Coach Micah's: Fit Project Podcast · Micah Smith

Fitness Term Breakdown: "Progressive Overload" | FPP #168

September 5, 2025·36 min·10 clips

Coach Micah opens by saying he wants to pin down what progressive overload means and what it is not. He speaks in a loose, conversational way that keeps the thought process out in the open. The episode starts from a familiar frustration: people hear the term and then make it more complicated than it needs to be. He argues that overload is simply doing more over a period of time. He says the body does not adapt on command. A training plan has to stay in place long enough for the work to matter. He pushes back on the idea that every week needs a new exercise or a new set and rep scheme. He uses common split examples to show that a basic structure can still work. A plan can look simple on paper and still produce better results than constant tinkering. He returns to squats as the cleanest example. If three sets of ten at a given weight are hard, the point is to keep doing that work until it becomes manageable. If that same weight becomes easy after a few weeks, then it is time to move on. He keeps repeating that there is no rush to chase the next challenge before the current one has been mastered. He frames new training as a new stimulus the body has to respond to first. The early weeks are about adaptation, not instant proof. He also recommends giving a new routine at least two to three weeks before judging it. Later, he talks about how he used to keep very basic routines for months at a time. He mentions writing programs on loose leaf and handing them over in person, which gives the episode an old-school, personal feel. He closes by saying hard work and consistency usually sort themselves out if you stay in the process. The episode ends up as a patient reminder that progress is built, not rushed.

As heard by us

A plainspoken reminder that progress usually comes from consistency, not constant changes.

Coach Micah spends the episode breaking progressive overload down to its plainest form: doing more over time without mistaking that for constant program churn.

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Why you'd press play

If you keep changing your lifts too soon, this one will slow you down.

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