Milo and Progressive Overload
Milo was a wrestler. Not just any
wrestler, but possibly the greatest wrestler of all time. He won and
unmatched 5 Olympic titles. For 5 consecutive Olympic Games Milo was
undefeated in the sport of wrestling. He competed in a sixth Olympic
Games and then still came in second. By the time of his sixth Olympiad
he was well into his forties. Even then he was never equaled in strength
and only lost to a much younger opponent who avoided Milo for most of
the match.
In addition to his wrestling prowess, Milo possessed unmatched strength. The wrestler could stand with his right arm at his side, elbow bent at 90 degrees, thumb pointing straight up in the air with fingers spread and keep any who tried from bending so much as his little finger. Continuously demonstrating his almost super-human strength, Milo proved he was the strongest man on Earth.
What was the secret to Milo’s great strength? Progressive Overload. You see, Milo was a cattle farmer. One of his cows was born lame. The otherwise healthy cow could not walk. Milo had to carry the young calf to pasture in the morning and again carry the calf to his pen in the evening. As the calf grew heavier, Milo grew stronger. Over the course of time the calf became a full-grown bull. Milo’s strength grew accordingly. After a while, Milo was lifting and carrying an adult bull around the barnyard several times a day.
When the calf was first born Milo could easily carry him.
Things changed when the calf began to gain weight. As the young calf
gained weight, he became an overload on Milo’s muscles. Milo adapted to
this load and became stronger. As the calf continued to grow and Milo
continued to gain strength.
When we train with weights, our goal should be to progressively overload the muscular system so it can adapt and get stronger. This means that every time we train we should try to increase either the amount of weight we use (like Milo’s calf gaining weight) or increase the number of reps we perform (like Milo carrying the calf around the barnyard and not just a direct trip to the pasture). Other methods of overload can be to train at a faster pace, spending less rest time between sets or increase the speed at which we move a given weight.
In addition to his wrestling prowess, Milo possessed unmatched strength. The wrestler could stand with his right arm at his side, elbow bent at 90 degrees, thumb pointing straight up in the air with fingers spread and keep any who tried from bending so much as his little finger. Continuously demonstrating his almost super-human strength, Milo proved he was the strongest man on Earth.
What was the secret to Milo’s great strength? Progressive Overload. You see, Milo was a cattle farmer. One of his cows was born lame. The otherwise healthy cow could not walk. Milo had to carry the young calf to pasture in the morning and again carry the calf to his pen in the evening. As the calf grew heavier, Milo grew stronger. Over the course of time the calf became a full-grown bull. Milo’s strength grew accordingly. After a while, Milo was lifting and carrying an adult bull around the barnyard several times a day.
When the calf was first born Milo could easily carry him.
Things changed when the calf began to gain weight. As the young calf
gained weight, he became an overload on Milo’s muscles. Milo adapted to
this load and became stronger. As the calf continued to grow and Milo
continued to gain strength. When we train with weights, our goal should be to progressively overload the muscular system so it can adapt and get stronger. This means that every time we train we should try to increase either the amount of weight we use (like Milo’s calf gaining weight) or increase the number of reps we perform (like Milo carrying the calf around the barnyard and not just a direct trip to the pasture). Other methods of overload can be to train at a faster pace, spending less rest time between sets or increase the speed at which we move a given weight.
posted by Chris Kennedy at
15:46
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