If you're someone who's serious about getting fit and building muscle, then you've probably heard of progressive overload.

This training principle refers to the gradual increase of mechanical tension you place on your muscles over time as you progress.

The idea is that as you get stronger, you need to keep challenging your body in order to keep making progress.This is super important because if your program doesn't have any progressional overload, you can't progress, which means you can't achieve your dream physique.

There are lots of methods to choose from but Rep range progression will be best for most people who want to pack on muscle fast.

This is an easy method of progressional overload to use for both beginners and advanced trainees, because both weight and reps are systematically used to add progression to an exercise which ensures that your muscles are getting stronger and you are achieving a sufficient stimulus to grow each workout. 

Here's A Breakdown Of How To Use Rep Range Progressive Overload.

How Does Rep Range Progression Work?

Your first set, like a linear progression, serves as your progression guideline. Your objective with a weight is to reach your target rep range, but you are not expected to meet your rep target every session. You either increase your reps or your weight.

Reps are usually lost when you increase weight. You keep this weight and attempt to do more repetitions until you reach your rep goal, then you add additional weight and repeat.

Example:

Bicep curl, you hit your target reps of 20kgx15reps, you then add 22.5kg. But you only hit 22.5kgx12reps. So next session you hit 22.5kgx13reps, next session 22.5kgx14reps, next 22.5kgx15reps. You then add weight again.

What If I Progress Faster Than Expected? 

This is called Auto Regulation Progression. If you can add more weight than a single increment and hit your rep target, Go for it!

What If I Stop Progressing (AKA Hitting a Plateau)

If you get stuck on the same reps x weight for two weeks in a row, increase the weight by 10% next session up to 3RM compound and 5RM for isolated exercises. After that go back down an increment and try increase you reps again. Repeat if needed.

Example:

Bicep curl, 20kgx13, next session 20kgx13, next session 22kgx9, next session 20kgx14, next session 20kgx15

What If Im Getting Weaker Across Workouts?

Then you need to do a reactive deload for that exercise. 

Reactive Deload

1)If you are 2+ reps under the reps you need to progress, then you may need a reactive deload.

2)If you increase the weight and you feel your reps have dropped off a lot more than they should have, then you can use your second set to determine if a deload is required. If you are 2+ lower in your second set than the last session then deload.

Click Here To Learn More About Reactive Deloads.

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