Are Your Exercises Still Challenging You? Progressive Overload Explained
When you first start a new exercise, it can feel really challenging. But after a few weeks of doing it regularly, you might notice that it starts to feel easier. That’s a good thing – it means your body is adapting and you’re getting stronger or more confident with the movement. But if you keep doing exactly the same exercise, with the same resistance and the same number of repetitions, eventually it may no longer provide enough of a challenge to keep producing change. This is where exercise progression – and a principle called progressive overload – becomes important.
What is progressive overload?
Progressive overload simply means gradually increasing the demands you place on your body as it adapts to exercise. Our bodies are very good at adapting to what we regularly ask them to do. An exercise that initially feels difficult can become much easier as your strength, control and confidence improve.
To continue making progress, we therefore need to provide enough of a challenge to encourage further adaptation. This doesn’t mean that every workout needs to be harder than the last, or that you constantly need to push yourself to your limits. Progression should be gradual and appropriate for you.
And importantly, progressive overload doesn’t just mean lifting heavier weights. There are lots of ways we can make an exercise more challenging – many of which you’ll probably recognise from your Pilates classes.
Progression doesn’t just mean heavier weights
When we hear the words progressive overload, we often think about lifting increasingly heavy weights. Adding resistance is certainly one way to progress an exercise, but it’s far from the only one.
We can increase the challenge in lots of different ways. We might add repetitions, increase the range of movement, slow an exercise down, change the position of our arms or legs, reduce the amount of support we have or introduce an additional balance or stability challenge.
Sometimes a very small change can make a familiar exercise feel completely different. Think about a shoulder bridge, for example. A basic bridge can be progressed by adding resistance, changing the position of the feet, lifting one foot from the floor or eventually moving towards a single-leg version. The basic movement is still recognisable, but the demands placed on the body have changed.
The same principle applies throughout Pilates – and to exercise more generally. The aim isn’t simply to find the hardest possible version of an exercise. It’s to find a level that provides enough challenge for you while still allowing you to perform the movement well.
How do you know when it’s time to progress?
There isn’t a set timetable for progressing an exercise. How quickly you progress will depend on the exercise itself, your starting point, how regularly you exercise and what you are trying to achieve.
One of the simplest signs is that an exercise which used to feel challenging now feels relatively comfortable. Perhaps you can complete the same number of repetitions without much effort, your technique remains good throughout and you feel as though you could easily keep going.
If the aim of that exercise is to improve strength, it needs to provide a sufficient challenge. If you finish an exercise feeling as though you could comfortably have completed many more repetitions, it may be time to consider increasing the resistance or progressing the exercise.
That doesn’t mean exercising until you physically cannot do another repetition, or sacrificing good technique in an attempt to make an exercise harder. The aim is to provide an appropriate level of challenge while still maintaining good control and technique.
Does every exercise need to get harder?
Not necessarily. How – and whether – we progress an exercise depends on what we are trying to achieve.
If your goal is to continue improving strength, then over time you are likely to need to increase the challenge in some way as your body adapts. But not every exercise we do has strength as its main goal. We might be working on mobility, balance, coordination, movement control or simply maintaining the strength and function we already have. Maintaining strength and regular movement is particularly important as we get older - see Exercise and Osteoarthritis.
There is also plenty of benefit in simply exercising regularly. An exercise doesn’t suddenly stop being good for you because you haven’t made it harder. In fact, consistency is one of the most important parts of any exercise programme.
Progression is therefore a tool rather than a target in itself. We don’t need to make every exercise harder simply for the sake of it. Instead, we can ask: what am I trying to achieve with this exercise, and does it still provide the right level of challenge for that goal?
Progression isn’t always linear
Exercise progression rarely follows a perfectly straight line. There will be times when you feel stronger and ready for more challenge, and other times when maintaining your current level – or even taking a temporary step back – is the right thing to do.
Illness, injury, surgery, poor sleep, stress, holidays or simply having some time away from regular exercise can all affect what feels appropriate on a particular day. You may normally use a heavier weight or choose a more challenging variation, but occasionally find that a simpler version is enough.
That isn’t a failure to progress. Good exercise prescription is about adjusting the challenge to suit your current ability and circumstances, rather than always assuming that harder is better.
