8 Variables to Get the BEST Results from Your Workouts.
Have you been feeling like you aren’t getting the best results that you can from your training? Are you putting in a ton of work to only feel like you are getting little back? Social media is filled with different workouts and ‘experts’ who make figuring out just what exactly to be focusing on confusing. This blog post is here to clear up that confusion!
To continue to see success and results in your training your main focus needs to be on progressive overload. What exactly does this mean? The principle of progressive overload states that one must continually increase the stress applied to the body to avoid plateaus in strength and progress. This can be done a number of ways by manipulating one or more of the 8 training variables. Regardless of your health and fitness goal, something has to change in order for you to change.
Check out the following 8 training variables that apply to progressive overload that will help you to get the best results!
Weight (Increase)
There’s only one way to progressively overload with weight, and that’s to dial it up. As you become stronger, the weight will become easier, calling for you to increase the weight on the bar
Rest (Decrease)
Rest is one of the primary determinants of the overall intensity of your workout. The amount of rest in between exercises is determined by your goals (5-8 minutes for power, 2-5 minutes for strength, 1-2 minutes for hypertrophy, 30-60 seconds for endurance). Performance, level of difficulty and the metabolic demands that will be placed on you during the training session will increase as rest time is decreased.
Muscle Action (Modify)
This refers to the concentric, eccentric, and isometric actions of an exercise. Most workout programs follow a standard, concentric focused routine. By adding variety and stressing the eccentric and isometric parts of the movement, the stress on the body increases!
Emphasizing the negative (eccentric) portion of a lift increases the time under tension and provides a greater stretch through a full ROM than you would get concentrically. And performing circa-maximal or supra-maximal eccentric overload is great for increases in strength and size, not to mention amazing plateau breakers
Exercise Tempo (Increase / Decrease)
By modifying the tempo of an exercise, we’re indirectly emphasizing one of the 3 muscle actions previously mentioned
If you have been following the standard 1:1 concentric/ eccentric exercise tempo, try emphasizing the negative portion of the lift to increase the time under tension (i.e., 1:3 concentric eccentric)
Exercise Type (Modify)
You can manipulate exercise type as an overload variable through exercise progression (i.e., reverse crunch –> decline reverse crunch) or by modifying the exercise stimulus
In modifying the exercise stimulus, you’re taking an exercise and modifying the mechanics. Instead of performing the conventional deadlift, you can switch it up by performing a sumo deadlift, snatch grip deadlift, deficit deadlift, and so on
Number of Exercises (Increase)
By increasing the number of exercises, you are increasing the frequency of a muscle group and total volume per training session. Before adding to the number of exercises in your training program, take frequency into consideration (the next training variable)!
Frequency (Increase)
You can increase frequency by increasing the number of training sessions per week (2x/week to 4x/week) or how often you train a specific muscle group (i.e., moving from glutes 1x/week to 2x/week)
Again, frequency inherently lives within other training variable parameters such as the number of exercises and total volume, which should be taken into consideration before modifying
Total Volume (Increase)
Volume can be increased by increasing the total number of repetitions or sets for the workout. Start by adding repetitions, then add sets if needed.
If you’re doing a rear delt fly at 4 sets of 8 reps for 30 pounds, keep the weight and sets the same for the next workout but increase the number of repetitions to 10. Adding an entire set can be taxing because of the sudden increase in volume. If you have been doing 4 sets at 12 reps of 3 exercises and you increase the volume by adding a set to each exercise, you’ve just increased your total volume by 36 repetitions in a single training session.
Utilizing these 8 training variables in your strength training will help you to get the best results and erase your fears of plateauing or not making progress! Get in there and make it happen!