Overview
Let’s say you’ve come up with the perfect workout (for you). It’s got a solid pick of exercises. Now what?
You could repeat the same 1 (or 3, or 5) workouts forever. Same exercises, same reps, same sets. It’s safe to say that it’s fairly obvious this isn’t going to work – otherwise every person in the gym would be Arnold sized by now. Plus, it just seems mindnumbingly boring.
In other words, we need to adjust our intra-session and inter-session variables in order to make progress. Putting aside all the lifting jargon, there are three, and only three, things that you can do.
- Add things to your variables
- Change things in your variables
- Remove things from your variables
Put it like that and we can realise it’s conceptually very straightforward.
If we reapply this with lifting terminology, it looks something like this:
Add
- Increase load on an exercise
- Increase repetitions on an exercise
- Increase intensifiers on an exercise
- Increase sets on an exercise
- Add an exercise
- Decrease rest times between sets on an exercise
- Increase tempo on each repetition of an exercise
- Improve form on each repetition of an exercise
Change
- Swap out an exercise
- Change the order of exercises
- Adjust intensity on a movement pattern / muscle group
- Adjust volume on a movement pattern / muscle group
- Adjust frequency on a movement pattern / muscle group
Remove
- Decrease load on an exercise
- Decrease repetitions on an exercise
- Decrease sets on an exercise
- Remove an exercise
We can further divide this into micro-scale adjustments (smaller, tactical type changes) and macro-scale adjustments (larger, strategic type changes).
Progression will covers smaller changes, and periodisation encompasses larger ones.
Progression
At the most basic level, if we can simply add straightforward variables and see progress, we should start with that.
Conceptually it looks like this.
- Keeping strict form and the same number of reps and sets, increase load by 2kg or 2.5kg per session until you reach failure and cannot match the reps.
- Keeping strict form, increase reps by 1 or 2 reps per session within a set rep range, e.g. 5-10, 8-12, or 10-15 reps. At the end of this, increase load by 2kg or 2.5kg.
- Keeping strict form, add an intensifier or add an additional set.
- Rotate in a different style of the set for the same exercise.
- Rotate in a different exercise with the same movement pattern.
The first point is pure linear progression. You will quickly realise this will not last very long, but it’s fine to start with it when it’s working.
Second, we move onto a double progression scheme. By alternating reps and load, we give our body more time to adapt to the new load and build the requisite strength and control to progress.
Third, we can increase the number of failure points. An additional set or an intensity technique is really not too dissimilar, either way the goal is to increase the number of times the muscle reaches failure. Note that this is not nearly as fundamental as our double progression, and this should be treated as icing on the cake, to be added in sparing doses.
Fourth, we can change variables as opposed to simply adding to them. The obvious point is to perform the same exercise in slightly different ways, treating it as a load set, a control set, or a pump set.
Fifth, we can simply rotate to an alternate exercise that fits the same motor pattern.
This all may seem simple, but correct execution of this is simply the key to progress. Figuring out the micro is key before we start adjusting macro level variables; otherwise with so many moving parts we simply won’t know what’s working and what’s not.
Periodisation
We’ve discussed the bottom-up micro approach, and there’s something to be said for a top-down macro approach.
We are borrowing from a sports term here and periodisation is most often used in the realm of high level performance, the classic textbook example being a 4 year periodised plan for an Olympic athlete. Now we’re probably not an Olympic athlete, so what should we take away from these concepts?
The idea of cycling between areas of focus, either of particular body parts or training attributes, makes a lot of sense. While periodisation probably doesn’t directly create greater hypertrophy adaptations, unlike say strength adaptations for powerlifting, there are still benefits in ensuring training is well rounded.
In practice the options look something like this:
- Cycle between training attributes; hypertrophy, strength, cardio, locomotion
- Cycle between body parts; an upper body or lower body specialisation cycle, for instance
- Utilising deload/devolume weeks and re-sensitation month to rest between training blocks