I’m on a mission! A mission to stop the “pink dumbbell syndrome” aka PDS. Ok yes, I totally made that up, but hear me out. How often do you look at the cover of a fitness magazine and see a beautiful woman on the cover with killer shapely muscles holding two pink (or sometimes green) dumbbells? I know this is more for the aesthetics of the magazine cover, but I also feel like it gives the illusion to the reader that those are the weights she uses to get those amazing muscles. This couldn’t be further from the truth!
In order to get those awesome, magazine cover worthy, muscles you have to progressively overload the muscle for it to grow. So those small 5 pound pink dumbbells won’t do the trick. Let’s talk about why.
In order for muscles to grow (hypertrophy) they require a stimulus to basically tell your body “hey we need more muscle here”. That stimulus, among some other things, is the weight you are lifting. Intense resistance training causes muscle fiber disruption and damage which actually stimulates muscle growth through the repair process.
So, this is great right? All I need to do is just pick up some weights a few times and my muscles will grow! Ugh…if only this was true. Our bodies are very adaptive and won’t change or improve unless you force it to do so. Lifting the same weight over and over without changing will lead to your body/muscles adapting to that stimulus and won’t continue to grow. To make any changes or improvements regarding our muscles we need to provide a stimulus to the muscle that is beyond what it has previously experienced…this is progressive overloading. It’s the ability to do more over time by changing certain training variables to make progress towards your specific training goal.
So how do we actually progressively overload?
Put simply…we just want to do more over time. That can be done in a variety of different ways. The key is OVER TIME. This doesn’t happen overnight and MORE isn’t always better. Remember that muscle growth actually happens during the repair process. You don’t want to start changing all of these variables all at once. The key is to start with changing one thing and keep all others constant. This allows you to truly gauge your progress
So, what are your options for progressive overload? I have listed some easy ways below. These are by no means the ONLY ways to apply the progressive overload principle but they are a great place to start.
Increasing the volume
-
Increase the number of reps performed with the same weight
-
Increase the number of sets performed with the same weight
Increasing the load (weight) and intensity
-
Lifting heavier weights
-
Lifting the same weight after decreasing bodyweight
-
Decrease your rest between sets
-
Lifting load with more speed and acceleration
Range of motion
-
Lifting the same load but with greater distance/range of motion
Next time you are in the gym try making one of these changes to your lifts and see how you feel. Don’t forget to track your progress. Remember this is all about doing more over time. As long as you are consistently applying the progressive overload principle to your lifts you will likely see some pretty amazing results!
Happy lifting my friends!
Xx
Allison
