Progressive overload means gradually increasing the demand of your training over weeks so your muscles and strength keep growing. The simplest way is double progression: first the reps go up, then the weight.
What is progressive overload?
Muscles and strength grow when training asks more of them than they’re used to. If it stays the same month after month, your body has adapted. So over time, something has to go up: reps, weight or sets [1].
How heavy the weight is matters less for muscle growth than most people think. Muscles grow equally well with light and heavy loads as long as the set gets close to failure; for maximal strength, heavy loads matter [2, 3].
How does double progression work?
You train within a rep range, say 6 to 10 reps. Until you reach the top of the range, you add one rep next time. At the top, the weight goes up one step and the reps start lower again.
This is common practice in training programs and apps. There are no studies that test double progression against other approaches [4].
| Session | Target | Done · reps left | Next target, because |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 80 kg × 8 | 8, 8, 8 · 1 | one more left, one more rep |
| 2 | 80 kg × 9 | 9, 9, 9 · 1 | one more left, one more rep |
| 3 | 80 kg × 10 | 10, 10, 10 · 1 | top of the range reached |
| 4 | 82.5 kg × 8 | 8, 8, 7 · 1 | one more left, one more rep |
| 5 | 82.5 kg × 9, 9, 8 | 9, 9, 8 · 3+ | 3 or more left |
| 6 | 85 kg × 8, 8, 7 |
Bench press, 3 sets, 6–10 reps, 2.5 kg (5 lb) steps. The targets come from the same rule Tarvo uses.
When should I add weight?
When your first set reaches the top of the range and the others are no more than two reps below it. That matches the American College of Sports Medicine’s advice to add load once you can do one or two reps above the target [1].
The weight goes up sooner if you could have done three or more reps after your last set. How big the step is depends on the equipment:
| Equipment | Step |
|---|---|
| Barbell | 2.5 kg (5 lb) |
| Dumbbells | 1 kg up to 10 kg, then 2 kg (2.5 lb up to 25 lb, then 5 lb) |
| Machine | 5 kg (10 lb) |
| Cable | 2.5 kg (5 lb) |
| Bodyweight | reps only |
The steps Tarvo works with. You can change them per exercise, for example for a machine with 7 kg plates.
What if I stop progressing?
A weak day is normal. Even a max measured in a lab varies by about 4 percent from test to test [5]. If you miss your target, you try the same target again next time.
If you fall below the range twice in a row with the same weight, Tarvo takes off about 5 percent and you build back up from there. If an exercise doesn’t move for three sessions, Tarvo suggests a different rep range or a variation; if several stall, a deload week.
There is no fixed number of sessions that defines a plateau [6]. The three sessions are Tarvo’s choice.
Why ask how many reps were left?
After the last set of an exercise, Tarvo asks how many more reps you could have done. With 3 or more, the weight goes up sooner; with 0, the target stays. Without an answer, Tarvo progresses on reps alone.
Progressing by effort works: in one study, the squat improved more this way than with fixed percentages, and a review of 14 studies found gains in maximal strength across the board [7, 8]. How to judge your reserve is covered in RPE and RIR.
Sources
- [1]American College of Sports Medicine (2009). Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. doi 10.1249/mss.0b013e3181915670Position stand. Raise the load 2 to 10 percent once you can do one or two reps above the target.
- [2]Schoenfeld, Grgic, Ogborn, Krieger (2017). Strength and Hypertrophy Adaptations Between Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training. J Strength Cond Res. doi 10.1519/jsc.0000000000002200Meta-analysis of 21 studies. Muscles grew equally with light and heavy loads; strength grew more with heavy loads.
- [3]Lopez et al. (2021). Resistance Training Load Effects on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gain: Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis. Med Sci Sports Exerc. doi 10.1249/mss.0000000000002585Network meta-analysis of 28 studies. No difference in growth between light, moderate and heavy loads; heavy loads win for strength.
- [4]Alpha Progression. Progressive Overload (Glossar). alphaprogression.com. alphaprogression.comPractice. Describes double progression as commonly used in training apps.
- [5]Grgic, Lazinica, Schoenfeld, Pedisic (2020). Test-Retest Reliability of the One-Repetition Maximum (1RM) Strength Assessment. Sports Med Open. doi 10.1186/s40798-020-00260-zReview of 32 studies. A measured max varies from test to test by a median of 4.2 percent.
- [6]Barbell Medicine. Strength Training Plateau. barbellmedicine.com. www.barbellmedicine.comPractice article. There is no fixed number of sessions that defines a plateau; one bad day is not one.
- [7]Graham, Cleather (2021). Autoregulation by "Repetitions in Reserve" Leads to Greater Improvements in Strength Over a 12-Week Training Program Than Fixed Loading. J Strength Cond Res. doi 10.1519/jsc.000000000000316412-week study of 31 men. Progressing by reps in reserve raised the squat more than fixed percentages.
- [8]Larsen, Kristiansen, van den Tillaar (2021). Effects of subjective and objective autoregulation methods for intensity and volume on enhancing maximal strength during resistance-training interventions. PeerJ. doi 10.7717/peerj.10663Review of 14 studies. Progressing by effort (RIR, RPE) raised maximal strength.