To get stronger, your muscles need a challenge. Over time, an exercise that once felt difficult may become easier. When that happens, gradually increasing the challenge helps you keep improving.
This is called progressive overload. Despite the technical name, the idea is simple: do a little more as your body becomes capable of doing a little more.
But how much should you increase? And does progress always mean putting more weight on the bar?
More Weight Is Not Always Better
It is tempting to judge progress by the numbers: a heavier squat, a bigger dumbbell, or another plate on the machine.
Adding weight is one way to progress, but it is not the only way. You can also gradually increase the number of repetitions you complete or the number of sets you perform.
Research has found that increasing repetitions and increasing weight can both help build strength and muscle. You do not have to add weight every session to make your training worthwhile.
The aim is to make exercise challenging enough to encourage improvement—not to make every workout harder at any cost.
An Example: Increasing a Squat From 40 kg to 60 kg
Imagine someone who has been squatting 40 kg for several weeks. It feels manageable, so they add a 10 kg plate to each side of the bar.
The new weight is 60 kg. They try to complete the same number of repetitions as before, but develop knee pain during or after the session.
Wanting to progress was not the problem. The question is whether the new challenge matched what they were ready to do.
“Forty kilograms feels fine” tells us something useful, but it doesn’t tell us how much more they can handle. Could they have completed several extra repetitions at 40 kg, or were they already working hard to finish the set?
This example reflects an important clinical lesson: familiarity with the old weight does not automatically mean you’re ready for a much heavier one.
Is There a Rule for How Much to Increase?
You may have heard advice to increase weights by 5% or 10%.
An older American College of Sports Medicine recommendation suggested increasing weight by around 2–10% once a person could complete one or two more repetitions than their target.
The useful idea is not simply the percentage. It is demonstrating that you have some capacity left before increasing the challenge.
The updated 2026 ACSM position stand continues to support progressive strength training, but it does not repeat or disprove that specific percentage rule. It also does not establish a universal “safe increase.”
Treat percentages as possible planning tools—not guarantees. The right next step should reflect how you are managing your current workout, rather than what the calendar says you should be lifting.
Ask: “How Much Did I Have Left?”
You do not need complicated calculations to start monitoring your effort.
After a set, ask yourself:
“Could I have completed another couple of good repetitions, or was that everything I had?”
If you could comfortably do several more, you may have room to progress. If the final repetition already feels like an all-out effort, a large weight increase will create a very different challenge.
You also do not need to finish every set completely exhausted. The 2026 ACSM review found that reaching the point where you cannot complete another repetition was not necessary for improving strength or building muscle.
Challenging exercise matters. Constantly testing your limit is not compulsory.
A Simple Way to Build Up
One practical option is to increase repetitions before increasing weight.
For example:
- Choose a weight you can manage for six good repetitions.
- Over subsequent sessions, gradually build towards eight.
- Check that your movement remains consistent and you are not struggling to finish every set.
- Add a modest amount of weight.
- Start again nearer six repetitions and build from there.
This is an example, not a programme everyone must follow. Its advantage is that you can see what has improved before making the next change. Research supports both adding repetitions and adding weight as ways to progress.
Avoid automatically adding weight, extra sets, and more training days all at once. Changing fewer things makes your response easier to understand.
A simple training record can help: note the weight, repetitions, sets, and how difficult the exercise felt. It gives you something more useful to work with than memory alone.
What If a New Weight Causes Pain?
A practical first step is to reconsider the dose rather than repeatedly testing the same painful workout.
Depending on the assessment, that might mean using less weight, fewer repetitions, or a different exercise temporarily. The aim is to find something manageable and build from there.
In the squat example, returning to 40 kg wouldn’t automatically be the right answer. A previously comfortable weight may feel different once symptoms have started.
Check how you feel during the exercise, afterwards, and at your next session. These observations help guide decisions, but they don’t exactly test for tissue damage.
Where Physiotherapy Fits In
Physiotherapy can help turn “take it slowly” into a clearer plan.
That may include identifying a suitable starting point, explaining what to monitor, and establishing when to increase, maintain, or reduce the challenge.
You do not necessarily need a physiotherapist beside you for every weight increase. You do need a plan you understand, with clear guidance on when to seek reassessment.
The ACSM recommendations help inform strength-training programmes, but they are not condition-specific rehabilitation instructions. When pain is affecting training, the plan needs to account for the individual—not just the numbers on the bar.
Build Strength at a Pace You Can Sustain
Getting stronger does not have to mean making a big jump every time you feel ready for more. Progress can mean a few extra repetitions, a small weight increase, or returning to an exercise with greater confidence.
Give yourself permission to repeat a manageable session rather than feeling obliged to beat it every time. You can still have ambitious goals while taking measured steps towards them.
If pain or uncertainty makes those steps difficult, a physiotherapist can help you figure out where to start and how to move forward. The goal isn’t to keep you lifting light forever—it is to help you build toward the activities you enjoy.
You do not have to prove everything in one workout. Give yourself a clear plan, recognise the smaller improvements, and let those steps add up.
Reference
- American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2009;41(3):687–708.
- Currier BS, et al. Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance in Healthy Adults: An Overview of Reviews. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2026;58(4):851–872.
- Chaves et al. Effects of Resistance Training Overload Progression Protocols on Strength and Muscle Mass. International Journal of Sports Medicine. 2024;45(7):504–510.