Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - How to Use Double Progression to Gain Muscle & Strength Faster

Episode Date: June 21, 2021

In this podcast, you’re going to learn about double progression, which is one of the best progression systems you can use. In fact, double progression has been part of my programs since 2012, and it’s still what I recommend today. So, in this episode you’re going to learn what double progression is, how to implement it in your training, how it differs from other types of progression, and how to get more out of it to gain muscle and strength faster. And if you’re not currently using double progression in your workouts, you’re definitely going to find this episode helpful. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 4:01 - What is double progression 4:46 - How does double progression work? Mentioned on the Show: Shop Legion Supplements Here: https://buylegion.com/mike Books by Mike Matthews: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/ Want free workout and meal plans? Download my science-based diet and training templates for men and women: https://legionathletics.com/text-sign-up/

Hello and welcome to Muscle for Life. I'm Mike Matthews. Thank you for joining me today to learn about double progression. Now, this is something that I have written and spoken about for a while now. Double progression was featured in the first edition of Bigger, Leaner, Stronger that I published back in 2012, for example, and it is still in the program today. And as I am working through another round of updates to Bigger Leaner Stronger and Thinner Leaner Stronger, mostly organizational updates and updates to how I explain things,

the core fundamentals of the programs are not going to change much. I am gonna tweak some things just based on continued research and feedback and experience in my own training, but not too much is going to change in terms of the actual mechanics of the program. But these new books are going to be even more user-friendly. I'm going to be taking out stuff that probably doesn't need to be in there currently and adding some stuff in that I think better addresses actual questions that people have, for example, or just ways that I can improve the program and improve people's

understanding of it and how to apply it. And I am working on the training section. I'm doing Bigger Leaner Stronger first, then I'm'm gonna take everything and adapt it to Thinner, Leaner, Stronger. And I'm working on the training section right now and explaining double progression and how it works in Bigger, Leaner, Stronger and Thinner, Leaner, Stronger. And I thought that the information would make for a good podcast. This isn't going to be the final material in the book,

but it is going to give you a good idea of what double progression is and a couple of different ways to make it work. And if you have already read Bigger Leaner Stronger, maybe you're following that program or Thinner Leaner Stronger, you're going to pick up a couple little tips that are going to help you get more out of those programs. And if you're not following those programs, but are using double progression otherwise, I think you are also going to find this helpful. And if you're not using double progression at all,

or maybe you don't know because you don't know what it is, then you will definitely find this episode helpful because double progression is one of the best progression systems that you can use. Also, if you like what I am doing here on the podcast and elsewhere, definitely check out my sports nutrition company, Legion, which thanks to the support of many people like you is the leading brand of all natural sports supplements in the world. And we're on top because every ingredient and dose in every product is backed by peer-reviewed scientific research. Every formulation is 100% transparent. There are no proprietary blends, for example, and everything is naturally

sweetened and flavored. So that means no artificial sweeteners, no artificial food dyes, which may not be as dangerous as some people would have you believe, but there is good evidence to suggest that having many servings of artificial sweeteners in particular every day for long periods of time may not be the best for your health. pills, powders, and potions to get into great shape. And frankly, most of them are virtually useless. There are natural ingredients that can help you lose fat, build muscle, and get healthy faster. And you will find the best of them in Legion's products. To check out everything we have to offer, including protein powders and bars, pre-workout and post-workout supplements, fat burners, multivitamins, joint support, and more, head over to buylegion.com slash Mike. That's B-U-Y-L-E-G-I-O-N dot com slash Mike. And just to show you how much I appreciate my podcast, peeps, use the coupon code MFL at checkout and you will save 20% on your entire first order.

Okay, so let's start with a quick explanation of what double progression is. Well, it is simply a method of regulating how quickly you increase the volume. So you could look at your volume in different ways. You could look at it in terms of total reps. You could look at it in terms of total number of hard sets, which are sets taken close to muscular failure. You could even look at it in terms of total poundage lifted, right? So double regression is a way of determining how quickly you should increase the volume in your training as well as the intensity, which is the load. You could look at that in different ways, but percentage of one rep max is a usual method

used, right? So put 75% of one rep max on the bar and you're going to get probably eight to 10 reps, for example. So here's how double progression works. You work with a given weight in a given rep range. So let's say you are squatting and you have 225 on the bar and you're doing bigger than you're stronger. So you're working in the four to six rep range. And then once you hit the top of that rep range for a certain number of sets, one, two, three, even in some cases, it could be more than that, but that is more suited to intermediate and advanced weightlifters. And if you're doing five, six plus sets of one exercise in a workout, I probably wouldn't recommend double progression for that, but we won't get into that tangent here. We don't have to. We're going to go with double progression 101. That's this

