Fuel Your Strength: Progressive Overload Not Working?

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Mar 28, 2023

When I hear people struggling with a lack of progress in training, it immediately brings some other questions to my mind. Adding additional weight is not the only thing you need to be paying attention to in your workouts. Nutrition, recovery, mindset, and training program are all important factors in reaching your goals, and they cannot be ignored.

If You Want to See the Most From Your Progressive Overload, You Should:

Make sure that your program is designed with your specific goals in mind
Check how the different phases of your program are being transitioned with your bigger picture in mind
Pay attention to your nutrition, recovery, and mindset, as they are equally as important to your training program

Stop the Comparison

Sometimes, as we age through our 40s and beyond, we think that we should always be able to hit heavier and heavier and heavier weights. With the right program, recovery, nutrition, and mindset, you can continue to do hard shit, but you must be willing to adjust your expectations. Heavy ‘now’ and what your heavy was before don't need to be compared. It's all about hitting your goals and continuing to get stronger in a way that is sustainable, effective, and healthy.

Finding What Works for You

There are a lot of excellent programs and amazing coaches out there who can personalize a training plan with your unique goals in mind. Grabbing some random training plan off Google or YouTube is not going to assist you in helping you reach your goals and feel the best results.

There is no one clean-cut answer to the way in which you are going to get the most out of your training. But, by presenting you with questions that will make you think and reassess how and why you train, you can get clearer on your goals and start implementing a program that is going to work for you in your here-and-now body.

When was the last time you stopped to think about how your program, training, and recovery are working for you? Share your thoughts with me in the comments on the episode page.

In This Episode

Getting real about the fitness and nutrition information you see on the internet (2:49)
Questions to ask yourself if you feel like progressive overload is not working for you anymore (4:42)
The problem with programming for yourself even if you have been lifting for a long time (14:44)
How your recovery, nutrition, and mindset are playing a role in your training results (17:10)
Why you don’t need to worry about comparison, especially to your past self (22:14)

Quotes

“Progressive overload doesn't only mean tweaking the weight; there are other variables you can change in your training.” (8:18)

“There is a lot that goes into planning and programming and periodizing a really great program.” (13:27)

“You don't build strength, you don't actually get stronger when you train. You get stronger, or you improve your fitness in whatever metric of fitness you are looking at when you recover from your training.” (17:29)

“We can still do hard shit. We just have to make sure the training plan is smart, we're fueling appropriately, and we are recovering well.” (21:51)

“Yes, we need to challenge ourselves. But we also do need those other elements.” (28:51)