Blog · 8 posts
Progressive overload and logging
How to add weight, reps and sets over time: logging that keeps your numbers honest, the seven progression schemes, double progression, and what to do when a lift stalls.
Posts
Should you add weight or reps first when a set gets easier?
Add reps first. Hold the load until every working set reaches the top of its rep range, then take the smallest step and start again at the bottom. Two cases change that order.
Answer · 5 min · November 5, 2026
Linear progression: how far it goes and what comes after
Adding 2.5 kg a session takes a 60 kg squat to 100 kg in 16 sessions. Here is how to tell from the log when the run is over, and how to hand the lift to double progression without losing a week.
Guide · 9 min · November 3, 2026
How much weight should you add each week to keep progressing?
Add the smallest step your equipment allows, and only after a session where every set hit its reps. On a trained bench press, 2.5 kg every single week runs out of road within two months.
Answer · 6 min · November 3, 2026
How to choose a progression scheme for every lift you log
Seven progression schemes, and three facts that choose between them: how wide the rep range is, how big the smallest step is, and whether you rate your sets. Here is the match for each lift, with a worked squat.
Guide · 12 min · November 2, 2026
When a lift stalls: a decision tree for lifters who log
Three sessions at the same load is only a stall when the estimated 1RM has stopped moving too. Read the log first: reps, RPE, weekly sets and days off each point to a different fix.
Guide · 9 min · November 1, 2026
Double progression: the simplest way to keep adding weight
Hold the load, build every set to the top of the rep range, then add 2.5 kg and start again at the bottom. Here is the exact rule, six weeks of it on a 60 kg barbell row, and what to do when the reps stop coming.
Guide · 12 min · October 24, 2026
Why did my lift go down this week when nothing else changed?
One session down at the same load is noise: a tested max itself moves about 4 per cent between test days. Two sessions down, or a grinder, is fatigue, and the answer is a hold or a small back-off, not a new program.
Answer · 6 min · October 24, 2026
Progressive overload for hypertrophy: adding load, reps and sets
Three levers move a lift forward: 2.5 kg on the bar, one more rep at the same RPE, or one more set in the week. Here is how to pull each one, in an order that keeps a bench press moving for four weeks.
Guide · 9 min · October 23, 2026