discussion. And so then once you hit your progression target, so to speak, so let's say again, four to six rep range, and you hit six reps for one or two or maybe three sets, you add weight to the bar. You add five pounds or you add 10 pounds, depending on the exercise and depending on how experienced of a trainee you are. And then once you've added weight to the bar, if you can hit at least the bottom of your rep range in the next sets that you have, assuming that you didn't hit your target on the final set, usually you hit your progression target on the first or the second set if it's a two set progression target, and then you add weight. So let's say you get your six reps

with the 225 on set one, you add weight to the bar, and now you want to make sure that you get at least four reps, the bottom of your rep range in the next two sets with that heavier weight. And if you can do that, if you go up to, let's say, 235 pounds and you get four and four, you work with that new heavier weight until you can hit your progression target again, and then you increase the weight again and so forth. So what you're doing then is you're striving to increase reps first. So that's your volume is going up as you get a little bit stronger, a little bit stronger. Let's say that 225 pounds. Initially, you could only squat it for four reps. Let's say you were doing three sets of that in a workout. So let's say it went 4-4-4 week one, 12 reps total,

and then 4-4-4 week two, no change. And then 5-4-4, progress, a little bit more volume, 5, 4, 4, progress, a little bit more volume, right? 13 reps now total instead of 12. And then the next week, 5, 5, 4, so now we're up to 14 total reps and so on until eventually you hit your progression target. So that volume is going up. You hit your progression target, you add weight to the bar. So now the intensity is going up and the volume comes back down and you repeat the process. So that's why it's called double progression. You progress on your reps and then you progress on your weight. Now you may be wondering how this system differs from other systems like single progression, which is what many people do when they first start lifting weights. And this entails just adding weight to

the exercise while doing the same number of reps and sets in each workout. Only the weight goes up. Single progression, also often called linear progression. Although there are other types of linear progression, but this would be one of them. And this is how it may work for somebody who is doing, let's say, three sets of squats in each workout. And they're doing that once per week and they're doing sets of fives, like a starting strength approach, right? So let's say the first week it's 185 for five and they do three sets of that. And then the next week they add 10 pounds to the bar and they get their 195 for five, three sets, no problem. And

then the next week, 10 pounds to the bar, it's 205 now for five, and they get five on each of their three sets. And that approach can work really well for people who are new to weightlifting. And that's why it is featured in very popular strength training programs like Starting Strength and 5x5 and others. The problem with this though is it starts to miscarry after probably your first six to 12 months. I know that's a large range, but it really does depend on a number of factors ranging from genetics to anatomy to how responsive somebody is to training to how well they're eating and how well they're managing their calories and macros and sleeping and so forth. But for the first six months or so, for most people, it works real well.

And then for some people at that point, it stops working so well. Other people can get a year of steady progress out of that approach. Sometimes they have to add less weight to the bar every week, five pounds total instead of 10. Sometimes it needs to be every other week, but that simple, just, yeah, you do the same number of reps, the same number of sets, and you just add weight on a regular schedule type of approach certainly works for newbies. And sometimes it can get people well through their novice phase into their intermediate phase. But eventually what happens is you can't consistently add even small amounts of weight to the bar anymore without missing rep

targets, without getting two or three reps instead of five, for example. So in the case that I gave earlier with the squatting, let's say the guy goes from, or the woman, I guess, this is within the realm of female strength as well, goes from 195 to 205 and then gets five and has to really grind for it and then gets three and even has to grind for it and then gets three and even has to grind for that and then gets two, right? Now they're going to have to go backward and work with a lighter weight and maybe they get their sets of five there and then they try to go up again. It doesn't stick. What are they supposed to do? Now, some people, what they do is they just ignore the fact that the system needs to change now.

