00:02hi everyone today we're going talk about
00:04Progressive overloads going to get right
00:06into it so Progressive overload I think
00:11misunderstood concept and behind
00:13mechanical tension it's probably the
00:16second most important one to consider
00:19because Progressive overload gives us
00:21feedback that adaptations are occurring
00:23from our training so what I mean by that
00:26is is that if you can go from one
00:28session to the next session and see an
00:30increase in performance that is
00:32essentially Progressive overload with
00:34all of the conditions being the same and
00:37that is where people get really confused
00:39because I think the confusing part for
00:42most people or the two words Progressive
00:44and then overload so they think of
00:45overload is adding stuff to the workout
00:48which does happen but it has to happen
00:51because adaptations occurred which
00:53allowed the addition of things in the
00:55workout I'm going to get to that so
00:57let's talk about first what Progressive
01:00properly defined is pro Progressive
01:02overload properly defined means under
01:04the same conditions as the previous
01:06workout we are now able to achieve
01:09either more repetitions with the same
01:10load that we used before to the same
01:13proximity to failure or we're able to
01:15add load and have the same amount do the
01:20repetitions again to the same proximity
01:22to failure so just using practical easy
01:26examples to follow to understand if we
01:28did 315 in our last workout for five
01:32reps now we're able to do 315 for six or
01:35even seven reps Etc and our last workout
01:38you're able to do 315 for five reps and
01:40now we can do 325 for five reps that's
01:43also a progressive Overlook those are
01:45two easy simple ways of progressive
01:47overload now the one of the ways that
01:51consistently gets brought up as a means
01:56overload probably the most common one is
01:58to say adding sets to your workout is
02:01Progressive overload adding sets to the
02:03workout is not Progressive overload
02:06adding sets to what you're already doing
02:08is just progressing your volume load so
02:10volume load is sets times reps time load
02:16and that gives you a volume load
02:19sometimes you'll hear PhD guys or guys
02:22involved in the research or whatever try
02:24to use volume load as a metric for
02:28hypertrophy it really isn't and again I
02:31know that you guys will hear guys you
02:33think are scientists or Educators or
02:35phds or whatever will try to equate
02:38volume load to hypertrophy and it really
02:41is a fairly useless metric I'll get in a
02:44minute to help you understand when it
02:46can be used but you cannot use volume
02:48load to create like a predict predictor
02:51of hypertrophy outcomes you just can't
02:53because you can do a multitude of things
02:56that will drastically increase volume
02:58load anytime you do higher reps you you
02:59could do higher reps very far away from
03:01failure and have a significantly higher
03:04volume load than say a heavy load of
03:06four to five reps to failure um or even
03:10a reer too shy of failure and you're
03:12going to have uh greater hypertrophy
03:14outcomes so you can't really use volume
03:17mod there's too many it adds too much
03:19complexity to for you to be able to
03:21accurately adjust so what we generally
03:23use is we use sets to failure or sets to
03:25a close proximity to failure 1 to two R
03:28those are better metrics to use
03:30now that's the most common when said as
03:33a way to to progressively overload your
03:35training again that's not Progressive
03:37overload as progressing your volume load
03:39the other one that you'll hear sometimes
03:41is that you can do um the load withd
03:45better execution this is also not
03:47Progressive overload because if you do
03:49315 for five sloppy reps you're not
03:52going to be able to do 315 for five
03:54strict reps and if you did you would
03:56able to be able to do much more than 315
03:59for the five sloppy reps which means
04:01that Progressive overload did occur but
04:03doing 315 for strict reps compared to
04:06315 for sloppy reps is not how you can
04:09say oh I'm going to I'm going to use
04:12that as a way of progressive overload
04:13because if you can only do 315 for five
04:15sloppy reps you're not immediately going
04:17to be able to do 315 for stri reps you'd
04:20have to back way off on load and again
04:23we have to have it increase in
04:24performance so you the really easy way
04:26to ask yourself are there some
04:28adaptations that occur heard that
04:30allowed me to do this that's why the
04:32whole adding a set thing there's no
04:33adaptations that you need to add a set
04:35to your training all you need to do is
04:37spend more time in the gym you can add
04:38sets as long as you want to so that's
04:40not Progressive overload another one is
04:43adding complexities like pauses drop
04:46sets like intensifiers all that kind of
04:48stuff again these all change what we
04:51were doing before so again Progressive
04:54overload under the same conditions as
04:56the previous workout we're now able to
04:58have higher degrees of performance and
05:00that is a reflection of that adaptations
05:02have occurred now the adaptations can be
05:05neural which usually means an
05:06improvement in rate coating which is
05:08essentially a a complicated way to say
05:12that as rate coating increases the rate
05:14at which we can discharge Action
05:17potentials from the brain um increases
05:19and that will increase performance the
05:21one of the other um neural adaptations
05:23that we'll see happen is that there once
05:26we get better at a an exercise there's a
