Welcome back to the Barbell Medicine podcast where we bring modern medicine to strength conditioning

and strength conditioning to modern medicine. I'm your host, Dr. Jordan Feigenbaum. On this podcast, we're

going to revisit the topic of progressive overload. Progressive overload is often said to be one of the

most important factors in whether or not someone sees results from an exercise program. Talk to any

strength coach, personal trainer,

or exercise scientist, and they'll tell you the same thing. If you want to see gains,

progressive overload is key. What they won't do, however, is agree on what progressive overload means or how to do it. For example, the American College of Sports Medicine, the ACSM, says that

progressive overload is the gradual increase of stress placed upon

the body during exercise training. Whereas the NSCA, that's the National Strength Conditioning Association,

well, they say that progressive overload refers to the systematic modification of a training

program over time, such as frequency and increasing the difficulty of exercise selection,

so moving from a low skill to a high skill exercise.

Two vastly different definitions from two of the largest fitness organizations in the United States,

and both are wrong.

We have previously discussed this back in 2022,

where we suggested that it should be called progressive loading and not progressive overload.

We later published an article on the topic as well.

However, I still think there's more to discuss on the topic to provide clarity on what

progressive overload is and how to do it to get the most out of your training.

We'll also talk about the history of progressive overload, but that includes a doctor,

York Barbell, and injured soldiers.

All that and more on this episode of the Barbell Medicine podcast.

...