They need to get a little bit more sophisticated with their programming and they try to just force progression. So they redouble their efforts. They take more pre-workout. They listen to louder music. They get even grittier with their grunting. And that may work for a time, kind of like an afterburner in a jet, but it does not work for long because within a couple of weeks, they start missing sets again and their technique begins to totter and their body

begins to hurt. And if they ignore those signs and press on, they wind up absolutely ragged or injured. And what I've seen working with many people over the years who have gone through that experience is they back off, they recover, they deload, they do what they need to do to feel normal again and get back into the training groove again, but they just repeat the same cycle. They think that maybe this time it's going to be different for one reason or another. Maybe they just started taking a new supplement or they changed up their diet or did something else that they hope will allow them to get the needle moving again. And sometimes they peak at a slightly higher weight, but they do end up backsliding again. And after rolling that proverbial rock up the hill several times like that, many people then

just assume that they maybe don't have the hardware for getting bigger and stronger. They don't have the genetics. They don't have the ability to recover enough from their training, or maybe they just don't have the grit that it takes to continue making progress. And that's almost never the case. Almost always, the reason these people are stuck is poor programming, not low quality DNA or a lack of dedication, or maybe I should say inappropriate programming, not necessarily poor for everyone, obviously. And one of the best ways to get over that hump is to graduate from this single linear progression to double progression. And the shift is very easy to make because at bottom, all you're doing is giving yourself a range of reps to shoot for, to work with as opposed to a specific rep target.

And that just gives you more leeway in how you add weight to your exercises and how you add reps to your exercises. And it also allows you to implement two elements of progressive overload now, which is progressively increasing the amount of tension produced in muscles because you are increasing the reps, right? So volume goes up over time and then you're increasing the weight. And both of those things progressively overload your muscles, which of course drives muscle growth. So let's look at a couple of examples of how this might work. Let's say you're bench pressing in the four to six rep range and you're doing three sets in a workout and on your first or maybe your second set, you get six reps with 135 pounds. So let's say that is your progression

target. And so you did it and now it's time to add weight and you add 10 pounds to the bar, go up to 145, you rest a couple of minutes and then you get four reps on your next set. Great. You are still within your target rep range, your four to six rep range. And let's say you have one more set. Let's say you progressed on your first set, and that also is within the rep range. You get four reps there, then perfect. Your progression has stuck. And then you just keep working with that new heavier weight, that 145 pounds until you can press it for six reps and then go up to 155. Now that process of hitting your progression target can take several weeks. When you're brand new to weightlifting, you will be progressing probably every week. You're going to hit that target every workout, every exercise every week,

or at least every other week. It's pretty straightforward, so much so that you could just program weight increases every week or two weeks in the beginning and just work on the four to six rep range and you'd do fine. But again, in time, as you get a bit stronger, as the weights get heavier, that doesn't work anymore. So let's say you have to work two or three weeks just to hit that progression target. Now, if you were to continue using a single progression model, let's say over three weeks, you would have raised the weight. In most cases, you would have raised the weight every week, or you would have increased the weight every week, maybe only five pounds a week, maybe not 10 pounds, maybe even two and a half pounds per week. And the problem with that is

what I talked about earlier. You just start missing sets. You start missing your rep targets, and then you have to go back down and wait, and then you go up and wait, and you miss, and you go down, and then you're just stuck, right? Now, that doesn't happen with double progression because you are not increasing the weight until you have gained enough strength to make it stick. That's really what the progression targets represent. They represent enough strength gain, which often means enough muscle gain to be able to use a heavier weight and only lose, let's say two reps when you go up as opposed to losing three, four or more. Now, what should you do if you hit your progression target on the final set of the exercise that you're doing in that workout? Well, you just increase the weight in the next workout, the next time you do

that workout. So for example, let's say you squatted 135 pounds for eight. Let's say that's your progression target is eight and you did that on Friday. Then you would increase the weight by 10 pounds on the following Friday. Even if you're going to perform the same exercise in a workout between those Fridays. And so what I'm saying there is I recommend that you progress on each exercise in each workout independently. So if you, let's say, bench press on Mondays and you bench press on Fridays, then if you hit your progression target on Monday, you should not increase the weight on your Friday pressing, just your Monday session. And the reason for that is we experience varying levels of fatigue in each workout,

depending on our programming and depending on our lifestyle and our physiology. And so what can happen is let's say you're like me and you train during the week, Monday through Friday, you take the weekend off. You're going to feel fresher on Monday's workout after two days of rest. Hopefully you got some rest over the weekend. Then you are going to feel on Friday after four days of hard training. And so what you may find is that you generally can progress faster in your workouts earlier in the week, your Monday and Tuesday workouts, let's say, workouts earlier in the week, your Monday and Tuesday workouts, let's say, than later in the week. And so what can happen is you can hit your

progression target on Monday and then try to add weight to the bar on Friday and miss your reps. But if you hit your progression target on Monday and then treat your Friday workout as a wholly separate thing in terms of progression, meaning that you have to hit your progression target on Friday to raise the weight on Friday's workout. You can then increase the weight on Monday's workout and not miss your sets. Another factor that comes into play and that informs my recommendation for managing your progress on a workout by workout basis, as opposed to just a general exercise basis. Again, meaning that if you hit a progression target in Tuesday's workout, you increase the weight in the next Tuesday's workout, even if you are doing the exercise that you hit the target on in Thursday's workout or Friday's workout. The only way to increase the weight on Thursday or Friday's workout is to hit the progression target in those workouts. And so

