Progressive Overload

 Cause Long-Term Training adaptations  Applying a workload to an athlete to cause enough stress to continue to adapt  Ensuring that the body adapts in a positive and healthy manner (not overworking it)

Simply put, progressive overload is constantly challenging your muscles and heart by putting them through different workouts on a regular basis, so they don't adapt to a routine. This includes: -Regularly increasing intensity by adding weight, once it become too easy. -Constantly changing number of reps and using the appropriate weights to match, to improve strength, size and endurance. -Add more sets to each exercise performed. -Add more exercises per a muscle group. -Changing exercise types to hit your muscles in different ways.

 -Training with different Program Modifications. This means doing upper/lower splits one work out, then full body, then focusing on only a couple of muscles etc. -Progressing intensity of cardio sessions -Progressing time of cardio sessions. You should be working on more intense workouts in less time, and less intense sessions, with more time. -Changing equipment type for lifting and cardiovascular activity. -Progressive overload can also include adding more days to your workout week.

Step one:  You must first look at what component of fitness your trying to improve.  Then you will be able to make an appropriate alteration to your program  Local Muscular Endurance – What would be the best way to overload this component?

Step Two:  Determine how much overload is needed to improve on the adaptation that we are aiming for.  Ensure that only ONE parameter or variable is manipulated at any one time.  The amount of overload should fall between 2 and 10 % of the work already being performed.

Step Three:  Ensuring that the overload is working.  Make sure training sessions either increase in difficulty or athletes appear to be working harder.  Athletes or you should also have an slight increase in muscle fatigue post working out.

Step Four:  For successful overload to occur then adequate recovery needs to be involved  This comes down to the periodisation of your training program.  Correct recovery will in an increased level and speed of adaptation.

 Figure 10.6  What period of time does this represent?  How could the accelerated recovery take place?  If the red line doesn’t have a chance to return to the black line before work takes place again, what may happen?  Figure 10.7  What’s taking place every 4 weeks?  How can the load/duration continued to be improved?  What would happen to this graph if the program continued over 52 weeks?

 Figure 10.8  What’s the difference between the two examples in figure 10.8?  How can you determine this?  Do you think your training program would display in a similar way on a graph at the end of six weeks?

 Questions on page 273