Strength Progression: The Key to Muscle Growth
November 21 2009
The reason why I picked strength progression is that it is one of the cardinal rules of lifting and probably the most ignored in the gym. How much have you increased the weight lifted in an exercise in the last 6 months? If you have no clue, then keep reading.
What is strength progression?
It is simply the gradual process of increasing the amount of weight you lift in each exercise.
Why is strength progression Important?
Your body is designed to be incredibly efficient: It likes to spend the least amount of resources and energy to keep it ticking
If you are using a 10 lb weight, your nervous system, your muscles and your connective tissue has adapted just enough (and not an ounce more) to lift that 10lb weight. It sees no glory whatsoever in increasing your muscle if you are not bothered to increase that 10lb weight.
If you have been using the same weight you did for months, I will give you a 100% money back guarantee that haven’t made any positive changes to your muscle. It’s sad, but true.
Should I progress in reps or weight?
Once you hit 15 reps, the weight gets really low for the muscle to make any appreciable adaptations. So progression generally in strength training means increase in weights lifted.
Is strength increase important for muscle growth?
Your strength is depended on 2 factors: Nervous system adaptation and Muscle growth.
If your strength is climbing, it’s due to one of these factors, usually both. You cannot really control which factor dominates your strength increase. Hence, if your strength is increasing and you are eating well, you can be rest assured that you are gaining muscle.
So how should I progress in strength?
There are different ways to progress in weight:
Option 1: Have a repetition range, like 8-10 reps than just 8 reps or 10 reps. When you get 10 reps with a weight, increase the weight by 5 or 10lbs - and now try to get 8 reps. With just one number like 8 or 10, it becomes hard not to be subjective in deciding when to go up in weights:
Option 2: Start at a low weight and keep adding 5lbs to your upper body exercises and 10lb to your lower body exercises every workout. When you cannot increase the weight for 2 consecutive workouts, change the exercise and repeat.
Option 3: If you have been stuck at the same weight for more than 2 workouts, decrease the weight by 5-10% and take 2-3 weeks to get to the previous weight and then break through the plateau.
This is the most popular method if you do not want to change your exercise. It’s basically called an “Intensity deload”.
Option 4: Start at 12 reps and decrease the reps by 2 every 2-3 weeks. So week 1 & 2: 12 reps, Week 3 & 4: 10 reps, Week 5 & 6: 8 reps and so on.
Practical Tips
- Keep a workout log to chart your progress
- Plan your progression before your workouts: Write down a realistic progression goal for each exercise.
