Increase weight in each workout session, hit more reps, or enhance the intensity of the workout you must have stumbled upon these suggestions at least once in your fitness journey. It refers to the term ‘progressive overload.’ Gradually intensifying your workout sessions promotes muscle mass development and strength.
Advancing the load or weight is important for any exercise you choose, like bench press, deadlift, squats, seated rows, pulldowns, or pushdowns. This blog tells you when you should intensify your workout.
How to Know It’s Time to Increase the Intensity of Workout?
Many beginners during workouts may not be aware of when to increase the volume or intensity of their workout. Here are a few signs to know that it’s time to ramp up your workout:
- You are able to lift more easily than you used to a month ago.
- You can hit more than 12-15 reps in a set of any exercise.
- You are not gaining muscles at the same pace as before.
Ways to Get Progressive Overload
Since you know progressive overload is so crucial for your muscle growth, here are some tips to do it right:
1. Increase Weight
Gauge your fitness goals to lift weights in the gym accordingly and workout. When you start lifting weights, you need to increase it gradually. It helps tear your muscle fibers to rebuild them which pushes you to become stronger. Following this every month can be a good strategy to start with.
2. Stretch Your Workout Duration
Stretching your workout sessions helps you boost your endurance. It builds your strength and keeps your cardiovascular health in check. If you do 30 minutes of cardio (swimming, cycling, running) in the 1st month, you can stretch it to 45 minutes in the next month.
3. Try to Increase the Intensity of Workout
Increasing the intensity of any workout session is referred to boosting your fitness levels. In this, you can do your exercise at a faster pace and take shorter breaks in between the sets. If you do cardiovascular training, you can alter running and jogging timings every month. It is important to do it while maintaining proper form and technique to avoid any injury.
4. Increase Reps
You can increase the number of sets to break or shock your muscles. It is a perfect progressive overload technique for beginners who don’t lift heavy weights. It also helps you build muscle endurance. If you lift 50 kg and do 3 sets of 8, the next month, try to stretch the reps to 10 or 12 with the same weight.
Note: While doing progressive overload, make sure you maintain the proper form in each exercise and avoid injuries.
Summing Up
Whether you are underweight, normal weight, or overweight, you can analyze it using a BMI calculator (Body Mass Index). Based on this, you can set your fitness goals. You should monitor your workout sessions every time you get in shape with a spark in your mindset. Otherwise, you hit a plateau, and your muscles don’t grow after a certain period of time.
There are multiple ways of progressive overloading, such as increasing weight, reps, intensity, or workout duration. Remember, in all forms of exercise, you should maintain your form and listen to your body to avoid any injuries.
