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Progressive overload planner
Enter where a client is today and pick a progression method. The default is double progression: add reps each session until every set reaches the top of the rep range, then add weight and drop back to the bottom of the range. Switch methods any time; your choice is remembered on this device.
All levels
About load jumps: every exercise and machine moves differently. Dumbbells often step up only 2.5 or 5 lb, some stacks jump 10–25 lb at a time, and plates go all the way to 45 lb. If the next jump is too big to hit your reps, stay on the current weight longer and keep adding reps (double progression), or add a set, before you move up. Leave the field empty and the plan simply says when to add the smallest jump you have. The jump you enter is remembered for that exercise on this device.
Plan
| Week | Weight | Sets × reps | Volume | Est. 1RM (Epley) | Note |
|---|
The progression methods
- Double progression (default): keep the weight until every working set reaches the top of the rep range, adding a rep or two per set each session. Then add one load jump and start again at the bottom of the range. It works for every level and every machine, and it's the method this site's coaching notes are built on.
- Linear: fixed sets and reps, one load jump every session the target is met. Fast for newer lifters on big lifts; it stalls sooner for experienced lifters.
- RPE / RIR autoregulation: pick reps and how many reps to leave in the tank. The planner estimates a 1RM from today's set (reps plus reps in reserve) and nudges it up a little each week. On the day, if the set feels easier than planned, add about 5%; if harder, take off about 5%. About 5% load is worth about 2 reps.
- Percentage waves: three weeks at rising percentages of estimated 1RM with fewer reps each week, each set left about 2 reps short of failure. The next wave restarts one load jump heavier.
- Custom: set your own rep range, load jump (a fixed amount from 1–45 lb / 0.5–20 kg, a percent of the current load, or empty), reps added per session, when load goes up and where reps restart.
Rules that apply to every method
- Load jumps are individual. Anything from 1 lb to a 45 lb plate (about 0.5–20 kg), depending on the exercise, the dumbbell rack or the machine stack. There is no default: enter what your equipment allows, or leave it empty and follow "add the smallest jump your equipment allows". When a jump is too big, stay in double progression longer (more reps first) or add a set.
- Same machine, same record. Progress only counts on the same piece of equipment. If you switch machines, treat it as a new exercise with a new starting point.
- Only working sets count. Warm-up sets prepare you; they don't count toward progress or weekly volume.
- Deload weeks last 4–7 days. Keep the same weight, halve the sets, and stop each set 3–4 reps short of failure. The reps shown are a ceiling, not a target. Progression then picks up where it left off. Deload sooner if most lifts stall and recovery is poor.
- Est. 1RM uses the Epley formula, weight × (1 + reps ÷ 30). It's a rough guide, least accurate above about 10 reps.
- This is a plan, not a promise. If a client misses the target reps, repeat the session.
Research behind this tool
Summaries are in our own words. Links go to the original papers; no author or journal endorses Trainer App Stack.
- A widely used guideline: raise the load by about 2–10% once a lifter can do 1–2 reps more than the target, with muscle-building work centered on roughly 6–12 reps. ACSM Position Stand 2009, Med Sci Sports Exerc
- Over 8 weeks, trained lifters who added reps at the same load and those who added load at fixed reps both gained muscle and strength. That supports progressing by reps first, then load. Plotkin et al. 2022, PeerJ · CC BY 4.0, summarized
- Training all the way to failure gave little or no extra growth compared with stopping a little short, so leaving reps in reserve is a reasonable default. Refalo et al. 2023, Sports Med · CC BY 4.0, summarized
- Explains how to rate a set by reps in reserve (RIR) and adjust the load from one set or session to the next. Helms et al. 2016, Strength Cond J
- Set out the RIR-based effort scale: RPE 10 means no reps left, RPE 9 means one rep left, and so on. Zourdos et al. 2016, J Strength Cond Res