Progressive Overload: What it is, and Why You Need it to Get Fitter
Applying this principle is the only way we can improve our fitness.
Defining “progressive overload”
Progressive overload refers to the gradual increase of load and stress on the body.
In order to improve your fitness, you must apply more load and stress on your body than what it is currently accustomed to.
The good news is if you are sedentary or not very active, you can see improvements by just doing 10-20 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a few times per week. For those that are highly trained, it becomes more and more difficult to apply this principle because your body is already adapted to such a high workload.
Knowing this principle is 1% of the battle; applying it is the other 99%.
Milo of Croton, a story of progressive overload
“The strongest man to ever live”, as tales claim, was Milo of Croton, a Greek who lived around 2,500 years ago. Milo won the Olympics in wrestling 6 times, 5 of which were consecutive.
Part of Milo’s training for the Olympic games was quite simple. At the conclusion of each Olympics, Milo would buy a new calf.
Milo would carry this calf on his shoulders every day. As the calf grew into a bull, Milo’s workload increased.
By the end of Milo’s Olympic training cycle, he would be carrying a 4-year-old bull on his shoulders, getting stronger and stronger as his demands grew with the weight of the bull. Before the games, he would kill, cook, and eat the bull.
It’s likely that Milo’s strength and training was exaggerated, but this story provides a perfect example of progressive overload.
Applying progressive overload
How should you apply this principle? Let’s say you go to the gym 3 times per week for 1 hour to lift weights. Should you just work harder during those sessions? Should you add another session somewhere into your week?
You could stay at the gym longer on two of those days, extending your session to 90 minutes. Also, you could try reorganizing your workouts by having certain sessions stress some muscle groups more than others. So many options… AHHHH!!!
This can be overwhelming, but I think I can simplify things. Here is the hierarchy that I recommend:
Increase days/sessions
Increase duration
Increase intensity
Increase days/sessions
This is the lowest hanging fruit for most people (but not all). Try to find time in the week to add another session, even if it isn’t as long or as intense as your normal workout.
Let’s use the example of a runner that normally trains 3 times per week. Keep in mind that this same strategy can be used for lifters, swimmers, yogis, dancers, someone making dietary changes, even musicians… anyone really!
This person might have a busy Monday and Thursday, leaving the options for an extra session down to Tuesday or Saturday. This runner might want to keep Saturday as a complete day off, meaning no work and no running, so Tuesday it is.
You can see the updated plan with progressive overload applied below.
This runner added a 30-minute run to Tuesday. Although, progressive overload is not free fitness gains. They might be a bit more fatigued or sore until their body gets used to this new routine.
Once this runner has adapted to the higher training load, it is up to them whether they want to (or can) keep adding days or apply progressive overload in some other way.
Should they want to just keep it at 4 runs per week, they could think about increasing duration.
Increase duration
The runner wants to increase the training load again, this time by adding duration to some of the runs. Their Friday and Sunday might be less busy, so it would make sense to start with those.
Since this runner has more free time on both Friday and Sunday, they decide to add 15-minutes to each of those runs.
The other benefit of this is the fact that both Friday and Sunday have rest days on either side of them. If they decided make Tuesday’s run harder, they would have to keep in mind how they might feel on Wednesday.
Increase intensity
In the case of a runner, increasing intensity means increasing the speed at which they run (assuming they are running in similar conditions). For a weightlifter, increasing intensity usually means increasing the weight on their exercises.
Intensity describes the output of the exerciser. Even though running a marathon is very hard, the intensity is quite low (except for very fast marathon runners) because the duration is so long. On the other hand, a 100-meter dash or a 1-rep-max squat is very intense!
This runner might decide to add some intensity to their Tuesday and Friday run.
Their Tuesday run now has a steady 10-minute hard interval in the middle of it. On Friday, they run in a hilly area, and run hard for 1-minute when they find a long enough hill, and they repeat that 5 times.
Summary
This is not the only way to apply progressive overload. You certainly don’t have to maximize frequency before increasing duration or maximize duration before increasing intensity.
Although, there is a reason I like applying progressive overload in this order.
Increase frequency: You practice showing up more. I know it’s cliche, but frequently and consistently showing up gets you most of the results, even outside of health and fitness.
Increase duration: You practice staying longer. You have developed the routine of showing up, but duration allows you to put in more reps, miles, drills, etc.
Increase intensity: You practice working harder within the same time commitment. You can have those certain days of the week to really push yourself. Really intense days should be used with caution. With the high stress of intense workouts comes the need for more rest and recovery.
If you are concerned about applying too much progressive overload, I recommend reading a recent post: When to Take a Day Off