When trying to complete the most effective training program, the goal is to manipulate the training variables such as frequency, intensity, volume, rest period, tempo, and exercise selection to create the most optimal adaptations for the individual’s goals. When done correctly, the patient is almost guaranteed to obtain results leading them closer to their goal. However, progressive overload is the most important training component that is often forgotten amongst the elderly population. In fact, it is the most important variable to continue to make adaptations to one’s training program.
Progressive overload is the increase in stress placed on the body during exercise. In order for adaptations to be made, the body must continually be challenged with increasingly difficult tasks or exercises. The body will only adapt to the level of challenge that you give it and will not improve anymore until it is given a greater challenge. However, it is not always about lifting heavier weights, sometimes completing more repetitions, and performing the exercise for a longer period of time, doing the exercise faster or slower can be all you need to enforce change. The key is to use various methods to continually overload the body’s systems so that you continue to make improvements.
The lack of progressive overload is one of the most common reasons for the lack of improvement in a senior exercise program. With sufficient rest and recovery, adaptations come in the way of more muscle, more strength, improved human movement and function, and better performance.
