More Than Just Adding Weight To The Bar
If you’ve been strength training for some time now, you’ve likely heard of the term “progressive overload.” Progressive overload is the principle that’s considered by many to be the main driver of progress in the gym. The most common and intuitive method of progressive overload is to add more weight to the bar from session to session, but there are plenty more ways we can make progress!
The Myth of Adding Weight: Progressive Overload Explained
This principle dates back as far as late 6th Century BC, beginning with famous Greek Champion Wrestler Milo of Croton. The story goes something like this. A large portion of Milo’s offseason training consisted of carrying a newborn calf on his back up a hill every day until it was full grown. As the calf grew into a mature cow and got progressively heavier, Milo got progressively stronger. Once the calf was fully grown, Milo killed, roasted, and ate it. Bit of a morbid ending but, nonetheless, this was our first understanding of and exposure to the principle of progressive overload.
We know that if we go to the gym week after week and perform the same workout repeatedly forever, we’ll never make progress; performing the same number of reps, with the same weight, with the same amount of rest is going to lead us straight into stalemate and stagnation. However, the classic understanding of progressive overload paints an incomplete picture; simply thinking that the only way to progress in the gym is to add 5 lbs to the bar every week forever or we won’t make gains is pretty short-sighted! What we should really be chasing is progressive over-stimulus; stay with me here. We’ll spare you all the boring scientific details, but below we’re going to outline a variety of different ways you can continue to make progress in the gym!
Alternative Ways to Progress in the Gym
Less rest: If you can perform the same exact workout in less time, you’ve made the session denser and thus, made quantifiable progress.
More reps: If you can perform the same weight for more reps, this is another sign of progress.
Tempo: Being able to increase time under tension during your set with the same weight you were formerly using by either adding an extending eccentric, isometric pause, or both are all excellent ways to make progress without having to add more weight to the bar.
Increased Range of Motion: Being able to move the same load through a larger range of motion is another excellent sign of progress. This may be accomplished through progressively squatting to a lower box with the same weight or progressing to lower and lower pins or boards on the bench press until you can perform that same heavy weight through its full range of motion.
Faster Speed: If you have access to a VBT (velocity-based training) device like we have at IPC, you can objectively measure the speed of the bar during your reps. If you can move the same weight at a faster speed, congrats; you’ve made progress!
More weight: Last but not least, this is the most obvious form of progression in the gym: adding more weight to the bar! This is the most conventional and logical form, but hopefully with the examples above we’ve opened your mind and expanded your understanding to the fact that it’s certainly not the only method of progression!
Think Beyond Weight: Creating Sustainable Strength Gains
As you can see, while adding more weight to the bar is the most common, intuitive, and important method of progression, there are plenty of other ways to make gains in the gym!
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