Progressive overload simply means asking your body to do a little more than last time. That’s it. Everything else — the fancy percentages, the secret splits — is just a way of organising that one idea.

Three ways to add more

You can add weight, add reps or add quality. Most beginners jump straight to weight and stall. Instead, climb a rep range first: when you hit 3 × 10 with clean form, add 2.5 kg and drop back to 3 × 8.

When to back off

Every fourth to sixth week, take a deload: same exercises, about half the sets. Fatigue hides fitness — a lighter week lets it show.

Log every session. You can’t overload what you don’t measure, and a written log beats memory every time.