Progressive Overload - The Key To Muscle Gains
Just eating right won't help you get the physique you want. Period. Along with proper nutrition, to get the proportion and look you desire, you will have to focus on training the right way. Carrying more muscle will do wonders for your body composition which makes training one of the most important factors determining whether you reach your goals or not. This very much applies to women as much as it does for men. Apart from maintaining a low body fat, the only way to get the so-called ‘toned’ look is to build muscle. Building muscle is a really slow process, so don’t have the fear of getting too ‘bulky’ because that definitely doesn’t happen overnight. In this post, I’ll break down what you should be focusing on and what you shouldn’t.
The Magic Program?
There is a lot of contradictory information on this topic online and it often confuses a lot of people. Firstly, just like everything else in fitness, training eventually boils down to consistency. You could make better progress on a suboptimal program if you are consistent versus someone who is running an optimal program but is not consistent with his or her training. But when I say consistency, it doesn’t mean going to the gym and lifting the same weights every single session. You have to train on a well-structured program to build muscle.
On one hand, there are the people who hop from one program to another because they think that there is a secret magical program out there which will transform their body. This generally happens because they don’t know how much weight they should lift, the amount of cardio they should do, the number of hours they should train, etc. and hence they keep switching between programs to find the right answer. On the other hand, you will meet different people who swear by the program they have been using and try to convince you that it is the only way you can build muscle. But when you really dig deeper into each of these different approaches and programs, you notice that all of them which actually do work have something in common. This common thing is what forms the base of training. So what is this magical thing, you may wonder?
Progressive Overload
Progressive overload. Simply put, it means doing more over time. That’s how easy it is. All you need to do is get stronger. This means that you could be running a very basic program, but if you can currently squat 50kgs for a set of 10 and after a year you squat 100kgs for a set of 10, you will gain muscle in your lower body. On the other hand, you could be on the best program out there but if you keep lifting the same weights over and over again, you will not make progress. Thus, over time, one should aim to increase the volume in his or her workouts. This, in turn, increases the tension on the muscles and is what causes them to grow.
You must be thinking, what is volume? Consider volume as a proxy for work done. Volume could be simplified as the number of sets and reps you perform with a given weight. You can increase volume by doing more number of reps or sets or by using heavier weights. This brings up a common question. Why is it recommended to get stronger and lift heavier weights if you could just use the same weight and add more reps or sets over time and increase your volume?
Firstly, adding reps using the same weight does indeed increase volume and lead to progressive overload. In fact, you can’t increase the weight every workout unless you’re a complete beginner, so adding reps is a great way to overload your muscles. But, this should only be done to a certain point. You will eventually reach a point where you are doing a very high number of reps chasing overload just because you don’t want to increase the weight. For example, let's say you are performing the incline press with 10 kg dumbbells. You get 5 reps on your first workout. You keep trying to add a rep every workout and you succeeding. If this is the case, you’ll eventually be at a point where you’re using the 10kg dumbbells for 30-40 reps. Here’s where the problem lies.
Research has found the following rep ranges to be optimal based on different goals;
Training for Strength: 1 - 5 Reps
Training for Hypertrophy (Size): 6 - 15 Reps
Training for Endurance: 20+ Reps
Keep in mind that this is not a hard and fast rule. It does not mean that you won’t build any muscle at all if you only lift below 5 reps. It just states what is optimal. Furthermore, this is why we often see typical muscle building routines programming exercises for sets of 8-12 reps on average.
Going back to our example, if you’re performing 40 reps and your goal is to get bigger, you'll see that you have drifted out of the optimal rep range. Think about it, wouldn’t you be better off lifting a heavier weight after a certain point so you can keep yourself in the rep range which suits your goals?
In the same way, adding sets over time definitely increases volume and leads to progressive overload. The problem with this is that solely relying on increasing sets eventually leads to you having to perform too many sets in a single session. Besides having to spend a lot of your time in the gym, performing a lot of sets will drop the quality of the sets performed towards the end of the workout, making them less efficient and increasing the risk of injury. Also, unless you’re using any sort of performance-enhancing drugs, you'll find it very hard for yourself to recover from an extremely high number of sets every workout.
Thus, the best way to achieve progressive overload is to increase the weight on the bar over time. Increasing reps and sets definitely can and should be incorporated into different blocks or phases of your training. But, as a natural, focus on the big picture and try to add more weight to overload your muscles in the long run.
Meanwhile, do remember that there is no right or wrong way. It is just that some approaches are a little more optimal than others. In the end, do what feels right for you as that is what increases the chances of you actually sticking to it in the long run! If you think a higher or lower rep range feels better for you, go for it. If you prefer doing more sets, go for it. Make sure you manage your recovery and as long as you are consistent and apply progressive overload, you will see results.
Conclusion
Carrying more muscle mass is something that can bring a dramatic change to your body composition. Instead of looking for magical programs, simply focus on being consistent with a well-structured program. Over time, follow the principles of progressive overload and work towards becoming the strongest version of yourself. Nail down your nutrition along with this and you’ll be making gains in no time!
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