So, you’re stuck at home with no weights and thinking, “what do I do now”? Well today this article will address that very issue, whilst also exploring one of the most important concepts of resistance and all other types of physical training. This concept is called “progressive overload”.
Progressive overload is simple, if you don't continue to overload the muscles by forcing them to work harder than they're accustomed to, they have no need to make further adaptations. The trick is to find that threshold in which you are progressing beyond your previous level, but within the limits of tolerance and safety.
So how do we achieve this? What tools are available to us in our pursuit of challenging the muscles to a greater degree than done previously? And how do we make our workouts harder at home without weights?
Let’s assume we only have access to the most basic of exercise equipment. We may have only a resistance band, a milk bottle and a can of baked beans for example.
The first mistake people make is thinking they can only progress by adding more weight, and yes this is an effective form of progressive overload, but how many cans of baked beans can one person hold at a time? The answer is not enough to stimulate any real progressive overload, unless you have giant hands, and even then it’s a struggle.