Whenever you go to the gym and talk to anyone about how to get stronger, odds are you’ll hear the phrase “progressive overload” get thrown around a time or two. Walking into that for the first time you may not know exactly what that means or what it is, and that’s perfectly fine. In fact, that’s exactly what we’re going to dive into today!

So without any further ado, let’s explore and explain a little more about the ins, outs, in-betweens and even possible risks of progressive overload.

What is Progressive Overload?

Progressive overload is an increase in time, weight, or intensity relative to your workout so that you can get stronger. The reason behind doing this comes down to a simple fact: our bodies are hardwired to adapt to the stresses or challenges with which they are faced.

A perfect example of how our bodies react to things is what our eyes do in the dark: they adjust to the light levels in order to let us see better. When it comes to exercise, our muscles only grow when they’re being challenged and strained, leading to microtears. When those tears heal, our muscles get both bigger and stronger.

The problem with that is that our muscles quickly get used to the strain we’re putting them through and stop tearing, which leads to a flatline in growth. Progressive overload helps make sure that that doesn’t happen by slowly making things more challenging.

Make sure not to quit when things get difficult, though! Struggling with that? Read this!

Anyway, you need to go about doing your overload in the right way. In an article from NASM they reference something called the Principle of Progression, which states that “increases in time, weight or intensity should be kept within 10% or less each week to allow for a gradual adaptation while minimizing risk of injury.”

On the other hand if you don’t overload at all, your body may actually start to get weaker over time. Your muscles just get lazy, more than anything. An extra pound here, an extra rep there or even doing everything a little bit faster can be all you need to avoid a plateau or decline in strength.

Now that we’ve got the basics of progressive overload out of the way, it’s time to look at the possible risks that come along with going about it wrong. 

Overtraining Syndrome

As a general rule progressive overload is really good for you, but adding too much weight, too many reps or going too fast can mean trouble. The most common sign of overdoing it will be extra sore muscles, but things can go downhill quickly and lead to injuries that can take a while to get over.

Cleveland Clinic breaks overtraining syndrome – or OTS for short – into three groups, as listed below.

The Stages

1. Functional Overtraining – mild symptoms that may be hard to notice, such as:
   • Aches
   • Pains
   • Fatigue
   • Soreness

This is your body giving warning signs that you aren’t getting enough rest or recovering properly between sessions of activity. However, these symptoms normally pass pretty fast.

2. Sympathetic Overtraining (Basedow’s Overtraining Syndrome) – symptoms affect your sympathetic nervous system, which controls your body’s response to stress. You may experience:
   • Accelerated heart rate
   • Restlessness
   • Irritability
   • Insomnia
   • Weight loss
   • Delayed or slowed recovery

Basically, your “fight or flight” instincts kick on and don’t turn back off for a long time.

3. Parasympathetic Overtraining (Addison’s Overtraining Syndrome) – symptoms appear in your parasympathetic nervous system, which causes your body’s systems to relax. Symptoms include:
   • Depression
   • Decreased heart rate
   • Fatigue
   • Decreased performance

Unlike sympathetic OTS those in stage 3 may find sleep easy, be able to maintain a constant weight and recover from exercise in an almost normal manner. That being said, this stage is the most severe and can take months to years to recover from.

WebMD has a post on their website that sums things up pretty well:

“Some injuries cause you to pause training, so they can really interrupt your progress. If you’re training for a marathon or some other time-sensitive event, an injury can be a blow to your mental health as well as your body.”

In my own personal experience, the blow to mental health takes a while to get over, even after I make a full physical recovery. Regaining confidence in yourself and your abilities can be a tough hurdle to clear, especially if you keep trying and get less results than you think you should. 

“The toughest challenges often happen internally.” – Brinley Beck, writer for The Cool Run

Preventing and Recovering from OTS

One of the first things that I’d do if you’re concerned about overtraining syndrome is pay attention to yourself. Keep track of how you’re feeling, how tired you are, etc. Often the first stage of OTS can be hard to notice, after all. If you think that you might have it, I’d say a bit of extra rest can’t hurt.

Here are some other things that might help you prevent getting OTS:

• Keep track of your workouts – that way you can find problems with your routine before it comes back to bite you
• Balance your workout; switch things up and do a mix of cardio and strength to let different muscle groups rest
• Stay hydrated and well fed; if your body doesn’t have enough nutrients to sustain itself, it won’t be able to recover very fast

So far as recovery goes, you might be in for quite the long haul. Depending on how bad things have gotten, you might be looking at anywhere from a week to years before you’ll be back to normal. 

There are definitely things you can do to speed up the process though. For example:

• Take a step back from training
• Make sure to get enough rest

Some people also have reported that some relaxation techniques such as meditation and yoga are helpful. Take it easy, and find what works well for you.

Looking ahead

We all want to excel in what we do; it’s just who we are. Sometimes, though, we push too hard, and when we do it can be hard to get things rolling again. 

Not a single one of us is immune to the dangers of overtraining syndrome, but we can definitely do our part to keep it at bay. A little attention to details, rest, and good nutrition can be all we need to stay on track. 

Thanks for reading, and we’ll catch you later!

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