And not every exercise session needs to be better or harder than the one before. Sometimes simply showing up and moving is enough of a win. Consistency over weeks, months and years matters far more than constantly trying to make each individual workout more challenging. There will naturally be fluctuations along the way, but if you keep exercising regularly, there will be plenty of opportunities to progress when the time is right.
Don’t compare your progression with someone else’s
If you exercise in a group, it can be tempting to look around the room and compare what you are doing with the person beside you. They might be using a heavier weight, choosing a higher-resistance band or doing a more challenging variation of an exercise – but that doesn’t mean you should be doing the same.
We all arrive at exercise with different bodies, different exercise histories and different goals. Age, previous injuries, health conditions, time away from exercise and what else you do during the week can all influence what an appropriate level of challenge looks like for you.
The most advanced-looking version of an exercise isn’t necessarily the best one. A good progression should challenge you while still allowing you to move with appropriate control and technique. Sometimes staying with a simpler version and doing it really well is a much better choice than progressing just because somebody else has.
This is one of the reasons I offer different options during my Pilates classes. They aren’t simply “easy” and “hard” versions. They are different ways of adjusting an exercise so that you can choose the level of challenge that is appropriate for you on that particular day.
What can progression look like in Pilates?
Progression in Pilates can be surprisingly simple. You don’t necessarily need a completely new exercise – sometimes a small change to a familiar movement is enough to alter the challenge.
Take a clam exercise, for example. You might begin with a basic clam, then add a resistance band, increase the lever by lifting the feet, or progress to a more challenging variation. A shoulder bridge can progress from two feet on the floor to reducing the support from one leg, adding resistance or eventually working with a single leg.
We can also progress exercises by changing the range of movement, slowing the movement down, adding repetitions, using hand or ankle weights, changing our base of support or introducing a greater balance challenge.
The important part isn’t reaching the final or “hardest” version. It’s having enough options available that an exercise can continue to provide an appropriate challenge as your ability changes.
The take-home message
So, are your exercises still challenging you?
If something that once felt difficult now feels easy, take that as a positive sign – your body has adapted. It might also be the right time to add a little more resistance, try another repetition or choose a different variation.
But remember that progress isn’t about making every workout harder than the last. Some days you’ll challenge yourself, some days you’ll maintain where you are, and some days simply showing up and moving will be enough.
Exercise progression is about providing the right challenge at the right time – and continuing to move forwards over the longer term.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is progressive overload?
Progressive overload means gradually increasing the demands placed on your body as it adapts to exercise. This might mean increasing resistance or repetitions, but it can also involve changing the range of movement, lever length, balance challenge or the exercise itself.
Do I need to lift heavy weights to get stronger?
Not necessarily. Muscles can become stronger using different types of resistance, including weights, resistance bands and body weight. What matters is that the exercise provides an appropriate challenge. As you become stronger, you may need to increase that challenge to continue making progress.
How often should I progress my exercises?
There is no set timetable. If an exercise that previously felt challenging has become relatively easy and you could comfortably complete many more repetitions, it may be time to consider progressing it. Progression should be gradual and appropriate to your individual ability and goals.
Can Pilates provide progressive overload?
Yes. Pilates exercises can be progressed in many ways, including adding resistance, changing lever length or range of movement, reducing support and introducing more challenging variations. However, if your specific goal is to maximise strength, particularly as you become stronger, additional resistance training may also be beneficial.
References
Currier BS, D'Souza AC, Fiatarone Singh MA, et al. American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. 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. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000003897.
Currier BS, McLeod JC, Banfield L, et al. Resistance training prescription for muscle strength and hypertrophy in healthy adults: a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2023;57(18):1211–1220. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2023-106807.
Refalo MC, Helms ER, Trexler ET, Hamilton DL, Fyfe JJ. Influence of Resistance Training Proximity-to-Failure on Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine. 2023;53(3):649–665. doi:10.1007/s40279-022-01784-y.
de Oliveira Francisco C, de Almeida Fagundes A, Gorges B. Is Pilates better than other exercises at increasing muscle strength? A systematic review. Heliyon. 2022;8(11):e11564. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11564.
Disclaimer
This article is for general information and education only and is not a substitute for individual medical or healthcare advice. If you have an injury, health condition or are unsure whether an exercise is appropriate for you, please seek advice from an appropriate healthcare professional before starting or progressing your exercise programme.
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