Double Progressive Training

People like to make things more complicated than they have to be, especially when it comes to training.

I can understand calculating percentages and cycles and whatnot for the competitive athletes at the very top, but what about for the rest of us? In my opinion none of that’s necessary.

All you need is the simplest of arithmetic. Adding.

Adding weight, adding reps, adding time.

Nothing crazy and you don’t even have to remember anything if you keep a training journal. (You do keep a training journal, don’t you?)

Simply look at the last time you did the workout and shoot for adding weight, reps or time. However you plan on progressing. Just stick with it.

Now watch out I’m about to make this slightly more complicated.

Here’s the extra step that can add so much to effectiveness. Make it doubly progressive. Meaning you take two factors to progress with instead of just one.

So instead of always striving to do more weight you shoot for a target number of reps. Once you reach that number than you increase the weight and work back up to that number of reps. Then you’ll increase the weight again and so on.

The double progressive system works for all things but it’s especially useful when you can’t easily progress in one dimension.

For example, I’ve been adding weight to chinnups recently. I use kettlebells because I like the feel of belting them on vs. a backpack full of weight. Now I could increase the load little by little with the backpack but instead I shoot for 5 sets of 5.

When I reach the 5 x 5 I up the weight which will bring me down to about 5 x 3. From there I work up again.

That’s just one example of many I could give you. Without a doubt the double progressive system of training is effective. Use it and gain.

In strength,
Logan Christopher