Progression is Mandatory

Let's talk about the concept of "progression". In order to get the most out of your workouts, they must be progressive. By progressive I mean that your routine should get harder over time. There are plenty of ways that you can increase the difficulty of your workouts. Before I get into the them, I want to make one clear caveat to all of this. I cannot stress how general my examples are below. While the concept of progression is simple, the execution of effective progression in a workout program is nuanced. This is where personal trainers come in. A personal trainer has studied how to progress clients through each period of their program in a safe and effective way, based on the goals and objectives of the client. That's not to say you cannot learn it on your own, but please don't let the simplicity of the concept lead you to think that executing progression effectively is necessarily easy. Different progressions and combination of progressions elicit difference adaptations in the body. Knowing what to change, when to change it and how to change it takes experience and every person's body is different and adapts differently.

-Intensity: this is how much weight you are using for a given rep and set. If you were doing 185lbs on your bench press last week for 3 sets of 6 reps, this week you might aim for 190lbs, next week you may aim for 195lbs, and so on. Generally speaking, a 5lbs increase for major lifts per week is recommended if strength is the focus of the program for that period.

-Reps: this is how many times you execute a movement in a given set. If you were doing 185lbs on your bench press last week for 3 sets of 6 reps, this week you might aim for 185lbs for 3 sets of 8 reps. The following week you may aim for 185lbs for 3 sets of 10 reps. This type of progression would increase your endurance week over week. Generally speaking, an increase of 2 reps each week is recommended if endurance is the focus of the program for that period.

-Sets: this is how many times you performance a series of reps of a specific movement. If you were doing 185lbs on your bench press last week for 3 sets of 6 reps, then this week you might aim for 185lbs for 4 sets of 6 reps. The progression of sets can have different uses. At lower rep ranges (6-8), adding a set will increase volume and primarily be a progression focused on strength. If you were working higher rep ranges (15+), add a set will increase endurance. Progressing the number of sets beyond 5 is generally reserved for more advanced and experienced lifters.

-Tempo: this is the pace that a rep is performed and is often described in a series of numbers. For example, 4-0-1-0 would read as 4 second down (eccentric), 0 seconds of pause at the bottom of the eccentric movement, 1 second up (concentric), and 0 seconds at the top of the concentric movement. Tempo progressions are typically reserved for move advanced and experienced lifters. Tempo can be used to generate more power (faster tempos) and can also be used to increase the amount of time the muscles are under tension for muscle building or hypertrophy (slower tempos).

-The Type of Exercise: most exercise movements can be changed in a way that makes them more difficult to perform. This could include changing the stability of the client (e.g., standard Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift progressed to a single leg Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift), or changing the mechanical advantage of an exercise (e.g., moving the elbow away from the body during an arm exercise).

-Rest: the amount of time you rest between sets of exercises. This may be one of the simplest ways to progress a workout, especially for newer lifters. Shortening the amount of time between sets can increase cardio and endurance and make the overall workout more challenging.

The concept of progression is based on the fact that your body adapts very well to the stresses placed on it. Once the body adapts, the progress of your workout essentially stops. You can remain health doing the same thing over and over again, but you won't get any stronger, faster, more powerful, more coordinated, or build endurance. If your goal is to continue to improve in those areas, you have to progress your workouts in a structured and safe way.