A Guide to Progression in Workout Planning

By Tom Shade  

Developing your own long term workout plan requires consideration of multiple principles of fitness development. One of the most important principles, and one you should consider very early in your planning process is progression.

Progression is the process of increasing the general demand on your body periodically throughout exercise. The methods you can use to implement it throughout your workout are: increasing weight, changing the number of sets or reps per exercise, decreasing rest time, and changing the complexity and difficulty of exercises conducted. It is a method that professional bodybuilders and athletes all use.

When you start any program it is important to start with a one repetition max test in order to establish a baseline. Gathering data on your one rep maxes allows you to set a baseline for where your level of strength currently is. With this baseline, you can plan out your weights using 1 rep max percentages, and you can also set your strength goals for the end of the program. It is also important to test at the very end in order to assess your plan.

Below is an example of a simple 6 week workout plan for the bench press that implements progression.

Exercise: Bench Press

Week 1: Test for 1 Rep Max

Week 2: 4 sets x 6 reps (50% 1RM)

Week 3: 4 sets x 6 reps (60% 1RM)

Week 4.5 sets x 4 reps (75% 1RM)

Week 5: 5 sets x 4 reps (80% 1RM)

Week 6 Re-Test for 1RM

This example increases weight resistance during exercise and changes set and rep count. A realistic expectation for a short and simple workout like this would be a 10-15% increase in 1 rep max. This amount of improvement may not seem like enough for most people looking to greatly improve their level of strength in a program, however the effect of progression is compounded when it is implemented over many exercises and a longer period of time. Common plans like this can cover a 15 week period and include 6-10 exercises per workout.

Overall, this is an important principle to consider when creating any gym plan. It can help prevent plateaus in strength gains and is one of the easiest ways to track your weekly progress throughout a workout plan. Many professional body builders and strength athletes implement it into their workouts in order to ensure they are in optimal shape come competition time. You don't have to be a professional athlete to use progression, and in fact it sometimes works best for average weight lifters with a lot of strength to gain.

These types of strength programs can easily be found online, or you can make your own! Just be sure to test your initial strength levels before you start planning.