How to Progressive Overload Without Guessing
Add reps until the top set hits the top of the range. Then add weight. That's the whole rule.
Progressive overload means asking a little more of the muscle over time. Most men do it by feel: a plate on when the day feels good, a plate off when it doesn't. That's guessing. The rule below is the one the Don't Panic log runs on every lift.
The rule
Read the top set: the last working set of the lift, the one at RPE 7. If it reached the top of the rep range, add weight next time and drop back to the bottom of the range. If it didn't, keep the weight and add one rep.
- Week 1: 185 × 8
- Week 2: 185 × 9
- Week 3: 185 × 10
- Week 4: 190 × 8
A single target counts as a small range. A set of 8 means 8 to 10.
How big a jump
5 pounds on a barbell, a machine or a cable stack. The next dumbbell up, 5 pounds a hand. In kilos: 2.5 on the bar, the machine or the cable, 2 to the next dumbbell. At home that's the smallest plates on the bar or one pin on the stack.
When the weight can't go up
Light dumbbells: once the heaviest pair is easy at the top of the range, slow the lowering to 3 seconds, then add a set.
Bodyweight: top of the range on your top set, then the harder version: feet up, a 3-second lowering, a pause at the bottom.
Four ways up: weight, reps, sets, cleaner form.
Why only the top set
Every set before the top set is a step up in weight. Those sets climb to it. The top set is the measurement: same lift, same effort, RPE 7, every session. If it moves, you're getting stronger. If it feels heavier than the log says it should, that's one of the signs fatigue is stacking up.
Deload
Every 4 to 6 weeks: same program, half the volume. Fatigue builds across days and weeks, and you don't always feel it landing.
In the app
In The Shift the log reads your last top set and shows the next one: the weight and the reps to hit. The Baseline logs your top set; the next weight is part of The Shift. GARAGE, the home gym program, spells out how this works with light dumbbells and a cable stack.
Next: what RPE 7 means, and how long to rest between sets.
Emil Pasini