What is progression in bodybuilding -  Learn how to progress in your training.

One important thing you can read in this article; What is progression in bodybuilding, is that you are constantly progressing.

In other words, you must build progression into your workout.

It forces you to:

• Move more weight
• Get stronger
• Run faster

or whatever your fitness or bodybuilding goal is.

If you don't have progression built into your training program, you're cheating yourself out of continuous progress; that's a shame.

In this article, What is progression in bodybuilding.

We'll take a closer look at the progression and come up with some tangible ways to utilize progression in your own training.

Why is progression so important?

If you want to achieve continuous progress in your training,

You need to put your body under ever-increasing stress as you get bigger and stronger - or you'll quickly hit a plateau, which appeals to only some people.

In fact, your body is incredibly good at adapting to the physical stress you put it under, so you must continually put it under more pressure; this is also known as progressive overload.

In practice, progressive overload means exposing your body to ever more significant physical stress by adjusting various training variables,
such as volume, Intensity, time under tension, etc.

It can be implemented in many ways, and you'll probably want to adjust your progression according to your training goals.

For example, it is not appropriate to design the same progression for a strength athlete as for a bodybuilder.

The following are some different ways for using the progression in your training.

One of the easiest ways to utilize the progressive overload principle is by increasing volume.

Number one, increasing volume

Volume is most often referred to as the number of sets multiplied by the number of reps, and it's a very low-tech way to assess how much work you're doing.

For example, if you performed four sets of 10 reps, you would have a volume in that exercise of 40.

4 sets x 10 repetitions = 40

You want to take advantage of the progressive overload principle in your training and have decided to progress in your volume as it fits really well with your goals of bigger muscles.

Your progression could look like this:

Week Intensity Set x reps
Week one: 75% 4x6
Week two: 75% 4x7
Week three: 75% 4x8
Week four: 75% 4x9

In the above example, the Intensity is the same for all weeks
(i.e., the percentage of your 1RM you lift at), but you do more and more work each week.

Of course, the progression can only last for a while, so it's wise to switch up your exercises every 4-6 weeks.

One of the main start factors in the progression is small steps, so you should always aim to progress in small steps, especially if there is time to progress over many weeks.

Number two, Intensity

Suppose you are more interested in increasing strength rather than muscle mass.
In that case, it may be a good idea to utilize the progressive overload principle concerning the Intensity you use in your training.

This is because it's mainly heavier weights that make you strong - as opposed to the higher volume that (roughly speaking) makes you bigger.

If you want to be stronger, your progression could look like this:

Week Intensity Set x reps
Week 1 75% 5x5
Week 2 77.5% 5x5
Week 3 80% 5x5
Week 4 82.5% 5x5

In the context of progressive overload and Intensity, this type of progression is mainly suitable for more extensive exercises such as bench presses, squats, deadlifts, etc.

As a rule, it makes little sense to train directly heavy in smaller isolation exercises,
as the potential for injury is very high - and because this kind of exercise should be used to complement the primary activities and build muscle mass in the right places.

Number three, Time under tension, called TUT

If you want to go all the way with real bodybuilding training, you should take advantage of time under tension (TUT).

TUT is a term for time you spend on doing each set and thus differs from the classic notion that a set consists of x number of repetitions.

Instead, a set can be thought of as being defined by x number of seconds -
and the lifting period itself can be used to progressive overload principle.

Progression in TUT could look like this:

Week Intensity Set Duration
Week one: 70% 30 seconds
Week two: 70% 35 seconds
Week three: 70% 40 seconds
Week four: 70% 45 seconds

This is a challenging way to train, and you force yourself to let go of fixed ideas about volume. Instead, focus on lots of mind-to-muscle contact and slow reps.

There's no doubt that TUT training is an ideal tool for those who want bigger muscles.

Number four, Intensity Breaks

The last model we've included in this article;
What is progression in bodybuilding,
relates to the density of the workout.

Density in the context of strength training is a measure of how much work you do in a given period - and this is, of course, determined to some extent by your breaks.
To mention, there is a big difference between 30 reps in 10 minutes and 30 reps in 5 minutes.

If you manipulate your breaks, you can get more work done in less time, which is both effective and muscle-building.

Progression in the duration of your intervals could look like this.

Week Intensity Break between sets

Week one: 75% 90 seconds
Week two: 75% 80 seconds
Week three: 70% 70 seconds
Week four: 70% 60 seconds

If you want to break the mold and be more efficient with your training,
you could consider using the progressive overload principle for your breaks.