APPLICATION OF PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD.
Muscular adaptation are the changes that occur to a muscle as a result of exercise or training. This includes:
- Fiber hypertrophy - an increase in the cross-section of the muscle.
- Mitochondrial content - an increase in the number of mitochondria in muscle fibres. It varies depending on the type of muscle fibre. Slow twitch have more mitochondria than fast twitch which makes them withstand prolonged usage.
- Respiratory capacity - the ability of muscles to oxidize pyruvate which is a form of energy.
- Metabolic changes - applies to how the muscles use energy for example over reliance on fat oxidation or use of glycogen in the muscles.
- Lactate tolerance - the ability of the muscles to delay fatigue as a result of accumulated byproduct of energy production.
- Neural adaptation - an increase in the number and firing rate of motor units. They are responsible for conveying information from the muscle cells to the central nervous system and vice versa.
- Muscle architecture - it is the specific arrangement of muscle fibres within a muscle.
Hitting a plateau tends to be a huge limiting factor for advanced lifters. Often times, any form of muscle stimulation for a newbie can keep these adaptations elevating.
This proves the fact that it's easier to make huge gains at the initial lifting phase than in the advanced phases. As long as the fundamentals of the groundwork i.e. proper technique, ability to differentiate proper stimulation from pain/discomfort, nutrition and recovery are in check, then the take off tends to be on point.
After three plus years of lifting, the chances of a plateau tends to be on a high and that's where progressive overload comes in.
Breaking through weight lifting plateaus.
Progressive overload is a strategy used in strength and hypertrophy training, that encourages a gradual increase of the stress placed on the musculoskeletal and nervous system. The science behind it is to constantly challenge the muscle by ensuring the adaptation aspect is pushed to greater heights. It constitutes of various variables i.e.
- Volume - this means the total work done, translating to the amount of repetitions, sets and load used during a session.
- Intensity - meaning the level of effort during the workout. Basically how hard a particular muscle is working. ( The rate of perceived exertion).
- Duration - refers to the time spent on a set, rep or overall workout. This can be tweaked by use of variables like time under tension (TUT) or a decrease in the rest periods.
- Frequency - refers to how often an individual performs specific workouts, typically on a weekly basis. This comes in handy for lagging muscles.
The impact of progressive overload on hypertrophy training versus strength training.
Hypertrophy training.This simply means an increase in muscle size. It's highly influenced by adequate muscle stimulation. This can be tweaked using various variables of progressive overload. Unlike strength training which is a performance outcome, hypertrophy training leans more towards the structural outcome. This translate to aesthetics being a dominant factor.
Speaking of volume, the ideal number of sets per week on different muscle groups is 10-20 for advanced lifters and 8-12 sets for beginners. The ideal number of reps per set would be 8-12. The load should gradually increase overtime to constantly challenge the muscle. The increment can be determined by various factors but the safest should be ability to do more reps of the initial load at ease.
Speaking of intensity, various variables can be used to achieve this. The common being, tweaking the volume used by constantly incrementing the previous reps, load or sets. Others include: reduction of rest periods in between sets, use of different tempos during lifting, exercise selection, advanced techniques like use of drop sets and application of full range of motion.
Speaking of duration, by focusing on how much time our muscles are under tension, various variables come into play. Time under tension (TUT) stands out among the best techniques to achieve this. This means slowing down the rate of each phase mostly eccentric to maintain constant if not sufficient tension on the muscle.
Speaking of frequency,this can be approached by increasing number of training sessions while ensuring adequate recovery. This is where different workout splits come into play. Push, pull, legs and rest then repeat is a common split which highly promotes this aspect. Use of periodization where one enhances their training into different cycles of volume and intensity can easily help achieve this.
Strength training for 1 rep max.
It is the maximum amount of weight that can be lifted for one repetition. It involves engagement of particular exercises ideally deadlift, squats and bench press that aid the muscles in handling heavier loads. The concept of 1 rep max acts as a benchmark in assessing an individual's strength capabilities. This amount in one of its differences to hypertrophy type of training. The safest way of approaching this type of training is Periodization where the sessions are split into different cycles. A macrocycle tends to be the longest amounting to several months to a year, aimed at long term goals. A mesocycle usually 4-6 weeks, a great phase to focus on specific goals. A microcycle which is the shortest, going for a couple of days or a week. It's meant to focus on the fundamental short term goals like working on the correct form.
Speaking of volume, load tends to be a key factor in this. The end goal for the macrocycle is to be in a comfortable position to lift the heaviest load possible but still maintain good technique. Number of reps tends to be between 3-5. Sets will gradually decrease as you move up the cycles.
Speaking of intensity, it can be tweaked by a gradual increment of load. This will constantly challenge the neuromuscular structure. An increase in the previous number of sets and reps will be a good idea for the increment.
Speaking of duration, rest periods will be a key factor in this. Longer rest periods of about 1-3 minutes per set would be ideal to ensure proper recovery. This comes in handy as a result of too much pressure placed on the muscles and cardiorespiratory system from the heavy lifts.
Speaking of frequency, this can be done by increasing number of training sessions. The aspect of recovery tends to be quite crucial in this form of training. Having sessions that have a mixture of higher loads and others with lower loads will be ideal to prevent over training (Undulating periodization). This will help with consistency.
Apart from progressive overload, other factors also contribute to the differences. Exercise selection highly differs between the two.
Speaking of hypertrophy training, it boils down to muscle stimulation. Any form of exercise when executed properly can achieve this. On the other hand, principle of specificity plays a key role in the one rep max strength training. This means that to perfect on these exercises, same movement pattern has to be practiced from the beginning.
The three key movements tend to be the primary exercises. Secondary exercises aids in boosting the stabilizing muscles responsible for the primary exercises.
Increase in muscle size is the primary focus for hypertrophy training. This is affected by how well the muscular structure is tweaked. Strength tends to be the primary focus for one rep max strength training. This is affected by how well the neuromuscular structure is tweaked.
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