0 Supercompensation and the Progressive Overload Dilemma

So what exactly is Supercompensation and the Progressive Overload Dilemma? Well if you've been training consistently for more than a few years you've already faced it, although you may not have been familiar with its name.

As a beginner, almost any training program will produce results. A body that hasn't adapted yet to training will adapt quickly. It may seem as though you're able to add weight to the bar almost every workout.

Each workout stimulates an adaptation to allow the body to handle more the next time. The period of time in which the body is sufficiently prepared to handle a greater load than before is called the Supercompensation phase.

But eventually progress slows and further increases in strength and muscular size are only possible when the program is altered to produce more overload. At this point, weight can no longer generally be added at every workout, but often weight can be added weekly.

At this point progressive overload requires manipulation of sets, reps, load, rest intervals and time-under-tension (TUT).

But what happens when you’ve manipulated all of the variables as much as possible and you still can’t make progress?

This is called the Progressive Overload Dilemma.

The solution or at least the attempt to provide progressive overload is through the manipulation of volume and intensity over longer periods of time.

With a couple years of training behind you, the loads you can lift are far more taxing to both your structures as well as your recovery ability. For this reason, cycling of loads and volumes must be carefully planned or progress is halted.

The longer you train, the more complex the planning of your training must be to elicit further progress.

Here’s a breakdown of how volumes and loads are cycled to give progressive overload at the different stages of your training career.

Beginner

Week/Workout Volume/Load

1/1 Moderate/High (PR)

1/2 Moderate/High (PR)

1/3 Moderate/High (PR)

2/1 Moderate/High (PR)

2/2 Moderate/High (PR)

2/3 High/High (PR)

3/1 Moderate/High (PR)

3/2 Moderate/High (PR)

3/3 Moderate/High (PR)

This can often continue for 3-6 months. Moderate volume is generally 2-3 working sets and High load means that you’re lifting more than before.

Intermediate

Week/Workout Volume/Load

1/1 High/Moderate

1/2 Moderate/Low

1/3 Low/High (PR)

2/1 High/Moderate

2/2 Moderate/Low

2/3 Low/High (PR)

3/1 High/Moderate

3/2 Moderate/Low

3/3 Low/High (PR)

This type of progress will eventually stop as the PR numbers get higher and higher. When they stop, periodization must be introduced as follows to allow for further progress.

Advanced

Week/Workout Volume/Load

1/1 Mod-High/High

1/2 Mod/Low

1/3 High/High

2/1 Mod-High/Mod

2/2 Mod/Low

2/3 Mod-High/Mod

3/1 Mod-High/High

3/2 Mod/Mod

3/3 Low/High (PR)

4/1 Low/Low

4/2 Low/Low

4/3 Low/Low

As before, when hitting a new PR is not possible after successive 3-5 week blocks, and with all other lifestyle factors in check, programming must be planned for PR attempts to be at 5-6 month intervals.

Elite

Week Volume/Load

1-4: Mod/High

5-8: Mod/Mod

9-13: High/High

14-17: Mod/Mod

18-21: High/High

22-25: Mod/Mod

26-29: Low/Very High (PR)

In the end, continued progress is the result of carefully planning the alternating sequences of volume and load manipulations to provide progressive overload over time which results in supercompensation which allows for the new PR.

If you have any questions about how you can incorporate this into your training, please leave your comments in the comments box below.

0 The Skinny Fat Bastard Solution

After the article I wrote last week entitled The Skinny Bastard Solution, I received a few emails from a bunch of guys who were inspired and wanted some additional help with their training and diet.

But after a couple emails back and forth, and after looking at some pics they sent, I noticed something that I think it's important to clarify.

If you USED to be a skinny guy, and you USED to have a hard time building muscle, and no matter what you ate you USED to never gain bodyfat, but now, in your late twenties or early thirties, you find yourself STILL having a tough time building muscle but you NOW have a little belly and some love handles... then you're now a Skinny Fat Bastard.

And the Skinny Fat Bastard Solution is different from The Skinny Bastard Solution.

The training program doesn't need much changing, but the diet definitely needs to be different.
Once you've gained a belly and love handles, your insulin sensitivity is reduced, forcing your body to secrete more insulin to handle sharp rises in blood sugar than the Skinny Bastards.

As a Skinny Bastard, you can pretty much eat anything and not gain any weight, but once you've gained some body fat, you can't just plow back the calories in effort to gain muscle without also increasing your body fat.

If you're a Skinny Fat Bastard, you'll have to target your calories more closely to the meals before and after your weight training, and you'll have to avoid eating until you're stuffed, as well as making sure you limit your starches to mornings, and meals before and after your weights.

As a Skinny Fat Bastard, if you decide to follow the Skinny Bastard Solution, while you'll definitely build some muscle, you're also likely to gain as much or more body fat as muscle.

If you're unsure of which category you fit into, fire me off an email with a short description of how you find your metabolism, a little about your training history, and a pic of yourself wearing shorts and no shirt, or for you girls with sports bra and tight-ish shorts and I'll respond to each of you individually and help you know where you are.

Please leave any other comments below.