Principle of Overload

The principle of overload is often explained with the ancient story of Milo of Crotone. Milo was a legendary Greek wrestler from the city of Crotone, Italy who was said to be the most prolific wrestler and athlete of his time and age. It is said from his early years as a child he would carry a baby calf on his shoulders up until the calf grew to a full size ox. As the calf grew in size, so did Milo and his strength. What started off as a young version of Milo carrying a calf turned into an adult version of Milo being able to carry a full sized ox. 

The story is definitely entertaining and whether or not you believe it does not matter as much because the principle and underlying message of the story is true in its purest form. In order to get stronger, you must lift and train in ways that are continuously more and more challenging. We must disrupt the homeostatic nature of our physiology in ways that force it to adapt. The principle of overload is the second of seven scientific strength training principles as well as the second most important of the seven (behind specificity). In order for training to be considered ‘overloading’ it must address two things: training stimulus must be on average tougher than the past and fatigue generated by training must be close to one’s maximum ability to recover in order to see favorable adaptations. What this means in more practical terms is, you cannot consider training overloading if you have been training relatively the same in terms of difficulty for an extended amount of time. If you have been shoulder pressing 15 pound dumbbells for some time now and expect to become stronger while still pressing 15 pounds, by definition you are not performing any sort of meaningful overloading training to cause any favorable adaptations. Let’s think about it this way. Why would your body become stronger if it doesn’t have to? Even from a logical standpoint it doesn’t make any sense why your body or muscles would become stronger if they have no reason to. Why in the hell would I give the salesman $10.00 dollars if the product only costs $5.00? If your body only requires to exert itself 50% to get the job done, wouldn’t it be meaningless for it to use up 100% of its efforts? Until you give your body a reason to get stronger, will it become stronger. Our bodies have an incredible ability to adapt. This adaptation goes beyond training as well. We can adapt to nearly anything if enough time and stimulus is given to achieve such adaptation. Unfortunately we are also able to adapt to poor lifestyles and in this case poor training principles if we are unable or unwilling to get out of the easy routine. 

The principle of overload is extremely powerful if used properly. Overload is the only way to get stronger. You have to do more in order to get more. However, there are things to consider and key points to be very aware of. Overloading is very fatiguing and when fatigue is high, likelihood of injury is higher. Therefore, the principle of overload does not mean every single session has to be overloading. For example, let’s say today you squatted 135 pounds for 4 sets of 10 reps. Tomorrow does not mean you must squat 145 pounds for 4 sets of 10 reps. Increases in weight, intensity, or in total amount of volume must be on average higher but once more, this does not mean every single session must be overloading. Doing so would only cause a cascade of negative events that will inevitably result in poorer performance. When people hear the fact training must be harder over time in order to become bigger and stronger they may think of training to failure. While training to failure certainly is challenging and can benefit those who wish to become more muscular, if done too frequently, training to failure can possibly defeat the purpose of overload. Training to failure is extremely taxing. If your body is chronically fatigued you will not have the energy to overload your training. Another problem some may have in relation to doing more and training harder is engaging in exercises which offer little to nothing in return. More isn’t always better and not all exercises are created equal. If your goal is to become more muscular and stronger, running multiple miles each day will not get you stronger or more muscular. It will help you burn calories and increase your cardio but it will also add more fatigue on top of what you already have from your previous sessions. I am not saying to stay away from cardio or other training modalities. I am saying to avoid doing too much of things that will not help the cause. Overall, the main point here is something has to change and it has to change in ways that make it more difficult. How much time is needed and what things to change is dependent on many personal factors but a good recommendation would be to keep track of your workouts (including weight, reps, sets, intensity, etc.) in order to have a better of understanding if something is too much or too little. Deciding when to switch gears and pick it up a notch is not the easiest task but it also doesn’t have to be a brain buster. Listen to your body and what it is feeling. Be as honest as you can be and don’t be a whimp when it comes to doing more. Do not let your ego get in the way as well. If you can’t handle more, be mature about it and accept your reality. Following these principles will result in a stronger better you. 

Below are some practical ways to make training overloading. You can alter one or a few of these variables depending on how well you are adapting to the program. (Keep in mind that increases in weight although do cause muscle growth, are more inclined to increases in strength. Increases in reps and sets also cause strength gains but are more inclined to increases in muscle growth.)

1. Increase in weight. (Pounds or kilograms)
2. Increase in reps. (Instead of doing 10 reps, do 11 reps, 12 reps, etc. )
3. Increase in sets. (Instead of doing 3 sets, do 4 sets, 5 sets, etc. )
4. Increases in amounts of sessions. (Instead of training 2 days out of the week, train 3, train 4, etc.)
5. Introduce homeostatic ally disruptive exercises. (Squat more. Deadlift more. Press more. Pull more. Especially if you are someone who rarely touches the barbell or does compound lifts). Many people tend to stray away from the barbell and these exercises (for reasons we will not discuss in this article) and as a result leave a lot of potential gains on the table.