Why “Add More Weight” is Failing Your Clients
I made this quick lesson to start off the response to one of the questions in the group, asking how to know when to progress/ regress exercise. So I though before we get into that, we should probably introduce the opportunities that we have available to us to actually progress and regress clients. Most coaches inherit the idea of progression from bodybuilding and powerlifting: More load = more progress. It works… until it doesn’t Here's the problem: - Load-only progression ignores movement quality - It bypasses skill, stability, and positional strength - It pushes clients into patterns they can’t control — the fastest route to pain and injury When load is the only lever you know how to pull… progress stalls. Pain, stiffness and niggles become inevitable. The body adapts to the exact challenge you give it. If you want a client to stay pain-free and keep making gains for years, you must progress the pattern, not just the load... That means knowing how to adjust: - Stability → Can they own the position? - Range of Motion → Can they control it everywhere they go? - Skill Complexity → Can they coordinate under fatigue? - Load / Intensity → Yes, still important — but one of six levers - Base of Support → Can they stay balanced when the floor gets “smaller”? - Centre of Mass → Can they stay stacked with their COM over their BOS, using different loading parameters. Why This Matters Progressing through these levers, with intent means: ✅ Clients build resilience in every position ✅ Patterns become bulletproof before load increases ✅ Progress never stalls because you’re not stuck on one progression tool ✅ You avoid the “load ceiling” that breaks most lifters Save the chart below. This is a framework you can use to make sure clients get stronger, move better, and never lose momentum, without flirting with injury.