Progressive over load

chriscarter2506

I’m back from the gym and feeling a bit disappointed with my session, when I’m there I always try and beat what I did the previous time I trained, I’m not overly strong and generally only manage an extra rep or so , tonight I didn’t quite manage what I had done last week, although I pushed myself as hard as I could, I’m just wondering, will you still grow Evan if you don’t manage to achieve what you did the previous week or is it a wasted session?

84creative

How long have you been training for and are you getting enough protein and sleep?

chriscarter2506

I’ve been going to the gym for a few years but only playing really in the past , last Christmas I got a bit heavy so started a diet and went from 14 stones 2 down to 12 stones 4 by about June, I then wanted to do a clean ish bulk, I train 4 times a week , each body part twice a week, doing 8 sets of each body part twice a week , I do have an easy week now and again, I track my calories now and generally eat around 180 grams of protein a day and generally get around 7 hrs of sleep a night...

GaryRuns

There are so many reasons this could happen. First, don't worry about a single session. It could be lack of sleep, you ate poorly leading up to the session, you overworked yourself doing something outside the gym, etc. Those are temporary things.

If you've been lifting consistently on the same program and progressing for a significant amount of time, like 6+ months, at some point you'll likely plateau and stop progressing. Unfortunately, after an initial period of solid gains and progression when you first start resistance training, it gets harder and harder to keep progressing. One possibility is that you just won't progress as fast any more. You may find that while you were able to progress every week before, now you'll only be able to progress every two or three weeks.

Another possibility is that you'll just completely plateau and be unable to make any progress on your current program. This may mean you need to change your program. For example maybe go from a push-pull-legs split to an upper-lower split. Or maybe just be more strict in your current program about progressing and taking deloads to better recover.

But, first, wait until you see a consistent lack of progress before you worry too much. One or two sessions aren't enough of a reason to change a program up that has been working for you up until this point.

Cant_think_of_a_username

How are you applying progressive overload? IE what protocol are you following?

How many reps are you up to per set?

giancarlov1191

Even if you haven't reached a plateau, it seriously just could be an off day. Perhaps you didn't sleep well, or you didn't eat enough, or you're more stressed or less focused. If you worked hard, no need to worry that it was a wasted session. Everyone has off days.

Chieflrg

chriscarter2506 wrote: »

I’m back from the gym and feeling a bit disappointed with my session, when I’m there I always try and beat what I did the previous time I trained, I’m not overly strong and generally only manage an extra rep or so , tonight I didn’t quite manage what I had done last week, although I pushed myself as hard as I could, I’m just wondering, will you still grow Evan if you don’t manage to achieve what you did the previous week or is it a wasted session?

Being able to "beat" your previous training session is a bit confusing.

Progressive overload is done many different ways. I also like to point out that one shouldn't be walking away from a session like they gave it their all and dragging. This is where better load management would be needed.

Not knowing your template and average intensity it's somewhat impossible to give advice.

I would say that most people would be better off dropping the intensity and adding volume by adding a set.

shaf238

I'd be surprised and impressed if you could beat what you did last time out every session. Multiple factors will impact on your ability to do that including fatigue.

And as @Chieflrg said, progressive overload is done in many ways. More weight, more reps, less rest, more time under tension, etc.

happysquatter

More information might be needed here since it’s hard to offer any help without knowing your programming

Could you perhaps log the last few workouts for any chosen body part, maybe chest or squats. How many reps and sets did you do, what did the weight jump by and what did you then achieve this week

Without knowing all of that, only general help can be offered ; it could be anything from not enough carbohydrates, too much of a weight jump, an actual plateau, too many reps etc

Viking_Dad

My workouts start to drag if I don't take a break every 3-4 weeks.
Alternatively, you could deload a bit and take a 'running start' at your goals.

Viking_Dad

Disagree all you want; it's what works for me.