Higher Endeavors

The concept of progressive overload, as it applies to resistance training, is essential to any results that one may desire to achieve. The standard form of progression is to add more weight to each exercise as strength and fitness levels increase. However, there is another way of following the principles of progressive overload that can be learned from Sir Isaac Newton. 

Acceleration at its best 

Trying to remember everything learned in high school physics class may be difficult for most, but hopefully Sir Isaac Newton and his three laws of motion sound familiar. The concept of progressive overload primarily addresses the need for a muscle to progressively generate more force. As stated above most people add weight to an exercise to generate more force. But if one were to look at Sir Isaac Newton's second law of motion it would be apparent that there is another way to increase force. Newton's second law of motion states that Force = Mass x Acceleration. Increasing the weight in an exercise covers the mass part of the equation. Most people fail to ever consider the acceleration aspect of resistance training. Unfortunately, this can greatly reduce the results that can be attained. 

Utilizing very basic numbers to demonstrate the point may help clarify the idea of using greater acceleration during the concentric phase of a lift to generate more force. 

100 lbs. x 1.0 meters/ second = 100 Newtons

110 lbs. x .9 meters/ second = 99 Newtons

100 lbs. x 1.1 meters/ second = 110 Newtons 

The standard approach to resistance training would be to add additional weight once a particular exercise became easier. In the above example the weight was increased from 100 pounds to 110 pounds, a 10% increase in weight. But as the weight increased the acceleration decreased resulting in less total force than before. If the weight was kept the same and acceleration was increased 10% the total force generated actually increases. This should illustrate the idea that focusing on increasing the speed of the concentric phase of the lift can actually result in greater force generation that if the weight was simply increased.

During the next training session try keeping the weight the same and focus on lifting the weight quicker. The results may be surprising.