
Long femurs? You probably won’t set any squat records, but your weighted back extension strength is going to kick some serious butt. You’ll find that due to your unique body type, you’ll have an advantage with some exercises and a huge disadvantage with others.
Progressive overload explained full#
Even my (at the time) 13-year old niece, a very good volleyball player, full squatted 95 lbs, trap bar deadlifted 135 lbs, and single leg hip thrusted (all with excellent form) in her very first weight training session.īut these people are not you. Sports had strengthened his legs and upper body so that he was able to start out at a much more advanced level than most beginners. Though he was an athlete, surprisingly he had never lifted weights before. Within six months she was doing goblet full squats, barbell hip thrusts, Bulgarian split squats, and deadlifts from the floor with 95 lbs.Ĭonversely, the strongest beginner (a high-school wrestler) I ever trained was able to use 185 lbs for full squats, 225 lbs for deadlifts, 225 lbs for hip thrusts, 155 lbs for bench press, and could do Bulgarian split squats, single leg hip thrusts, and chin ups with great form. Granted, she was performing the most remedial variations of those exercises, but this is what was right for her at the time. This same client also performed glute bridges, step-ups from a 4” step, and hip-hinge drills – all done with just bodyweight.īut guess what? She was squatting, hip thrusting, step-upping, and deadlifting. The weakest beginner I ever trained (a middle-age woman who had been completely sedentary for around 15-years) had to start out with bodyweight high box squats on the adjustable step-up platform so that she was only descending around 8 inches before sitting on the box. Chances are you’ll fall somewhere in between these two individuals. Let me provide you with two examples – the starting point for the weakest non-elderly and non-injured beginner I’ve trained as well as the starting point for the strongest beginner I’ve trained. When you begin an exercise, start out as light as possible and gradually work your way up. This exercise is definitely not right for you, right? Wrong! The exercise is probably right for you, but your approach was all wrong.ĭo not concern yourself with what others use for loading. It feels awkward, unnatural, you don’t feel the right muscles working, and it even seems jarring on the joints and potentially injurious. You think you’re a strong cat, so you load up the plates and find that the exercise just doesn’t feel right. You’ve seen all sorts of Youtube videos of strong lifters hoisting hundreds of pounds. Let’s say you’re brand new to a particular exercise.

Progressive Overload starts with whatever you can do with perfect technical form

Here are the ten rules of progressive overload:ġ. Since I can’t be there with you, I’ll give you some advice to adhere to, which should make your life easier. In order for me to know exactly how you should progress, I have to be with you, watching you train. Unfortunately, I can’t give you a precise prescription. Due to the large variance in the fitness abilities of people when they first embark on a training regimen, it’s a little more complicated than simply telling someone to “add 10 more pounds to the bar each week,” or “do 2 more reps with the same weight each week.” You won’t find many comprehensive articles on this topic as it’s pretty difficult to write an all-encompassing article pertaining to progressive overload. For example, you could be adding some weight to the bar, doing more reps, and/or having more productive training sessions. Well, progressive overload simply means that you’re doing more over time. Perhaps you’re new to lifting and you’re wondering exactly what progressive overload is.
Progressive overload explained how to#
In this article, I’m going to teach you how to go about progressive overload – the most important law in strength training.
