Progressive overload is progressive over load. Plenty of ways to go about it. Add reps, add weight, decrease rest times etc.
But these methods dont represent an actual overload. They represent your already capabilities. If i can do 3x10 with one weight and i add weight then i can do 3x8, for example. Where is the overload and why would i be able to increase my 1x500lb lift to 2x500lb just by doing 1x500?
p.s - i really want to understand, because this has fucked with my head for years
You do 3x10 with 500lbs.
You add 5lbs to it. Now you can only do 3x8.
Awesome: next time you go to the gym, do 1x9, 2x8.
Now do 2x9, 1x8.
Now 3x9.
Repeat until you get to 3x10.
Then add weight and start over.
Through out that process, you are getting stronger.
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Ok, but how and why would i be able to do 1x9 and 2x8 with the weight i was able to do only 3x8? I mean, if the 8 is my max at that weight, how come i can do 1x9 next time?
Because when you do the 3x8, you are placing your body under stress to grow. Then you go home, eat food, rest, and grow. During that time, your body gets stronger, so that you can go back to the gym the next time and lift more weight.
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Ah ok…
I always did hypertrophy like this :
I do 3x8… then i do 3x8 and lets say 1x6… then i do like 3x8 and 1x6 and 1x5, but since the volume has increased, my first 3 sets kinda feel lighter in a while, so i can do 3x9…
Basically wave progression of some sort - and the progressive OVERload comes from increased total reps, so the first ones become easier.
That works too. What I wrote will also work for hypertrophy, as really, the way you make a muscle stronger is by making it bigger.
Yea, its just that i get confused about the overload, as in - you have to do something MORE than you can, in order to get bigger.
So it seems weird that just by doing 3x8 i somehow will be able to do 3x9 some day, because i dont see the "OVER"load factor of the overload term. I know that 9 is more than 8, but why would my 8 become 9 just by doing more 8…
But yea, i kind of get it that muscle will want to become stronger… Then again, this does not work with strenght, right? Just doing same 1 rep max, will never become your 2 rep max, right?
This is a weird example, no-ones going into the gym, doing a 1RM deadlift and going home every session.
Only doing 1 rep will make it very difficult to grow. Several sets of 1 rep will have a much different training effect.
I suppose if one was stubborn enough they could try to get stronger by only doing a single set of 1 rep. The trick would be to move that rep faster and faster each time. It would be a really stupid way to trian.
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so in theory, just by doing 3 sets of 1 rep max, would be able to make a person strong enoung to do 1 set of 2 reps with same weight?
In theory, sure.
That theory would only apply to a small population of individuals, but it would work on that small population.
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Well, this is provided that 3x8 is what you are capable of, your body will want to become stronger and bigger so you are not able to cause that much damage to the muscles next time. Some people call it super compensation, I’m not sure if that term still stands. That is how ultimately you will be able to add a rep the next week, provided those 3 sets are really balls to the wall kind 8s.
With 1s, as it was said already, it’s different. If you look at Westside, they do frequent heavy singles and triples, to teach their bodys to strain in different environments, ie different bars and tensions. But they also do a ton of supplemental and accessory volume to build muscle and strengthen that movement they strain in. They also change the max effort movement usually each week.
Doing 3x1RM is extremely hard on the CNS and ultimately leads to burn out or injury instead of results. You could peak with weekly maxes and near maxes for 2, maybe 3 weeks with high frequency, ie Bulgarian training, but then you’d need a deload, or you’d risk injury and set backs.
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Thanks a lot for your time 
I appreciate these answers.
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You should check out the article “Squatting Big” by Sam Byrd. He’s a former world record holder in the squat and in the article he talks about CAT squatting, and getting stronger by pushing weights faster. His bread and butter workout was 60% x 5 x 5, aiming for a faster, shorter workout week after week.
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How can you do more than you can do? It seems like you are proposing that you have to do something you can’t do (by going “over” what you can do) in order to progress. But by definition you can’t do what you can’t do, so that leaves us doing things we can do, but in such a way as to cause change
If the 3x8 represents a sufficient stress to the body, your body will try to make the 3x8 easier for the next encounter, which makes your old 8 your new 9
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yea, i wasnt sure about this, but now i know… thanks this makes some things more clear(i only understood % based training and always tought bodybuilding programs lack the info on how to progress, etc).
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He’s a fun video where a guy talks about how progressive overload doesn’t build size and strength. Size and strength allow for progressive overload
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