My safe progressive overload techniques to increase strength and muscle gains

Progressive overload is a principle of resistance training by which an exercise program is designed to build strength, encourage muscle growth, and build endurance. The most common progressive overload techniques include increasing the weight, the number of repetitions, the number of sets, and training frequency, decreasing rest time between sets, and changing the intensity of training sessions. In the last 12 months since I started my after-40 fitness journey, I tested all these progressive overload techniques to improve my workout plan and figured out how to use them optimally to make good progress while staying injury-free.

There are a couple of rules that I follow when progressively overloading to encourage muscle growth after 40

Rule #1

Warm up and stretch every time. Change one thing at a time, focusing on completing 4 sets of 12 reps each before increasing the weight.

Warmup and a little stretching with basic body (neck, arms, torso, legs, depending on the targeted muscles in that workout day) rotations followed by 1-2 warm-up sets performed with lightweight, high reps (20-25 sometimes even 50 reps if I feel that more blood need to flow into the joints and targeted muscles) and strict form at slow or faster speed. For example, when I squat if I feel any stiffness in the knees in my first warm-up set, I use the empty Olympic bar and perform 50 reps, by the next warm-up set usually the stiffness is gone, and I don't feel any pain so I increase the weight to 50 kg (110lbs) and perform 15 reps. After this warm-up, I start the progressive overload workout session that goes like this:

Week 1 ( based on data from my previous leg workout)

• Set 1 x 12 reps with 80 kilos (~176 lbs)
• Set 2 x 10 reps with 90 kilos (~198 lbs)
• Set 3 x 8 reps with 95 kilos (~ 209 lbs)
• Set 4 x 6 reps with 95 kilos (~ 209 lbs)

I don't squat to failure, but I increase the weight to the 3rd and 4th set to the point where I feel I have no more than 2-3 reps in reserve (RIR). In this case, I am trying to do one or two more reps on set 3 (keeping 2-3 reps in the tank) as a progressive overload technique. When this task is complete, I aim to reach 12 reps on set 4 in the workout or as soon as possible. After I can perform 12 reps on set 4, keeping those 2-3 reps in reserve, basically training harder than last time, but safely at the same time, I increase the weight on the first and second sets to 95 kilos (~ 209 lbs) and try to do 12 reps on each set. When this task is complete, I increase the weight again on the last two sets.

The following progressive overload workout sessions could go like this:

Goals for Week 2

• Set 1 x 12 reps with 80 kilos (~176 lbs)
• Set 2 x 10 reps with 90 kilos (~198 lbs)
• Set 3 x 10-12 reps with 95 kilos (~ 209 lbs)
• Set 4 x 8 reps with 95 kilos (~ 209 lbs)

Goals for Week 3

• Set 1 x 12 reps with 80 kilos (~176 lbs)
• Set 2 x 10 reps with 90 kilos (~198 lbs)
• Set 3 x 12 reps with 95 kilos (~ 209 lbs)
• Set 4 x 8-10 reps with 95 kilos (~ 209 lbs)

Goals for Week 4

• Set 1 x 12 reps with 95 kilos (~ 209 lbs)
• Set 2 x 12 reps with 95 kilos (~ 209 lbs)
• Set 3 x 12 reps with 95 kilos (~ 209 lbs)
• Set 4 x 12 reps with 95 kilos (~ 209 lbs)

Goals for Week 5

• Set 1 x 12 reps with 95 kilos (~ 209 lbs)
• Set 2 x 10 reps with 97,5 kilos (~ 214 lbs)
• Set 3 x 8 reps with 100 kilos (~ 220 lbs)
• Set 4 x 6 reps with 100 kilos (~ 220 lbs)
  and continuing to aim to reach 12 reps on each set with 100 kilos (~ 220 lbs) before increasing the weight again.

Keeping the weight lower on the first two sets helps me estimate the number of reps in reserve for the last two sets.

Other techniques I use for progressive overloading on different exercises, depending on the targeted muscle group, are:

Increasing the number of sets per exercise
I usually do this when I have only 3 sets per exercise in my workout routine. When I can perform 3 sets of 12 reps on each set, next workout I add an extra set for that exercise, but never exceeding 8-10 sets total for one muscle group within the same workout).

Improving form on performing an exercise
In some exercises, some cheating on the form does not pose an injury risk. This leaves room for improving form by keeping it the same weight as a progressive overload technique.

Decreasing the rest time between sets is also a progressive overload technique.
At the beginning of my after-40 fitness journey, I used to take a 2-minute break between sets, and I gradually decreased it to 90 - 60 seconds depending on the exercise. For example, on bicep curls, I find 60 minutes of test time to be enough most of the time but I can't say the same thing about squats where I kept rest time to 2 minutes.

Increasing training frequency
I started training 4 times a week, and after a few months, I increased the training frequency to about 5 workouts per week (3 days on and two days off). Now, I train 3 days in a row, have one day off (rarely two, if my muscles are sore and one day off appears not to be enough), and repeat.

Here's the workout frequency I had in September:

Rule #2

Don't use two progressive overload techniques or more within the same workout.

What I avoid doing to stay injury-free and lower injury risk while trying to train harder than last time, is not to increase repetitions, number of sets, and weight within the same workout. First I set the number of repetitions goal, for example, 12 reps for each set with the same weight. Second I increase the number of sets when needed. For example, if I have 3 sets x 12 reps for one particular exercise in my workout routine and can do all of them with the proper form (full control throughout the movement), I add one more set and increase the weight only when I can perform 12 reps on all those 4 sets.

Rule #3

Listening to my body

If the new challenges I put my body through with the progressive overload techniques give me joint pain or any abnormal pain in the muscles, I stop and try to detect the problem. Is it the weight load, is it the exercise, or is there something wrong with my form performing the exercise? I don't push it further, through pain. I stop. I try to figure out what's wrong and then I change whatever might be necessary, even if this means lowering the weight, changing the exercise, or improving form.

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