05:30an antagonist activation um and then
05:33there's an increase in prime mover or
05:35Agonist Activation so neural drive also
05:39increases there's a multitude of neural
05:42adaptations that occur as we're learning
05:45a movement so once those neural
05:47adaptations are kind of in place then
05:50what we generally see is the progressive
05:53overload kind of kind of plateaus off
05:55and then is much slower and that is
05:58actually when most of the muscular
06:01adaptations are occurring not that
06:03there's not muscular adaptations
06:04occurring when the neural adaptations is
06:06occurring they're clearly is but the
06:09rate then from then on out is going to
06:10be not much neural adaptations and then
06:14adaptations so the second part that with
06:18that comes is that I think people often
06:23expectations about the rate of
06:25progressive overload um that is
06:27occurring in their training a lot of
06:29people think that if Progressive
06:32overload didn't happen from one workout
06:34one to workout two all the time so
06:37another words every single workout there
06:38should be Progressive overload that's
06:40not very realistic especially based on
06:42your training stats so when you first
06:44start training you will probably see
06:47Progressive overload occur vary rapidly
06:50and from workout to workout so workout
06:52one 2 3 four five you will probably be
06:55able to lift more load for more reps
06:59then from as you've been training
07:01consistently in an intelligent and hard
07:03manner for let's say 6 to 8 months
07:08Progressive overload especially if you
07:10are continuing to use the same exercises
07:11and get better at them Progressive
07:13overload is going to slow down
07:15significantly so as you start to enter
07:17kind of exit that Noob stage and get
07:20into the intermediate stage you will see
07:24a slow down of progressive overload
07:26naturally occur so most of the neural
07:29adaptation will have happened again
07:30we're talking about really using kind of
07:32the same motions and same exercises so
07:35the learning curve kind of had now
07:37starting to Plateau off and we're
07:39actually learning how to do these
07:40exercises in a more effective Manner and
07:43then we also are starting to climb up
07:46the motor unit recruitment um pool so
07:50when we first start we have a large
07:52deficit of motor unit recruitment so we
07:55can't really recruit the largest motor
07:58units that we actually are are able to
08:00because we haven't actually created the
08:02necessary muscular adaptations uh and
08:05the strength demands needed to continue
08:07to climb up that motor unit recruitment
08:09pool so we have a large motor unit
08:11recruitment deficit as we be begin to
08:13get more trained and we start to get
08:16stronger and have those neural and
08:17muscular adaptations and the body's like
08:19oh you're able to recruit more motor
08:22units and now I'm going to give you
08:23access to larger muscle fibers and then
08:25we're able to produce more force and
08:28then we're able to see higher degrees of
08:29strength expression so as that happens
08:33then what happens is we also begin to
08:36see that Plateau happen for Progressive
08:38overload and session to session because
08:40doing that is a much longer process and
08:44getting those muscular adaptations is
08:45much slower so as you start to learn
08:48motions and movements again that really
08:51starts the plateau off and then as we go
08:54into the phase of where we're trying to
08:57create more and more and more muscular
08:58additions uh and motor more motor un
09:01recruitment then that comes very slow so
09:04as you start to get out of that
09:05intermediate stage into the advanced
09:07stage Progressive overload will be even
09:08slower so then you're talking about
09:10Progressive overload happening at a much
09:13much slower rate and I'm just going to
09:15use myself an example because I can't
09:17speak for every other well-trained guy
09:19but I don't see Progressive overload
09:22happen maybe so if I go three or four
09:26workouts I'll expect to maybe add one
09:29repetition to an exercise um let's say
09:32it's a upper body day and I start out
09:34with a like a push so I'll expect to add
09:38a little bit of load or a repetition
09:40here there maybe every third workout
09:42maybe every fourth I don't sweat if it's
09:44not happening super fast and then again
09:47I I may have to work for a very long
09:49time for one um for one extra repetition
09:54normal um so as you get to beginner
09:59intermediate Advance the rate of
10:01progressive overload has a nonlinear
10:03relationship so it's going to actually
10:05start to go it's going to go like this
10:07and then it's going to Plateau off so
10:09beginner intermediate Advance like that
10:12right there and then you're going to
10:13have that Plateau that's going to occur
10:15and you're going to hit your you know
10:18maximum um probably within four five six
10:22years and I'm talking about being
10:23natural um of training and then you'll
10:26progression will be very slow from there
10:28on out not saying you cannot somebody
10:29going say I said you cannot progress you
10:32can progress for a very long time 15 20
10:35years it's just very slow at that point
10:37very very slow so most kind of like most
10:40of your the largest percentage of your
10:42muscular adaptations will come in the
10:45first year to 18 months of training um
10:48most that'll be when the fastest rate of
10:50progressive overload is also occurring
10:53the other question that I get asked all
10:56the time is that if I'm doing if I'm
10:58going a but and I see Progressive
11:00overload occurring or I don't see
