Incremental Progression?

What is the basic law we are all taught with increasing strength levels? PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD!! We must make the exercise more difficult in order to keep making progress. Our bodies are highly adaptive, this is why we are able to get bigger, stronger, faster, more mobile, etc. However, modern bodybuilding has made us lose our creativity in what the term progressive overload actually means.

I remember having a coach show me how he loaded our Ultimate Sandbags. He had five pound bricks made up that were inserted and stuffed into the bag. I asked him why five pound bricks (of course this was a loaded question). He gave me a look of confusion, why had he made five pound bricks? The easy answer is that we are all familiar with five pound increments of loading. Most dumbbells will go up by five pounds, most cable systems go up by five pounds, etc. Therefore, it seemed very logical for the coach to have five pound bricks in his sandbag.

What this coach missed out on are several key factors:

1. By overconcerning himself with by trying to replicate the five pounds he compromised the training effectiveness of the sandbags. He made the sandbags stiff and rigged which decreases one of the main training benefits of sandbags.
   
2. Sandbags can be made more difficult by changing the placement of the bag. In the example of squatting we can begin the bags in the zercher position, move it to the bear hug, then to shoulder, finally overhead. All of this can be done without changing the load of the bag.
3. Five pounds in sandbag training is harder to standardize. Ideally a sandbag will have great movement and pliability. Therefore, it may be not necessary to add more weight. Those that have tried lifting the same weight in our large bags versus our mediums can vouch for this. Mainly because the large bag will offer more movement because of the size of this bag. Not having the big as easy to maneuver is much more difficult.
4. Stop thinking like traditional lifting! In bodyweight training often a change of leverage is made to increase the level of difficulty of the drill. However, it is impossible to quantify what type of load change this created.
   

Instead of getting consumed by how much your bag weighs think about the goal of your training program and how you can become more athletic and stronger by taking on the challenge of a new variation of your classic drills. Don't know what I mean? Try incorporating overhead lunges today!!