another factor here is the order in which you do exercises. So let's say on Monday, when you are fresher because you just had a couple of days of rest, your pressing is the second or third, let's say your bench press is the second or third exercise in that workout. And then on Thursday or Friday, when you're benching again, yes, it's later in the week and you are going to be a bit more tired in general probably than on Monday. But let's say that you are pressing first thing in that workout. And that can make a big difference as you have probably experienced. And so what can happen there is let's say it's Friday, right? And you bench press first thing, you hit your progression target. And so you add weight to the bar right then in that workout and it sticks and okay, great. And then let's say you also figure

you can increase the weight in Monday's workout, because let's say you are bench pressing the same amount of weight in both of those workouts. It's the same rep range. It's just on Monday, it's exercise, let's say three. And on Friday, it's exercise number one. What can happen is even though Monday you feel ready to get after it, because it's the third exercise, you miss reps or you miss sets with that weight that you are able to press successfully on Friday, simply because Friday is starting with the bench press and Monday is not. And so again, I don't recommend trying to get too fancy managing variables like those. Just keep it simple and progress on each exercise in each workout individually. Another little wrinkle worth noting is during your first year or so of proper weightlifting with double progression, you are probably going to be able to add 10 pounds total to all exercises, machine exercises, barbell, dumbbell.

So five pounds per dumbbell, five pounds on either side of the bar. As soon as you hit your rep target for one set. So I've been giving some examples of that in this podcast, right? Four to six rep range. You get six reps, one set. You're ready been giving some examples of that in this podcast, right? Four to six rep range, you get six reps, one set, you're ready to add weight to the bar. You add 10 pounds total. At some point though, that approach is not going to work as well. It will cause you to miss sets. You're going to miss the bottom of your target rep range when you do move up. Fortunately, this is pretty easy to fix. So one option is go up by five pounds instead

of 10 total. And that's usually enough. Like once you start to have that problem with double progression, if you just start going up in five pound increments, then that is usually enough to squeeze more juice from the lemon. And if that doesn't work, if you try that and you still can't remain in your target rep range after you move up in weight, then what you want to do is go back to the lighter load. Let's say you went from 225 to 230. It did not work. So now you're going back to 225 and you work with that weight until you can hit your progression target for two sets in a single workout. And then if you find that doesn't work, that will

work again for a bit. But if eventually that is not enough, if two sets of the progression target is not enough muscle gain, not enough strength gain to make the progression stick, then you want to go to three sets and that would be in the same workout. And if you're doing bigger, leaner, stronger, for example, then that would be all three sets of that exercise because in bigger, leaner, stronger workouts, also thinner, leaner, stronger, you're doing three sets per exercise, several exercises per workout. So in that case, now, if you're doing bigger, leaner, stronger, you would work up to six reps for all three sets. Or if you're doing an isolation exercise, it is eight reps.

You're working in the six to eight rep range for all three exercises. And once you can do that, your progression is almost certainly going to stick. And especially if you are adding just five pounds to the exercise instead of 10. And if your gym is even moderately equipped, you'll have no trouble doing that with barbell exercises. Some machines are going to make that easy. Some machines don't allow you have to go up 10 pounds, for example, dumbbells. Some gyms have dumbbells that go up in two and a half pound increments, especially with heavier dumbbells. Many gyms do not, and you're going to have to go up in 10 pound total increments. But having worked with many people

over the years and having worked myself with double progression for over a decade now, I find that if I can get three sets at the top of my rep range on a dumbbell exercise, I can always go up 10 pounds total and have it stick. In my Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger program, which is for intermediate and advanced weightlifters, I recommend four sets hitting the top of your rep range. And the workouts are a little bit different in that you're doing four sets per exercise, several exercises per workout. So the workouts are a little bit harder than Bigger, Leaner, Stronger workouts. And to progress on the double progression exercises, again, I'm recommending that you hit the top of your rep range for all four sets, but practically speaking, whether you increase on the third or the fourth set,

it's probably about the same. When I was designing the program, I went back and forth on that. I was even thinking maybe two sets, but that felt a little bit aggressive considering how difficult the compound exercises are. And those are programmed differently. Those do not use double progression. They use a linear progression system with a couple of moving parts. If you want to learn more about that, I actually just posted a podcast last week called something like how I am training right now, something like that. And it's a chapter from the book beyond bigger, stronger that explains how the program works, because that is exactly what I am doing right now. I'm tweaking little things here and there because I always like to try to improve

