Progressive Overload and Weight Lifting
What is progressive overload?
Progressive overload is the gradual increase of stress placed on the body. It can be done several ways. You can lift more weight, get more reps, increase sets, or increase the speed of your workouts.
Lifting heavier weight is obviously the best way to get stronger. The other methods should only be used sparringly. They are only usefull if you hit a plateau. Ultimately, lifting heavier loads is the best way to practice progressive overload.
Microloading
Lifting heavier weights can be a problem in most cases. Barbells and dumbbells only allow you to progress in 5 pound increments. It is not always possible to lift 5 pounds heavier each week. So what can you do in this case?
The answer is microloading. Microloading means that you use tiny weights to increase your load. These weights can be light as half a pound. You will get stronger even if you lift a fraction of a pound heavier than your last attempt.
The cheapest option is to use large metal washer with 2 inch holes. Take 2 washers and glue them together. These washers weigh about half a pound and can be used on barbells and olympic dumbbell handles.
You can also use heavy magnets to microload your weights. Just find some strong magnets and glue them on to objects that weight a fraction of a pound.
Magnetics weights are more flexible than washer weights because they can attach to any metallic surface. So they can easily be attached to weight stacks, dumbbells, and barbells.
Words of advice
Don’t think that microloading is a silly idea. Many people may think that these fractional weights are a joke. In reality, these tiny weights are very effective. As long as you are lifting heavier weight, your body will respond by becoming stronger and bigger. It does not matter if you lift an additional half a pound. It still counts as additional weight.
Give microloading a try if you have stalled in any of your lifts. I always practice microloading and have never experienced plateaus.
http://www.gain-muscle-mass-now.com/progressive_overload.html
Mail this post