The Fastest Way to Body Transformation

 

If from the treasure trove of bodybuilding knowledge,I was asked to choose just one wisdom pearl,that could help anyone irrespective of their fitness goals,what would it be?What’s the most important principle, which if religiously applied, can help you gain muscles fast,increase muscular hypertrophy,improve strength,accelerate weight loss and overcome plateaus along your bodybuilding journey?What’s the biggest key to body transformation?

 

Encounter with Joe

Recently, in my gym, I had an interesting encounter with a guy we’ll call, Joe.Joe has been a regular at my gym for a long time.He exercises religiously, invests a lot of money in his diet and supplements.Yet, Joe is not happy with the way he looks .Truth be told, Joe looks exactly the way he did,when I saw him for the first time.

Joe has a well balanced diet.His exercises are well rounded.Yet he has been unable to transform his body, in any major way .WHY ?

Digging Deep

On subsequent days,I started monitoring his workouts, closely.I found out that he had been committing the same mistake that a lot of beginners as well as seasoned lifters, make. The mistake which stunts their ability to build muscles faster.The mistake is, to not Progressively Overload their workouts.

Provided, that you have the Five Basics when starting your fitness journey, covered, Progressive Overload can be the most important factor that can help you with body transformation,irrespective of your goals!

 

 

What is Progressive Overload ?

Progressive overload is the gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during exercise training.This practice was developed by Thomas Delorme, M.D., while he rehabilitated soldiers after World War II.

In various forms of strength training programs including fitness training, weight lifting, high intensity training and physical therapy programs,this technique is recognized as a fundamental principle for success  .Progressive overload not only helps in getting bigger muscles, but it also stimulates the development of stronger and denser bones, ligaments, tendons and cartilage.

Thus, if you want to get bigger, stronger, faster, progressive overload is the key for you.

 

Why does Progressive Overload work ?

Over the course of history, from the times of cave man to the modern times, our bodies have had to endure various challenges.Thus, in order to survive, our neurological systems have evolved in such way, that a human can adapt to changes, and thrive.

In the context of bodybuilding, your body doesn’t care how much weight you lift, how many reps your perform.The only thing it cares about is, adapting itself to the changes you are subjecting it to .

Thus, by lifting more weights, lifting more volume,you are signaling your body that it needs to bring changes, so that it can adapt to the increased stress you are subjecting your body to.The body then responds, by building bigger muscles, which help you get stronger .

 

 

Advantages of Progressive Overload

Now that we know about progressive overload, let us discuss about the advantages of including progressive overload as a practice, in each work out session of yours.

Progressive overload isn’t just about lifting more weight to gain muscle size and improve muscular strength.

The progressive-overload principle doesn’t apply just to lifting weights to increase muscle growth and strength.It can also be applied to cardiovascular-fitness programs, creating physiological changes that affect aerobic metabolism and the cardio-respiratory system.

Thus, whether you are training for muscular hypertrophy, greater strength, better muscle definition, fat loss or for endurance you have to include progressive overload as a means of training.

 

Ways by which you can include progressive overload in your training

• Increase The Resistance :Here you should aim to increase the weight with each set that you perform.  Here you can start with 65-70 percent of your one rep max.So if you can squat 80 kg for 1 rep max.Then you can start with 55 kg (after proper warm-up). You then increase the weight by 5% in each set, thereafter.This works best for those ,who are aiming to build bigger muscles or are training for strength.  

 

• Increase The Reps : Decreased body fat, increased strength and muscle endurance, without increases of body mass,are the      advantages of performing an exercise with higher repetitions.Here we perform exercises with low weight and high repetition.Thus , we keep the weight constant in each set of an exercise but increase the repetitions we perform,in subsequent sets.Thus,for women who don’t want to lift heavy weights for fear of gaining weight, high repetition training may be a more palpable option.

 

• Increase Training Frequency : Suppose you find that your bicep development is  lagging behind compared to other muscles.So,to accelerate its growth,you increase its frequency of training ,from 1 day a week to 2 days.This is a great option if you want want to increase the rate of growth of some particular muscles. 

 

•  Decrease Rest Time Between Sets:It’s great if you want to increase the endurance of your muscles.

 

To Sum It Up

We have seen that  progressive overload can be included in our workout regimen in various ways.Thus ,progressive overload is the key to achieving your targets,irrespective of your goals.

Irrespective of your age,sex,goals;including progressive overload in your daily workout schedule is non negotiable .

Thus,if you  attack your workouts with ‘The Right Mindset’ and include some form of progressive overload in each exercise,you will find your body being transformed in no time.Think body transformation,think progressive overload.

As Arnold Schwarzenegger says  “You have gotta keep shocking your muscles.”

 

 

Dear Reader,I would love to hear your views in the comments below.Cheers!