Why You’re Not Getting Stronger: The Power of Progressive Overload Explained

A common strategy among people who want to start exercising is to pick an exercise (or a few exercises) and perform them the same way with the same number of reps and the same weight every day. Don't get me wrong, doing something is better than doing nothing. That being said, if you want to make consistent progress toward your goals you should know about progressive overload. "What's progressive overload" you ask? Well, I’ll tell you.

The human body is pretty amazing and can adapt to new stimulus very quickly. If you do 10 push ups every day, your body will acclimate to this new stressor and soon your progress will stall. Progressive overload is a principle which states that over time the stress that you are putting your body through (the workout) must progressively get more challenging in order for your body to continue to adapt. This doesn't mean every workout needs to be harder than the last, but you do need to continue challenging yourself.