Build Your Life To Order ™

What would you say is the most important factor when it comes to building muscle? The amount of reps? The weight lifted? Proper form? Rest Periods? Your diet? I have alluded to this principle in previous articles. It comes before all of the above and will be the most critical factor when it comes to deciding whether or not you gain lean mass. Ready?

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The Law of Progressive Overload

The reason I refer to it as a law is that without this, you will not add a pound of muscle to your frame. Certainly if you’re a beginner you can add lean mass without it but not for long. Once you get past your first 3-4 months you can say bye-bye to your gains if you do not put this law into effect on a consistent basis.

The law of progressive overload simply says that you must increase the amount of reps or the weight lifted every single workout (or as close to this as humanly possible). Let’s say you are working your biceps today and last week your session looked like this:

You want to be increasing either the amount of reps or the weight lifted in at least one of these sets for there to be any progression. Looking at the log, you should probably increase the 3rd set (EZ bar curl) to 97 lbs or so. I don’t think it’s wise to start increasing weight until you can get at least 6 good reps.

Going To Failure Vs Progressive Overload

I have heard it time and time again; the most important factor in bodybuilding is working to failure. This means doing every set until the muscle(s) involved fails and cannot complete another rep. There’s nothing wrong with ‘going to failure’ but if it means that you won’t progress next week, it’s not such a good idea, allow me to explain. I know, from experience, that I progress at a rate of 1 rep in 2 or 3 sets a week 90% of the time. However, sometimes I know that I can get an extra 2 reps in a particular set before I fail. In this situation, I actually leave it at one rep. This assures me that I can definitely attain progression the following week as well, whereas if I had have completed the 2 extra reps, progressive overload might occur next time.

Why Does Muscle Respond To Progressive Overload?

Our bodies adapt themselves to what we do. This principle certainly applies to the world of fitness and bodybuilding too. If you are seeking to build muscle, you must not allow your body to adapt. Every week you must encourage muscle fibres to grow and the way to do this is by placing an ever-increasing load on them or completing more reps. Ignore this principle and there simply is no reason for the body to grow, it will already have adapted to the amount of stress you are exposing it to. Ever notice people at the gym who are lifting weights religiously but after years still don’t have any noticeable improvements? One of 2 things is happening here; either they are in it for general fitness reasons and have no desire for growth, or they are not implementing the law of progressive overload.

Cardiovascular

The law does also apply to your cardio work. If you wish to get fitter and fitter, you must progressively get better and better in some small way consistently. When the spring time comes and it’s time for me to up my cardio, I make sure that I am running or cycling more miles in a shorter space of time, or going the same distance but quicker than the last session. Again this need only be a split second if you are very experienced, newcomers can make much greater gains though.

Other Areas of Personal Development

This principle is common to other areas of personal development too. I call it incrementalism. This is the skill of improving, even very slightly, at something on a consistent basis. Do you want to be:

• A faster reader?
• A better investor?
• Happier?
• Fluent in another language?
• Wealthier?

Then apply the law daily. You don’t have to take giant leaps all the time, feeling like you must will create stress and a negative association to personal development. However, in some small way get better daily and your results will compound on top of each other. Before long you will be producing extraordinary results!

Mark McManus

Related Articles:

• Weight Lifting - How to Increase Weight at Every Workout
• How To Build A Great Body - The Training
• Why I Love Bodybuilding & Fitness

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