my work and my training, but that is fundamentally what I'm doing. And so anyway, coming back to double progression, if you're doing three or let's say four sets of an exercise in a workout and you hit your rep target for three of those sets, then you should be able to progress and not miss reps or miss sets with that new heavier weight. And if you're doing five or more sets of an exercise in a workout, then I actually would not recommend double progression for that, or at least not as I've explained it in this podcast. You would need to get a bit more sophisticated with your programming to do well with that much volume of an individual exercise in an individual workout. And I'll save that for another time because that is probably not relevant to most of you gentle listeners. If you like what I'm doing here on the podcast and elsewhere, definitely check out my sports

nutrition company, Legion, which thanks to the support of many people like you, is the leading brand of all natural sports supplements in the world. Okay, so before I sign off, I want to summarize the key practical points that I have just shared with you and give you three questions to answer to make double progression work for you. So the first question is what rep range are you going to use? So a good rule of thumb is compound exercises, the big exercises, the ones that involve multiple joints, multiple muscle groups, those are better suited to lower rep ranges. Let's say eight reps per set or fewer. And isolation exercises, the single joint exercises

that focus on one muscle group are better suited to higher rep ranges. Let's say eight reps or more per set. Although you can do fours, you can do sixes on isolation exercises. And of course you can do tens and twelves with compound exercises. So don't take those guidelines as dogmas. That's just going to generally be the case. And especially as you get stronger and the weights get heavier. And so anyway, you have to decide your rep range first, and then you have to decide how close to failure are you going to go in your sets. And that's the point where you can't complete another rep with proper form. And I recommend that you take your compound exercises to the point where you're about two to three reps shy of failure. So you have two to

three reps, good reps still in the tank. Now, if you're doing three or four sets of a compound exercise in a workout, and if on your last set, you're more like one rep shy of failure, that's okay. But I would not recommend that your first set be one rep shy of failure. Because what you'll find is while doing that, while busting a gut every single set and going all out, it will help you add weight to the bar a little bit faster, but it will also make you more likely to get stuck in a rut. It will increase the risk of injury and of symptoms related to overreaching where your body starts falling behind in recovery. So ultimately, and ironically, it's more productive to just slow down a little bit, to work hard in your hard sets, but not that hard. Again, if it's your last set,

okay, fine. But your first set should not be a grinder. Now, as for isolation exercises, you can work a little bit harder in those because they are less strenuous. They're less demanding. So with your isolation exercises, I recommend that you go to the point where you have one or two good reps left. So you're one or two reps shy of failure. And again, doing all that will just help you avoid problems relating to training too close to failure too often, or right up to failure too often. Joint pain, injuries, fatigue, soreness. And in case you're wondering if that should also apply to progression, if you should not only hit your progression target, let's say six reps for one, two or three sets, but if you should also have in the case of a compound exercise, let's say two reps left in the tank when you hit that progression target or with an isolation exercise, one or maybe two reps left in the tank. And yes, I do recommend that, especially if you are an experienced weightlifter. So for example, if you had to grind to hit that progression target,

to get your six, eight, 10, 12, whatever on a compound exercise, on the squat, on the deadlift, bench, overhead press, I would recommend sticking with that weight until you can hit that rep target with two good reps left, not one or zero. Now, if it's an isolation exercise, you can be a little bit more loosey-goosey with it. You can have just one rep left, or maybe you're not even sure. Was it a zero? Was it a one? It's a biceps curl. It's not that big of a deal. All right. Well, that's it for this episode. I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting and helpful. And if you did, and you don't mind doing me a favor, please do leave a quick review on iTunes or wherever you're listening to me from in whichever app you're listening to me in, because that not only convinces people that they should check out the show,

it also increases search visibility. And thus, it helps more people find their way to me and learn how to get fitter, leaner, stronger, healthier, and happier as well. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then simply subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any new stuff. And if you didn't like something about the show, please do shoot me an email at mike at muscleforlife.com, just muscle F-O-R life.com and share your thoughts on how I can do this better. I read everything myself and I'm always looking for constructive feedback, even if it is criticism.

I'm open to it. And of course, you can email me if you have positive feedback as well, or if you have questions really relating to anything that you think I could help you with, definitely send me an email. That is the best way to get ahold of me, mikeatmuscleforlife.com. And that's it. Thanks again for listening to this episode, And I hope to hear from you soon.