Happy Monday!
I hope everyone has a wonderful morning transitioning back into the week. A reminder that the theme for this week is progression/overload. If you haven’t looked at yesterday’s post yet, click here to check it out. Today, I will dive into this concept a bit with day 23: learn about overload. I will touch on the concept of progression as well since these are both in the 7 principles of physical training.
What is Overload?
It is pretty similar to what it sounds like. Putting more of a load on your body or exerting more effort than you normally do. This can include adding weight to your usual body weight exercises. It can include running faster or longer in order to increase your heart rate to a point of exertion more than usual. To put it simply, it is basically exercising at an intensity that requires a bit of uncomfortable exertion. And this is where progress happens and you get stronger/faster.
So what about progression?
Progression is slowly and systematically increasing the intensity of your training. You can do this by adding more time (or distance) to your run/workout. You can also do this by adding more weight to your strength training routine or by adding more sets/reps. I want to emphasize again that it is a systematic increase. Rather than jumping from 15 minutes of running daily to 60 minutes, it is important to focus on slow increases and listen to your body to avoid injury.
Another important principle of exercise training
As you start progressing and overloading your body, don’t forget another important principle, which is recovery. Eat well, get plenty of sleep, and ensuring that you give your body and muscles the proper time and space to rest.
Time to get moving!
Today is leg day and I am going to once more refer you to my previous post on my favorite leg videos on YouTube. In order to follow through with progression, do one more video than you normally would or add intensity using ankle or hand weights.
That’s the end of day 23: learn about overload, check back tomorrow for another day!
