We have all heard the basic tenant of strength: progressive overload. But, when we talk about progressive overload, we only ever think of adding more weight to the bar (or dumbbells).
Even going through graduate school, this was the main form (and often the only one taught) of overloading and increasing the challenge for patients and clients. Somehow, adding weight was the real bee’s knees to being a great trainer or clinician.
It definitely made me question if I got my money’s worth from my doctorate.
Now don’t get me wrong, this is probably the most important aspect of strength. However, if that was ONLY option we have, we would have to continuously keep adding weight to the bar to get any sort of training effect from our workouts. If that actually worked, we would have many more 1000 lbs squatters and 500 lbs bench pressers walking around.
This basic principle of strength tells us that we need to lift more weight over time, but I think it is better to think in terms of performing more work over time. This gives us more options for overloading our bodies and diversifies our training.
Here are a few ways to achieve progressive overload without adding weight to the bar.
Increase training volume
If progressive overload is simply just doing more work, then we can do exactly that: more work. Doing an additional 1-2 reps or adding a set to your workout is a good way to overload.
If you can only do 3 sets of 5 on the squat, you can work up to 4×5 or 3×8 before adding weight. This ends up being more sustainable in the end.
Increase training density
It would be impossible to simply just perpetually keeping adding more sets or reps to our workouts. Our training sessions will eventually take hours and hours. Instead, another way to progressively overload is to increase the density of our training, or doing the same amount of work in a shorter period of time.
This improves both strength and fitness. If you are resting for 3-5 minutes between sets of heavy squats, imagine what sort of fitness and work capacity you would need to complete the same amount of work with just 1-2 minutes of rest between sets.
This is one strategy that is implemented with dynamic effort training. We perform 8-12 sets of low reps, but each rep is performed as quickly as possible without breaking technique. In addition, the rest periods are very short. We often set a timer to see how quickly we can run through the sets to track density. This also forces the body to recruit otherwise unworked muscle fibers due to fatigue.
Increase time under tension
If you’re about the pass out from all of the technical language, just bear with me for a little while longer. When a muscle is turned on, it’s essentially just creating tension against bones to get joints to move. Now, that is an oversimplification of sophisticated biomechanics, but it will do for this example.
When we create tension, we create work for our muscles. How long we are under that level of tension is a big factor in strength and muscle growth. The way we lift weight matters.
Imagine curling a set of dumbbells but not paying attention to the set. You might be able to bust out 10 reps. Now imagine curling the same dumbbells but intentionally bracing your abs and shoulders. Grip the weights as much as possible and control the weight on its way up and down. In a way, intentionally make the lift harder without increasing weight. Imagine how much more tension you create when you lift intentionally that way. This is how bodybuilders will train, because their progress is largely based on this concept.
Conclusion
Remember: we MUST aim to lift more weight. That is the whole point. However, that isn’t the only method in our toolbox. Use these methods to increase the amount of work you do, and you’ll find that adding weight becomes more routine. If you can do more sets and reps before adding weight, make sure your rest periods don’t turn into naps, and be very strict with your technique, you will have a solid foundation to build off of.