11:03Progressive overload occurring does that
11:05mean in the former that I'm actually
11:08adding muscle and in the second if I
11:10don't see Progressive overload occurring
11:11or I even see a regression doesn't mean
11:13I'm losing muscle and in both instances
11:16the answer is not necessarily the either
11:18so you can see Progressive overload
11:20occurring near in cut and it doesn't
11:22mean that you're adding muscle it could
11:24but the issue is the magnitude of the
11:27addition would be very very very small
11:30unless you're a noob or unless you
11:33coming back you were
11:35drained um so you have to fit one of the
11:38descriptions of people who can see a
11:40significant degree of muscular
11:42accumulation while fat loss happens and
11:45generally that's noobs people who are
11:47drained people who are doing their first
11:49cycle and then I would say probably that
11:52fits within that spectrum is people who
11:55have been training but have not been
11:56training very hard or very intelligently
11:58so they can probably probably see some
12:00as well but for the most part even if
12:02you see Progressive overload happening
12:04in a cut you could it could mean that
12:06you're adding muscle but it also depends
12:07on the complexity of exercise so a more
12:10complex exercise will have a longer
12:11learning curve so you will see some of
12:14those neural adaptations continue on for
12:15a little bit longer so if you're doing
12:17squats I actually consider squats to be
12:19a little bit more um uh challenging I
12:22think that most people often realize um
12:25squats can take a long time to really
12:28perfect your movement patterns on that
12:29so if somebody was barbell squatting and
12:32they had not been doing a lot of bar
12:33barbell squats or hadn't been barbell
12:35squatting at all they could actually
12:36have a long period of time near in Cut
12:38where they see Progressive over
12:39occurring with the barbell squat just
12:41due to improving those coordination
12:43patterns so it doesn't necessarily mean
12:45depends on the motion you're doing is it
12:47highly stable if it's a highly stable
12:49exercise then the learning curve clearly
12:51for learning that exercise will be much
12:52shorter than a more complex exercise so
12:54the progressive overload in in terms of
12:56nurl adaptations will be relatively
12:58quickly just over the course of probably
13:00a few workouts a you maybe a few weeks
13:03so it all depends on the exercise um and
13:06of course your training status so it
13:09doesn't mean you are but it's definitely
13:11a good sign if you're in a fat loss
13:13phase and you're still seeing
13:15Progressive overly occurring so at
13:16minimum is still a very good sign that
13:18you've got good adaptations going on and
13:20you're clearly not losing muscle and
13:21that's the most important aspect is to
13:23retain all the muscle that we have and a
13:26cutting face now the second one is if I
13:28don't see Progressive overload occurring
13:30in a fat loss phase does that mean I'm
13:32losing mass no if you can still perform
13:34at the same level then you're at least
13:35keeping your the muscle that you
13:37currently have if you see a reduction
13:40then it could mean that there's
13:41multitude a multitude of other factors
13:43going on that are contributing to your
13:46reduction um in performance in the gym
13:48for example very low um super super low
13:51carbohydrate diets um and like keto or
13:54keto or carnivore Etc so forth and so on
13:57will make it so that um excitation
14:00contraction coupling failure is going to
14:01be more prominent in your training and
14:04what that means is is that the the
14:06largest fibers won't actually be able to
14:09achieve mechanical tension or produce
14:11force uh due to the fact that excitation
14:14contraction coupling failure has is
14:15occurring due to those very low
14:17carbohydrate intakes um my buddy Chris
14:20berley has some really good infographics
14:22on that particular topic you guys should
14:24look that up we also did a podcast uh
14:27with Joe goo on on that particular
14:30subject to go more in depth about the
14:32mechanisms but that's also generally why
14:35in the keto research you don't see
14:37significant muscular addition happen
14:40even when they have said the people
14:42doing keto were in a dietary or coor
14:45Surplus so um I don't get into nutrition
14:48stuff that much anymore I'm just saying
14:50if you see Progressive overload going
14:52down or you're losing performance in a
14:54cut there's it probably has um it could
14:58be your training but a lot of times that
15:00has to do with the fact that if you're
15:02in a really deep cut like let's say you
15:03going in a contest prep that's pretty
15:05normal the last couple weeks to see a
15:08potential reduction in training
15:09performance but if you're just cutting
15:11down to 10% you should absolutely not
15:13see a reduction in training performance
15:15if you are just cutting to 10% or say
15:17even eight or 9% I don't think you
15:20should see any massive reduction in
15:22performance um if that if you do that
15:25tells me that you're probably doing
15:27something very wrong either with your
15:28training or your diet or both so that's
15:30the best answer I can give for that
15:33so that I think covers almost everything
15:35I can cover about Progressive overload
15:38Chris and I are actually going to do the
15:39next podcast on Progressive overload
15:41topic so we'll expound on this a bit
15:43more and talk about probably all of the
15:45same same topics so there's my 15
15:48minutes of rambling I hope you guys
15:50enjoyed it have a blessed day
