Guides · 6 min read

Progressive overload. The simple guide to building muscle.

A muscle grows when you ask it for a little more than last time. That's the whole idea. Here is how to apply it, session after session, without getting lost in the maths.

What is progressive overload?

It means gradually asking more of your muscles. Your body adapts to the effort it already knows: lift the same thing every week and it has no reason to change.

To build muscle, two levers are enough:

• more reps with the same weight;
• more weight for the same reps.

Both work just as well for hypertrophy (Plotkin et al., 2022). So the best method is the one that combines them simply.

The method: double progression

Pick a rep range for each exercise, for example 3 sets of 8 to 12. Then:

1. Keep the same weight and add reps every session, even just one on a single set.
2. When every set reaches the top of the range (12), add weight.
3. Start again from the bottom of the range (8) with the new load, and repeat.

You don't need to progress on everything, every session. One more rep on one set is already a win.

How much weight to add?

The smallest jump available:

• barbell: 2.5 kg (1.25 kg on each side);
• dumbbells: 2 kg, the usual gap in a rack;
• machine: one plate.

On small exercises (lateral raises, curls), one jump can be 10 to 20% of the load. Don't force it: push the range a little higher (up to 14 or 15 reps) before going up.

How hard to push each set: RIR

RIR (reps in reserve) is how many more reps you could have done before failure. RIR 0 is failure. RIR 3 means you had three left.

• The closer to failure you end a set, the more it builds muscle (Robinson et al., 2024).
• Aim for 0 to 1 RIR. Almost everyone underestimates what's left: in practice you'll land around 1 to 2.
• A set ended at more than 3 RIR counts for little: it's almost a warm-up.
• Save full failure for the last set. On the first ones, it costs you reps for the rest.

How many sets per week?

Count your hard sets (ended at 3 RIR or closer) per muscle per week. Between 10 and 20, most people grow well (Schoenfeld et al., 2017).

Start around 10. If you recover well and stall, add a few sets. If you're always sore and your loads drop, take some away.

When you get stuck: plateaus

It's a plateau when an exercise hasn't progressed for 3 sessions in a row. Before touching the programme, check sleep, protein and consistency. Then, three fixes:

• drop 5% and build back up to the top of the range;
• take a deload week if fatigue is piling up;
• swap the exercise for another one that trains the same muscle.

The deload week

About every 6 weeks, take a lighter week: half the sets, stopped at 3 or 4 RIR. You lose nothing: fatigue clears, and you often come back stronger the week after.

5 mistakes that slow your progress

1. Changing programme every two weeks. You never beat anything if the exercises keep changing.
2. Not logging. Without your numbers, you don't know what to beat.
3. Adding weight by cheating. Shorter range of motion or more momentum isn't progress.
4. Stopping too early. Sets at 4 or 5 RIR do very little.
5. Trying to add weight every session. Reps first, load second.

Sources

• Plotkin D. et al. (2022). Progressive overload without progressing load? The effects of load or repetition progression on muscular adaptations. PeerJ.
• Robinson Z. P. et al. (2024). Exploring the dose–response relationship between estimated resistance training proximity to failure, strength gain, and muscle hypertrophy. Sports Medicine.
• Schoenfeld B. J., Ogborn D., Krieger J. W. (2017). Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass. Journal of Sports Sciences.

This guide is not medical advice. Warm up, use good form, and stop if something hurts.