Progressive overload: how to keep progressing

What does progressive overload mean?

Progress in resistance training results from practice, recovery and adaptation. During the first weeks, strength often rises quickly because you become more skilled at the movement. Later, smaller and gradual increases in training stimulus are usually required. The recent ACSM position stand describes this as progressive resistance training: the demands should develop alongside you, although the exact method can differ by goal and individual (Currier et al., 2026).

Must you improve every workout?

No. Performance fluctuates because of sleep, stress, nutrition, recovery and exercises performed earlier in the session. You therefore do not need a record in every workout. Focus on the trend across several weeks. A session in which you repeat the same load and repetitions can still be productive.

Research in which participants progressed either load or repetitions found that both strategies can increase strength and muscle mass. There is therefore no single mandatory route to overload (Chaves et al., 2024).

Ways to apply overload

A technically better repetition is certainly progress, but it is not always additional overload by itself. Better technique often enables reliable increases in repetitions or load later. Higher training frequency is not automatically overload either: it only increases the stimulus when it produces suitable additional training work that you can recover from.

Double progression: practical example

Double progression is simple for many lifters: first choose a repetition range and increase repetitions within that range. Only then do you increase the load.

This example uses 8–10 repetitions. The same method can be used with other ranges. Increase the load by the smallest practical step; large jumps can unnecessarily reduce technique quality and total training volume.

The role of reps in reserve (RIR)

RIR means reps in reserve: the number of technically sound repetitions you probably could still have performed at the end of a set. At 2 RIR, you estimate that two more repetitions were possible. At 0 RIR, no further complete repetition is possible.

RIR helps you compare repetitions honestly. Ten repetitions with five left in reserve create a different stimulus from ten repetitions with one left. For hypertrophy, not every set has to reach complete muscular failure; training close to failure can be sufficient and usually produces less fatigue (Grgic et al., 2022; Robinson et al., 2024).

When should you not increase the load?

• When the planned repetitions are only possible with clearly worse technique.
• When you shorten the range of motion merely to move the load.
• When several consecutive sessions decline because recovery is insufficient.
• When pain develops that changes your movement or increases during the set.

Summary

Progressive overload does not mean every workout must be heavier. It means the training stimulus develops with you over the longer term. For many lifters, double progression is the clearest method: first add technically sound repetitions within a range, then make a small load increase. Keep technique, range of motion, RIR and recovery as consistent as possible.