The Only Workout Principle You’ll Ever Need to Build Muscle And Strength
One that more than 90% of the people I see don’t know about
In the fitness industry, it’s not information but misinformation that is the norm. And the simple process of building muscle and strength is portrayed as a twisted enigma
Gimmicky exercises by Instagram fitness models, useless workout programs by fitness “gurus”, and bro-science advice by gym bros around the world.
With this pervasion of fluff, half-baked knowledge, and pseudo-science, the fundamentals and legit information have faded into oblivion.
In my fitness journey, it took me 2 years and a lot of costly mistakes to be able to look beyond the bro-science. And when I did — I outdid my 2 years of progress in just 9 months.
Exercise selection, training close to failure, using compound lifts, etc. are all important but at its core — working out to build muscle and strength involves the adherence to just one main principle.
Progressive Overload: The Only Principle You Need
Your body only cares about surviving. And when in starvation, fat stores come in handy. So, when it comes to gaining weight, your body prefers storing the extra weight as fat and not muscle.
This is where resistance exercise comes in. When you workout, you “challenge” your muscles and your body responds or adapts by building muscle and getting stronger.
“To continually build muscle and strength, you need to continually increase the demands placed on your body.”
So muscle and strength are nothing but your body’s adaptations to the stress placed on it. This is why — if you don’t continually increase the demands placed on your body, your progress will stagnate. So, by lifting those same 2.5 kg dumbbells for weeks together, you won’t build muscle or strength.
So to continually build muscle and strength, you need to continually increase the demands placed on your body. This is exactly what progressive overload is — gradually increasing the total workout volume over time.
The mythical Milo of Croton was said to have carried a bull calf every single day and as it grew older and heavier, he became stronger and more muscular. Again, classical progressive overload!
5 Ways to Incorporate Progressive Overload
Workout volume is a measure of how “much” you’re working out. And weekly workout volume in very rough terms can be thought of as = Number of Total Weekly Sets X Number of Reps X the Weight Used.
Progressive overload is all about increasing this volume and there are multiple ways to go about it.
The First, Best, and Most Common Way
This is through an increase in the weight used. So if you performed say 4 sets of 12 reps with 80 kgs on the bench press in your last session, you’d aim to perform the same 4 sets of 12 reps but with 82.5 kgs this time.
Most famous workout programs implement progressive overload this way. The beauty of this method is the ease — all you have to do is slap an extra 1.25 kg or 2.5 kg on each side of the barbell and boom!
An added benefit is the linear strength increase— 2.5 kg weekly increases might not seem like much but over the course of months and years, they can compound to unimaginable results.
To use this method, track your workouts. Use your phone’s notes app to note down the sets, weights used, and the reps performed of every workout. And in the next workout, aim to get at least one set with a higher weight.
Another Really Good Way
If you’re using dumbbells or are working out at home, the first method becomes hard to implement. This is where the second one comes in — increasing the reps per set.
So if you performed sets of 12 reps with the 25 kg dumbbells, you’d aim to get 13 reps with the same 25 kg dumbbells in the next session.
You can even use the first and second methods in conjunction as I did with weighted pullups at home — I started off with 16 kgs for 4 reps and how I progressed over the weeks was — 16 kgs for 5, 16 kgs for 6, 18 kgs for 4, 18 kgs for 5, 18 kgs for 6, 20 kgs for 4, and so on until I reached 22 kgs for 4.
Three Not so Efficient Ways
There are three more ways — do more sets, perform slower reps, or use stricter form.
The problem with all three is scalability — you can’t keep increasing the number of sets you perform. The form can only be so strict. And reps can’t be indefinitely slowed down. Weight and reps on the other hand can be increased indefinitely.
These three methods can be useful during one main occasion— progression using the first two methods becomes impossible.
Back in college, I seemed to be stuck on 80 kgs for 5 reps on the barbell rows. With both 82.5 kgs for 5 reps and 80kgs for 6 reps, my form would break down. For weeks I stuck to 80 kgs for 5 reps clueless as to how to progress further.
This is when these 3 techniques came in handy. I added one more set of 80 kgs for 5, tightened up my form, and gradually slowed down my reps.
After 3 weeks, I managed to increase both the weight and reps— I did sets of 82.5 kgs for 6!
Final Words
Progressive overload is the holy grail of building muscle and strength. So make it the core of your workout philosophy.
Use your phone’s note-taking app and note down the sets, weight used, and reps of every workout. And every session, try to beat at least one set of the last session in terms of reps or weight.
When this seems impossible, perform an additional set, slow down the reps, and/or use a stricter form.
Rinse and repeat.
