Lifting Weights: Should Progressive Overload or Percentage Training Be My Guide?
Need a hand figuring out how much weight to lift for strength training? Here's the lowdown.
The skinny on weight lifting
Exactly how much weight you should be hoisting is going to depend on several factors. Ideally, you want to work with a weight that you can handle with acceptable form to ensure safe and effective training.
Physical therapist Grayson Wickham, DPT, CSCS, founder of the digital movement platform Movement Vault, puts it like this: "No matter your fitness goal, you never want to be lifting so much, or in a way that causes more long- or short-term harm than good."
3 routes to find your ideal weight
There are various methods for determining your optimal weight load. Here are three popular options, each with its advantages for specific types of athletes.
1. Progressive Overload Training
Progressive overload is a training principle that suggests continuous challenges are required for continued strength improvements. Essentially, you ramp up the difficulty by increasing weight, intensity, sets, reducing rest time or altering tempo to continuously test your muscles. Exercise physiologist Pete McCall, MS, CSCS, CPT, host of the All About Fitness Podcast, explains, "Every time you challenge your muscles, little baby microtears are shorn into the muscle fibers. These damaged fibers repair. And on the other side of recovery are more resilient [stronger] than they were before."
Anyone wanting to get stronger should apply progressive overload principles to their routine in some manner, shape, or form, suggests McCall, while Wickham recommends hiring a personal trainer who can write a progressive overload program tailored to your needs and goals. A regularly attended CrossFit box can also offer this approach to training.
2. Percentage-Based Programming
Percentage-based training is a structured style of progressive overload training, using specific percentages of a 1-rep max for rep and set schemes.
Typically, these percentage-based programs range from 6 to 16-ish weeks, with the same lift repeated at least 3 times per week. These regimented programs can support athletes wanting to reach a specific strength goal, like experienced weightlifters or powerlifters preparing for a competition who need to know the appropriate training loads to achieve their targeted weight during the event.
In addition, percentage-based training may aid in structuring workouts for athletes who divide their year by sport seasons. For instance, adjusting training intensity in-season, preseason, off-season, or postseason can help athletes optimize their progress for each phase.
3. Based on Feel
Lifting based on feel refers to lifting for the purpose of achieving a specific sensation or intent. The goal is usually to feel fatigued by the end of your workout.
There are many cues you or your coach can use to determine your appropriate weight—for example, attempting a weight you can achieve 5 reps with, lifting to failure, or picking a weight that allows you to complete 5 sets of 5 reps with 2-minute rest intervals.
"What's great about going by feel is you can still get a great workout without getting too caught up in the numbers," says Wickham. "The practice can benefit those new to strength training who don't yet have a recorded 1-rep max, as well as athletes who experience irregular training schedules."
Bear in mind, fitness level, personal fitness goals, training age, and overall health status are significant factors in identifying the suitable weight for you. Stay attentive to these factors, and your training sessions are certain to be efficient and effective!
- For strength training, it's crucial to use a weight that allows for acceptable form to ensure safety and effectiveness, as emphasized by physical therapist Grayson Wickham.
- When following the Progressive Overload Training method, the goal is to continuously challenge your muscles by increasing weight, intensity, sets, reducing rest time, or altering tempo to facilitate muscle growth, as explained by exercise physiologist Pete McCall.
- In percentage-based programming, a structured style of progressive overload training, specific weights are chosen based on a 1-rep max for particular rep and set schemes, which can be beneficial for athletes aiming to reach specific strength goals.
