http://thinkmuscle.com/forum/showthread.php?38905-HST-porgressive-overload-question&p=212947#post212947
1) Mechanical Load is the primary stimulus for adult muscle growth.
2) The load must be of sufficient magnitude to elicit a growth response. This can be referred to as the “Minimum Effective Load” (MEL).
3) The MEL must be applied for sufficient duration to elicit growth (i.e. Time Under Load or Time Under Tension or Time-Tension Integral). This is commonly called Minimum Effective Volume (MEV).
4) The MEL must be applied with sufficient frequency for a net gain of muscle tissue.
Now, here’s the kicker principles (and by kicker I mean bummer).
5) The MEL and MEV threshold for triggering growth is not static, but moves up or down depending on the loading environment to which it was most recently subjected to.
6) As the threshold moves up MEL and MEV must be increased if a consistent rate of growth is to occur. This principle is most commonly referred to as Progressive Load, or Progressive Resistance, or Progressive Overload.
7) As the threshold moves up, further growth becomes slower and more difficult until further growth eventually stops. This is sometimes called the principle of diminishing returns. The physiological adaptation is referred to as the “Repeated Bout Effect” (RBE).
These are the basic principles of exercise induced muscle growth. No matter what combination of sets and reps and weight and frequency a person uses, they are dealing with (battling?) these same principles
