Progressive overload: exactly when to add weight

You get stronger by asking your body to do a little more than last time. That’s progressive overload. The hard part isn’t the idea; it’s knowing what “a little more” means on Tuesday at the rack. Add weight too fast and you stall or get hurt. Too slowly and you waste months.

The simplest method that works for almost everyone is double progression.

Double progression in one minute

Every exercise gets a rep range, like 8 to 10. You keep the same weight and add reps until you can do the top of the range on every set. Then you add the smallest weight step and start again at the bottom.

Session	Weight	Sets × reps	What happens next
1	60 kg	8, 8, 7	Same weight, aim for more reps
2	60 kg	9, 8, 8	Same weight
3	60 kg	10, 10, 10	Every set hit 10: add 2.5 kg
4	62.5 kg	8, 8, 7	Back to the bottom of the range

You move forward in two directions (reps, then weight), so there’s almost always a small win available.

The rule that keeps you safe: check the effort

Hitting 10 reps doesn’t mean much if the last set was a grind. Before adding weight, ask how the last set felt:

• Easy or good (you could have done 1 to 3 more): add weight next time.
• Hard (maybe one more rep, ugly): keep the weight. Own it first.
• Failed (couldn’t finish the rep): keep the weight.

Most programs skip this, which is why people jump weights they haven’t earned and stall a week later.

How big a step?

Use the smallest jump your equipment allows:

• Barbell lifts: 2.5 kg (5 lb) total. Lower-body lifts can take 5 kg once you’re past the beginner stage.
• Dumbbells: the next dumbbell, usually 1 to 2.5 kg per hand. Big percentage jumps, so expect to drop to the bottom of the range.
• Machines and cables: one plate on the stack. Many stacks are in pounds, often 10 lb steps.

What to do when you stall

If you finish below the bottom of the range two sessions in a row at the same weight, take about 7.5% off and build back up. It feels like going backwards; it’s the fastest way forward. Usually you pass your old best within two or three weeks.

Also check the boring things first: sleep, food, and whether you’ve had a lighter week recently. Most plateaus are recovery problems wearing a strength costume.

Plan lighter weeks before you need them

Every 6 to 8 weeks, take a deload week: about 60% of your usual weights and two-thirds of the sets. You keep the habit, your joints recover, and you come back stronger.

Bodyweight exercises

You can’t add plates to a push-up, so progress reps (or seconds, for holds) until you reach the top of the range on every set, then move to a harder variation: incline push-up, push-up, decline push-up, and so on.

The short version

1. Pick a range (6–10 for big lifts, 10–15 for small ones).
2. Same weight until every set hits the top of the range, with a rep or two in the tank.
3. Add the smallest step and start at the bottom again.
4. Miss the range twice? Take 7.5% off and climb back.
5. Deload every 6 to 8 weeks.

That’s it. The rules are simple; doing the bookkeeping for every exercise, every week, is the part people quit. Recomp does that part: every set is prefilled with the right weight and reps from your own history, and the effort you tap after a set decides what happens next time.