The principal of progression

The principal of progression. I will cover what it is and more importantly why it matters in just a moment. First let me say that although many people claim to understand this principal important to building real strength, there are many people who do not live by it. Although anyone who remembers being in any high school level or above weight training class has heard about this, many people are actully working against it.

So what is it? According to About.com, "The Principle of Progression implies that there is an optimal level of overload that should be achieved, and an optimal time frame for this overload to occur. Overload should not be increased too slowly or improvement is unlikely. Overload that is increased too rapidly will result in injury or muscle damage. Exercising above the target zone is counterproductive and can be dangerous." For our purposes that is pretty accurate.

Why does it matter?
Simply put, without it, there is little PROGRESS. Let me paint a illistraiton in your mind's eye. You walk into a public gym, and you see somebody in the corner benchpressing, say, 160 and struggling.  A month later same guy, same weight, but this time it is casual. So far so good. Yet next month he still is on 160. Months later he is only on 165 (or 160 still). What is the matter with this? It should be clear that the benefits of him benching are sliding substancily, he really isn't going to master that 160 any better than he already has. That's why to principle of progression is vital.

How does it apply?  In the book I have been reading, Dinosaur training by Brookes Kubik, he says rule number one to build mass muscle and strength is hard work (when it gets casual it's already past time to switch it up). If rule one really is that the work has to be hard, then  this guy in our example and you and anyone else training, should be throwing on weight whenever they can without compromising good from. If it ain't hard, you can do more.