Masheen

Progress

Linear progression

Also called LP, linear progress, novice progression

Linear progression means adding the same small amount of weight to a lift every session, with the sets and reps left alone.

60 kg × 562.5 kg × 565 kg × 567.5 kg × 5
67.5 kg for 5. Squat, five reps a set, 2.5 kg added each session: 60, 62.5, 65, 67.5 kg. Four sessions, 7.5 kg gained.

In plain words

The weight goes up by a fixed step every time you do the lift, and the sets and reps stay where they are. It is the method of the well-known beginner barbell programs. StrongLifts 5×5, as its author describes it, adds 5 lb (2.5 kg) to a lift each workout as long as all five sets of five were completed; the same author says plainly that you cannot add weight every workout forever. (Masheen is not affiliated with StrongLifts.) Linear progression is a method with an end date. When a weight will not go, programs differ on what comes next: repeat the weight, take some off, or change method.

An example

Squat three times a week, five reps a set, and put 2.5 kg on the bar each time. Monday 60 kg, Wednesday 62.5, Friday 65, Monday 67.5. Four sessions, 7.5 kg. Nothing else in the program changes: the same five reps, the same number of sets. The weight is the only thing that moves, and it moves on a fixed schedule rather than on how the last session felt.

Often confused with

Double progression Double progression lets reps rise before the weight does; linear progression raises the weight every time. Periodization Periodization plans changes in sets, reps and load across weeks; linear progression only adds weight.
Double progression Double progression is a rule for progressing in two steps that take turns: reps go up at the same weight to the top of a range, then the weight goes up.
Progressive overload Progressive overload is the principle that training has to get a little harder over time: more weight, more reps or more sets than before.
Plateau A plateau is a stretch of training in which a lift stops improving: session after session, no more weight and no more reps.
Deload A deload is a short planned spell of easier training, usually a week, with less weight, fewer sets or both.
Periodization Periodization is planning training in blocks of weeks, changing the sets, reps and weight from block to block on purpose.

Go deeper

Beginner strength programs compared Starting Strength, StrongLifts 5×5, GZCLP and 5/3/1 for Beginners in one table. Days, lifts, sets and reps, how the weight goes up, and what to do on a miss. Updated

Sources

  1. StrongLifts, How to progress on StrongLifts 5×5 Read

Updated . How these pages are researched and corrected: editorial policy. Every term in the glossary.