PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD:
THE PRINCIPLE
If you were to do the same training program for one year, what results would you get? And what about two years? Or five years, or ten years?
The answer is simple: you would make very little progress. In order to become bigger, or faster, or stronger, your body needs to be put under stress and adapt. You need to regularly and systematically increase the demands on your muscles in order to make gains in their strength, size and endurance. The harder you work them, the stronger you become. And this principle doesn't only apply to muscles - you can also use it to boost cardiovascular fitness.
Photo by Brodie Vissers from Burst
TARGETED EFFECTS
The graph above shows how adaptation results when an appropriate training stimulus is provided along with adequate rest.
Supercompensation is a four-step process. The first step is the application of a training or loading stress and the body’s subsequent reaction to this training stress, which is fatigue or tiring. There is a predictable drop-off in performance because of that stress.
Step two is the recovery phase. This can be a lighter training session, a recovery session or active rest. As a result of the recovery period, energy stores and performance will return to the baseline (state of homeostasis) as represented by the point of application of the original training stress.
Step three is the supercompensation phase. This is the adaptive rebound above the baseline; it is described as a rebound response because the body is essentially rebounding from the low point of greatest fatigue. This supercompensation effect is not only a physiological response, but also a psychological and technical response.
The last step in the process is the loss of the supercompensation effect. This decline is a natural result of the application of a new training stress, which should occur at the peak of supercompensation. If no training stress is applied, there will also be a decline. This is the so-called detraining phenomenon. Source: TRAINFITNESS
OUR APPROACH
There are several methods to create overload in training such as: increasing the weight lifted; increasing the number of repetitions per set; increasing the number of sets; shortening the rest time between sets; increasing the difficulty of the exercise; expanding the range of motion and increasing the frequency of training.
Our SeriesFitness™ programs use exercise variation to achieve progressive overload in every round of the workout.
Series Tabata Cardio™ and Series Tabata Strength™ also use the Tabata Protocol’s 20 second / 10 second timing structure, which in our view provides the optimum timing balance between supercompensation and recovery.
THE BENEFITS
Build muscle and strength
Improve cardiovascular fitness
Achieve quicker results as your body continually adapts to new levels
Enjoy variation in your training regime