When I first started lifting weights 28 years ago I was told the only way to get muscles was to continuously lift heavier and heavier weights on the main compound movements. So, each and every year I would try to beat personal bests in the Squat, Bench, Dead, Shoulder press, Chins and Barbell row. For 15 years I was able to make small but consistent strength gains. After that however my results plateaued no matter what I tried to do to increase the weight. In reflection I am amazed at how stubborn I was and how deeply embedded that the idea of lifting heavier weights was the only real way forward, because for the next 5 years I tried to train the same way without making much if any progress.
Eight years ago I decided to use other forms of progressive overload like:
- Progressively shortening rest periods with the same weight (going from 2-3 minute rests to 30 seconds)
- Extending normal work sets with partial movements ( x –reps)
- Progressive weight overload at a higher rep count. (going from 5-10 reps per set to 10-20 reps)
- Fitting the same amount of work in a progressively shorter time frame. (Rest-pause & super-setting exercises).
- Accentuated negatives (Increasing time to complete negatives from 1-2 seconds to 3-6 seconds).
Straight away I saw progress. This finally allowed me to let go of the concept that lifting more weight was the only way to make gains.
More recently I have used other techniques to progressively overload my muscles:
- Extending sets by completing 2-3 exercises together; going from the least favourable leverage position to the strongest* or an isolation movement to a compound movement** using the same weight and then aiming for a specific rep goal before adding any further weight.
*An example of this is when I train triceps- I will pick a weight for “Omni triceps extensions” and begin with overhead triceps push outs, when I know I only have one more rep in the tank I go straight into triceps pushdowns and then finally into triceps push outs facing the weight stack where my upper arms are almost 90 degrees to my torso.
**I like to complete DB flys first then go straight into a DB Bench with upper arms close to the torso. Another example is going from BB Stiff legged deadlifts straight into conventional deadlifts.
- Increasing volume from 1-2 sets to 3-4 sets.
- Using TORQ (tension overload resistance quantity- see previous article “Let’s talk about TORQ”).
- Completing partial repetitions*** or static holds in the “stretch position” or “contracted position”****
***My favourite exercise for this is squats- I pulse in the bottom half of the squat (just below and above parallel for 5 reps) and then aim to complete at least 5 full reps straight after.
****I hold for a two count in the bottom of any press before pushing up or holding any row or chin for a two count in the contracted position.
Although these are just a few examples, you can see there are many other ways to progressively overload the muscles. If you have tapped out your muscle gains with traditional training methods give these ideas a try- remember-INSANITY is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So whatever overload method you decide to use make sure it allows you to keep moving forward and the results will follow!