What principle of exercise states that to become better at something you should learn that thing?

What Is The Principle of Overload?

What's in it for you?

1. Overload is any training stimulus above what the body/individual is currently used to doing
2. Training overload can come in many forms such as reps, weight, sets, duration, intensity, and more
3. Progressive overload is the most useful form and must be applied incrementally

In order for an individual to adapt to their training, the body must be stressed more than it is accustomed to. Sounds simple right? Do more and get better. That is the basic premise of the Principle of Overload; however, there is much more going on with this than it seems at surface level.

The Principle of Overload is one of many theories and principles that a good strength and conditioning coach must remember to deliver optimal results. Let our team of expert Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists you and your athletes to the next level. Try a free training program or contact us to learn more!

What is the Overload Principle?

The Principle of Overload states that in order for an individual to achieve a training adaptation, the body must be stressed by working beyond what it is accustomed to doing. To break that down, a training adaptation is anything that you are trying to achieve; be it getting bigger muscles, stronger, faster, more explosive, or better at a certain sport skill.

The stress, or thing that you are doing to improve such as lifting weights, plyometrics, etc. must be greater than what the body is already used to. Many times, the Principle of Overload is referred to as the Overload Principle. This generally depends on the source you’re referring to.

Understanding and Using the Principle of Overload

Simply put, you won’t get any better doing the same thing that is already easy over and over. If you can already squat 100 kilos for 10 reps with ease, then doing that every training session may make you a bit better, but it will not make you bigger, stronger, or a bigger squat. Trying 120 kilos for ten reps will be difficult, but the adaptation you get will be much greater.

Principle of Overload Example:

Above, you’ll see an example of overload being applied to the weight in a training cycle. In this example, the weight increases incrementally each week, is reduced, and would be reapplied the following week in a cyclic process.

This chart is just an example of how the Principle of Overload is used in combination with the Principle of Periodization, as seen with the reduction in weight on Week 4. Applying periodization helps to maximize the effects of overloading. It always helps to learn more about periodization. 

Don’t forget, applying overload should be specific to your training objectives and can be done by adjusting any training variable. This includes:

• Weight
• Sets
• Reps
• Frequency
• Rest Intervals
• Tempo
• Distance
• Time

Overload can and should be used when working with any athlete or personal training client. Runners or other endurance athletes will likely rely more on overloading distance or time while strength and power athletes will overload resistance and overall training volume.

Does the Principle of Overload Apply to All Training?

This is one of those universal principles that should apply to everything you do to get better. There are only so many hours in a day and training time is usually limited, so pick and choose what you would like or need to improve on most and focus on overloading that.

This is why it’s important to integrate a variety of training principles into a training plan. This includes the Principle of Progression and the Principle of Specificity, for starters.

The body can only recover from so much at once. If you would like help with your programming one of our expert Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists can help with that.

Using the Overload Principle

The most important considerations to keep in mind are that the body can only recover from so much, check back soon for an article on maximum recoverable volume. As stated, focus on one or two things to strive to improve and a specific goal that you can point to and know when you have improved that area enough.

If you are a basketball player and want to improve your vertical jump and conditioning more to perform better in the later stages of games, then you would focus on that and set a specific goal of improving your vertical leap by two inches and reducing your 1.5 mile run time by 45 seconds.

By focusing on these two goals you can tailor the bulk of your training to things that are beneficial for these goals while still maintaining the rest of your skills. You can even apply this principle to the diaphragm muscle for better breathing, according to authors in The Journal of Physical Therapy Science.

When could the Overload Principle be a disadvantage? The principle itself is often presented with many challenges that could be considered disadvantages. Of utmost importance is the potential for overtraining in response to overload. Periodization and scheduled recovery can both help prevent adverse effects related to overtraining.

Another thing to keep in mind is that burying yourself under immense workloads to get maximum gains is not the best way to do it. Incremental improvements week by week are the best and there is another principle called the Principle of Diminishing Returns that we have an article on and is a must-read so you don’t run yourself into the ground.

The Overload Principle: Key Takeaways

Even though it is uncomfortable, difficult, and sometimes painful, the only way to get better is through hard work and dedication. This comes in the form of the Principle of Overload, emphasizing that to get better at something, you have to try harder at it. Add a little more each time and you will be that much better. Even 1% per week is 52% better every year!

Programming for overload can be difficult to keep everything in line, like we mentioned before, there is a team of certified experts waiting to help you and take the stress of so all you have to do is show up, do the training, and reap the rewards. Try one of our free training plans to help you improve in all aspects of fitness, athletic performance, and health.

References

• https://www.nsca.com/contentassets/116c55d64e1343d2b264e05aaf158a91/basics_of_strength_and_conditioning_manual.pdf
• Hellebrandt, F. A. (1958). APPLICATION OF THE OVERLOAD PRINCIPLE TO MUSCLE TRAINING IN MAN1. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 37(5), 278-283.
• Lee, H. Y., Cheon, S. H., & Yong, M. S. (2017). Effect of diaphragm breathing exercise applied on the basis of overload principle. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 29(6), 1054-1056.