go up every week and consider this a lack of progress.
An example of progression through load could be moving from 40 kilos for 10 reps on a barbell back squat, to using 60 kilos for 8 reps on the same exercise. Decreasing the volume but providing more resistance to adapt.
Work = Results
Another common way to progress is adding sets or reps to an exercise and keeping the weight consistent or even decreasing it. Progression through volume is all about increasing the amount of overall work done. This can actually be demonstrated through an equation:
Sets x Reps x Weight = Volume
3 x 10 x 40kg = 1200kg
Progressing through volume is especially important for athletes looking to improve muscular endurance or stamina. This is done by increasing that threshold of fatigue during intense exercise.
One thing to keep in mind for volume progression is its relevance to the goal. Should a sport like soccer train by performing 3 sets of 3 reps at heavy load? Probably not. They would typically need something with a little volume to match the activity level of their sport. This being said it is could to vary the volume used on certain exercises depending on the intent.
From Basic to Beast Mode
Now that we covered the more common and well known ways to progress your lifts, let’s dive into making a lift more technically demanding. Through would progressing a lift through complexity, meaning making a lift more neurolically stressful, making it more extensive than intensive.
Have you ever noticed when you first started lifting that your progress skyrocketed with those first basic lifts and hasn’t progressed quite the same since? Part of the reason for that first boost in progressing is that you are simply better at lifting, you understand what it is supposed to feel like, which muscles to use, and how to be efficient with your body. A method to re enter that learning phase of progression is to make your exercises a little more complex.
It is important that we keep learning to improve motor control, stability and coordination as well presenting new challenges to avoid hitting plateaus.
You may already be performing this progression without realizing it by gradually varying the same movement. For example, you may have started with a dumbbel goblet squat, then changed it to a barbell back squat, and as comfortability increased you moved to a safety bar split squat.
Train Hard, Recover Harder
Another often overlooked form of progression is rest time manipulation between sets. While I would not advise rushing the recovery after completing a set just for the sake of making your training more difficult, reducing the amount of rest you allow yourself can be an excellent way to progress without adding weight, reps or sets into your training session. Some of you may already be doing this without realizing it, have you ever finished your set and noticed your feel more refreshed or prepared for the following exercise, this too is progression.
Recovery manipulation as a form of progression could be very important especially to athletic populations where the amount of rest is not always fixed in game scenarios. There may be predetermined shifts, or plays that require a certain amount of rest to perform, but being prepared to perform given little to no rest is always a possibility.
The Mental Edge of Training Progression
It is possible to progress during your training not only physically but mentally as well. This form of progression can be applied from the very beginning of your training career up until the day you decide to put down the weights. Let’s start with the first day you stepped foot in any training facility, it likely felt intimidating and every exercise felt like its own Everest you had to climb, but through your training consistency you gain comfortability with the gym and its exercises. Did your body adapt to all the physical stress, probably, but a factor that is not enough thought about is your attitude towards the training. Throught constant practice you gain comfortability and confidence with a certain lift and routine, which most definitely has an impact on performance.
The beauty of this form of progression is that, while not quite to the same degree, everytime you are presented with new exercises there is that intimidation factor that you get to overcome again and again.
While there is no real way to measure this form of progression, it can be developed through practice. Everytime time you approach that new intimidating lift you likely are gaining some small amount of comfortability built up through every rep.
Conclusion
To me, progression is the lifeblood of training. It’s not just about lifting heavier or running faster; it’s about constantly challenging the body in different ways to ensure growth. Whether it’s load, volume, complexity, or even how you recover, there’s always a way to take your training to the next level. But it has to be gradual, deliberate, and personalized.
If you’re an athlete, or a coach helping others, don’t get caught in the trap of thinking progression is all about adding weight to the bar. Think about it holistically—how can you challenge your body in different ways, all while listening to it and giving it the tools it needs to recover and adapt?
Trust the process.
