95 A Christian Guide to Body Stewardship, Diet and Exercise The principle of progressive overload states that the training stimulus needs to increase over time in order for progress to continue. According to Zatsiorsky & Kraemer (2006), progressive overload is best achieved through increases in training load and exercise variation. Other methods of introducing progressive overload include increases in range of motion, volume (e.g., number of sets and reps), frequency, decreasing the amount of time between sets, and/or performing sets with greater speed and acceleration (Contreras & Cordoza, 2019). According to Israetel et al. (2015), overload should be both acute and progressive. Acute overload means that individual training sessions must provide a stimulus great enough to promote physiological adaptations. Progressive overload means that training sessions must become progressively harder in order for physiological adaptations to continue. The principle of reversibility states that the physiological adaptations associated with chronic training are lost when training is stopped. Specifically, the body perceives unused muscle tissue as energetically wasteful and subsequently initiates catabolic processes to remove the excess. In fact, the body favors muscle atrophy over hypertrophy unless strength training is performed on a regular basis (Schoenfeld, 2022). Fortunately, detraining effects can be reversed when training is resumed. The principle of individuality suggests that training adaptations may differ greatly from individual to individual, and that genetics plays a major role in how fast and to what degree an individual will respond to a specific training stimulus. There are several factors that influence an individual’s response to strength training potential, such as age, gender, training experience, injury status, muscle fiber type, tendon insertion points, and hormonal balance. As a result, training programs should be tailored to the individual to account for these differences. Additionally, just because an individual responds well to one type of training stimulus (e.g., a particular number of sets, frequency per week, and % of 1RM used), it does not mean that they will respond well to other types of training stimuli (e.g., a different number of sets, frequency per week, and % of 1RM used). The Kaizen principle, which was derived from the Japanese word Kaizen (meaning constant and never-ending), strives for constant and continuous improvements over time. In terms of strength training, this would equate to small increases in the amount of weight lifted each week (e.g., ≤ 1 lb.). To accomplish this, Poliquin (2016) recommends the use of small add-on weights (aka micro-dosing) such as fractional plates (for use with barbells) or snap-on Micro Gainz plates (for use with dumbbells). Figure 5.1 depicts some popular micro-dosing options.
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