Whatever your goals might be, one thing is mandatory if you want to get there: progressive overload. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure we are all busy & have 239,853 other things that need our attention.We’re going to guess that you have specific goals you want to hit in the gym. Whether you work out because (1) you simply love it, (2) for the health benefits, or (3) because you’re trying to change your life, it’s important that we are working out safely & effectively! If we aren’t challenging ourselves, we aren’t maximizing the benefits of working out! What IS important is that you continue to challenge yourself! It’s totally up to you, as one method of progressive overload isn’t better than the other. If you’ve been running 3 mile at the same pace forever, it’s time to either (1) increase your speed & run the miles faster or (2) add more distance to your run. This same principle applies to all the cardio lovers out there! Note that this WILL increase the time that you spend working out, so if you’re crunched for time, it’s best just to buy a heavier set of dumbbells (or an adjustable set of dumbbells!). If you’re always squatting 3 sets of 12 reps with 10 pound dumbbells, add a 4th or 5th set to your workout. If you’re limited on weight choices (because your belong to a small gym or prefer to workout in the comfort of your own home), you can apply the same principle by adding more sets or reps to your workout, as opposed to increasing the weight that you use. & increasing the weight for larger muscles (lats, glutes, pec major) by 5 - 10 lb. You want to first start with increasing the weight we’ve been using.Ībout every 4 weeks, you should be upping the weights.Ī good rule of thumb to follow is increasing the weight you use for smaller muscles (biceps, triceps, shoulder muscles) by 2.5 - 5 lb. How Do I “Use” the Progressive Overload Principle? If you find that you’ve hit a plateau & are no longer making progress, are bored with your workouts, or feel like you’re making progress slower than a snail, it is time to enact the Principle of Progressive Overload! we need to gradually increase the weights we are exercising with, every so often (about every 4 weeks or so). This principle is basically saying that we need to gradually increase the stress placed on our bodies to reap the benefits, i.e. The Progressive Overload Principle What Is It? So maybe, in the beginning, curling 10 pounds was a challenge and your muscles were loving all the benefits you were providing them (strong muscles, stronger bones, increased metabolism, etc.), but now, your muscles are bored, and they aren’t benefiting from the exercises anymore! Simply put, no one wants to learn that they’re wasting their time, especially when they thought they were doing something productive!īut here’s the thing, our muscles only reap the benefits of working out, if they are being challenged! No one wants to have their time wasted, especially when it comes to working out and exercising.Įspecially because we all are busy & short on time! I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but if you aren’t increasing the weights that you are working out with, you are wasting your time□ Or, perhaps you haven’t realized, until now, that you’ve been using the same 10 pound dumbbells for bicep curls since last January! Or maybe even for the past couple of years?! Have you ever found yourself using the same dumbbells, for the same exercises, for months at a time?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |