Over the last couple of years, it’s been really cool to see the difference in enquiries that come through my website. Before it was ‘drop 10kg’. ‘Feel fit’. ‘Get motivated to train’. Now it seems most are motivated to train, have been doing so for a while, but are struggling to see the changes their hard work demands.
And the main buzzword I see written down is ‘progressive overload’.
I asked Google Gemini to summarize the last 50 enquiries, which goes back a couple of months.
Google Gemini? ‘Leads want to progressively overload their sessions and get stronger’.
But what does progressive overload actually mean?
Progressive overload (noun):
A gradual increase in the stress placed on the body during exercise training in order to stimulate muscle growth, strength gains, or improved physical performance.
It’s nothing new to us coaches, it’s what we were educated on but it seems to be, with the spread of information across social media and access to Chat GPT it’s never been easier to understand how to get in shape.
I guess the opposite of that is also true. You need to understand what information to avoid and what to listen to. And when it comes to applying ‘progressive overload’, I got you.
How many of you currently train doing 3 sets of 10 but have never changed the weights? Or even the reps? That’s the opposite of progressive overload. You’re not giving your body the required stress it needs to overcome and adapt to.
An easy way is to get that 3 sets of 10 with a slightly heavier weight month to month. If it’s an incline chest press it might be with a set of 18kg dumbbells. Maybe in 3-4 weeks you can get 3 sets of 10 at 20kg.
The issue I find with this from most of my clients is that it’s fairly rigid and it’s hard to know how primed you are on that day. A poor nights sleep and you might find it difficult to do 3 sets of 6 at 18kg. Yet last week the 18s went up smoothly.
Over the last couple of years I’ve switched from rigid rep numbers to ranges. Instead of 3 sets of 10 it’s 3 sets of 8-12.
Why ranges? Because it gives you a broader view and takes into account how you’re feeling on a day-to-day basis. Rep ranges also work on an RPE scale.
Hold on Sam, what’s RPE?
RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) (noun):
A subjective scale used to measure the intensity of physical activity based on how hard an individual feels they are working, taking into account factors such as effort, fatigue, breathing, and muscle strain.
In exercise and strength training contexts, RPE is commonly used to estimate training intensity without relying solely on objective measures like heart rate or load lifted.
It is often measured on a numerical scale (typically 1–10) where higher numbers represent greater perceived effort.
Example (strength training usage):
- RPE 6: Moderate effort; several repetitions remain possible.
- RPE 8: Hard effort; approximately two repetitions remain in reserve.
- RPE 10: Maximal effort; no additional repetitions can be performed.
So RPE is pretty effective. I want, as a coach, most sets to be a 7. Why a 7?
7 is a level of exercise intensity described by my clients as “hard,” where the client is working with a challenging load or effort but still has approximately three repetitions remaining before reaching muscular failure.
At RPE 7, the effort feels demanding and requires concentration, but the individual maintains good technique and control throughout the movement. The exercise could continue for a few additional repetitions if required, though fatigue is clearly present.
Example:
A set of 10 repetitions performed at RPE 7 means the individual could likely complete about three more repetitions before reaching failure (often referred to as 3 reps in reserve, or 3 RIR).
So it’s challenging enough, but form is never compromised.
With rep ranges, it allows the client a little autonomy and lets them listen to their body a little. How’s it responding? How are the reps feeling? Can you get a few more out?
So, how can you apply this to your training?
Choose an exercise and prescribe 8-12 reps (or generally any rep range tbh). Use a weight you can get to 8 with an RPE of 7. Over the coming weeks, aim to get from 8 reps, to 9, to 10, 11 and 12. Do that across two to four sets.
Week 1 might look like this:
A1: Goblet Squats Set 1 = 11 reps, set 2 = 9 reps, set 3 = 8 reps. You know what sets are like, the same weight feels a little heavier as sets go on.
A total of 28 reps.
Week 9 might look like this:
A1: Goblet Squats Set 1 = 12 reps, set 2 = 12 reps, set 3 = 12 reps. This week the weight moves better and it just feels a lot easier.
A total of 36 reps.
And when that happens. You get to the top of the rep range you just go right ahead and increase the weight.
But by a little. 1-2.5kg is often enough.
And can you guess what will happen with that heavier weight?
You’ll likely do:
Week 10
A1: Goblet Squats Set 1 = 10 reps, set 2 = 8 reps, set 3 = 8 reps. It’s harder as the weights heavier.
A total of 26 reps. Less than week 1 on the plan.
And this can run for a year quite easily. It’s such a simple method and underutilised.
Go for as long as you can until you’re at the heaviest weights the gym has. hahah
If you run this with a goblet squat for instance. Don’t stop at a 20kg dumbbell. Work hard on managing your grip and bracing to ensure it’s your legs that are giving up before your grip or core.
Why This Works So Well
The reason this approach works so well is that it respects how the body actually adapts to training.
Strength and muscle are not built from one incredible workout. They come from the accumulation of slightly harder sessions over time. A little more weight here. An extra rep there. Better technique. More confidence under the bar.
Rep ranges and RPE create the perfect environment for that progress to happen.
Some days you’ll feel incredible and hit the top of the range. Other days you’ll scrape out the minimum and still get a productive training session.
And honestly, that’s ok. Not every session will be hitting PRs. Most days it’s just getting it done. But over weeks and months, the total work gradually increases, and that’s where the results come from.
Most people stall in the gym not because they aren’t working hard enough, but because they don’t have a clear method for progressing their training.
This system absolutely solves that problem.
You simply aim to move from the bottom of the rep range to the top, increase the weight slightly, and repeat the process again.
No complicated spreadsheets. No guessing.
Just consistent progress.
Common Problems
Don’t increase the weight too quickly. Master the form and the technique first. Use tempo and control the reps. Learn what you need to turn on and where you should be feeling it. Progressive strength training comes from small incremental measured jumps not big ones. An insignificant 2kg jump across months is far better than a huge jump that compromises form and tempo.
If you’ve coached as much as I have over the years you’ll see trends that happen quite often.
Secondly, listen to your body. It’s telling you things for a reason. Run down, slow, achey joints. Listen to that stuff. It’s giving you feedback. As I mention above, sleep, stress, kids. They all affect how you feel and will perform. Some days just aren’t your days, and that’s ok. The RPE and RIR above keeps you fresh and scales according to how you feel without losing that overall progression.
And definitely don’t just do this for 2 weeks and swap the exercises around. Follow the plan for longer. Its not uncommon to run with it for 3-9 months. In some cases a year.
We followed this with one of my clients, Rasika.
She’s now banging out 10 reps at a 40kg kettlebell. We started at 12kg…
If you want to be strong, then following a proven plan works.
If you want one rule to remember when you walk into the gym, it’s this:
Stay in the rep range and gradually increase the total reps until you hit the top of the range.
When you can comfortably perform the highest number of reps across all sets with good technique and around an RPE 7–8, increase the weight slightly and start again from the lower end.
That’s progressive overload in its simplest form.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from coaching hundreds of clients over the years, it’s that the people who get the best results aren’t the ones chasing the newest training method.
They’re the ones who master the fundamentals.
Rep ranges, progressive overload, and consistent effort over time will outperform almost anything else you see online.
Get those right and strength — and the physique that comes with it — becomes inevitable.
Take Michael, my 88-year-old client. We started with press ups on the level 11. Quite high up the bar. Every week we worked to a 7 RPE with the rep range 2-4. Not crazy.
Over the course of 11 weeks we got his first press up out. Admittedly I haven’t filmed anymore but he’s now doing 4 press ups.
Here is his first full press up in 20 years.