Three strategies to evolve without increasing weight
If you’re reading this, chances are you love lifting heavy things. We can agree on that and be friends.
Think back to the first time you consistently trained a squat—with Linkin Park blasting, a haze of pre-workout, and chalk filling the air—adding 5–10 pounds week after week.
That’s the honeymoon phase of strength training; it feels easy and progress seems endless. But over time, aches, injuries, and movement limits accumulate, and simply adding weight stops being viable. So what’s next for an iron warrior?
I host a podcast called More Train, Less Pain with Michelle Boland, and Tony Gentilcore has guested on it too. This season focuses on maintaining a strength training practice in the face of persistent pain. I’ve struggled with chronic hip pain due to congenital hip defects, and in the past dozen episodes we’ve talked with experts like Mike Boyle and Bill Hartman about why infinite progression is a myth.
Note from TG: you can listen to my most recent chat with Tim, titled “Easy Training, Stoplights, and Making Bigger Cups.” It’s available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
To stay in the game and keep building muscle, power, and movement quality, we need to evolve our exercise selection and programming so we can train without causing tissue damage or losing range of motion.
Here are three strategies, drawn from this season’s guests and validated by experience:
1. Timed Sets
Rather than adding load every week, you can increase time under tension. Dosing by time instead of reps for a 6‑week block can reduce axial loading while maintaining fatigue and training stimulus.
Example progression (time under tension):
– Week 1: 3 × 60s
– Week 2: 4 × 60s
– Week 3: 4 × 90s
– Week 4: 4 × 120s
This approach works well for exercises where adding weight is difficult due to position or setup, such as goblet or zercher variations.
2. EMOM Supersets
In an EMOM, you keep the load the same and perform a set number of reps each minute on the minute, then rest for the remainder of the minute. A six‑week plan can pair two exercises into an EMOM superset, for example:
A1. Trap Bar Deadlift: Week 1 4×3, Week 2 5×3, Week 3 6×3, Week 4 7×3
A2. Alternate 1‑Arm Dumbbell Bench Press: Rest of the minute; Week 1 4×8, Week 2 5×8, Week 3 6×8, Week 4 7×8
EMOM sets let you increase total workload without increasing axial load on any single set and can add a mild conditioning effect.
3. Feel‑Based Training
Sometimes progress comes from moving better rather than adding weight. In many cycles, 20–50% of exercises are progressed by “feel”—no more load, reps, or speed, just better execution.
For example, in a front‑foot elevated split squat (FFESS), you might keep four sets of eight with a light kettlebell and focus on moving with better control: foot contact, pelvis level, pelvic tilt, knee depth, and how you push off to finish the rep. The goal is to improve technique and movement quality, not chase more reps or weight.
This approach may feel slow, but it opens up many training options and helps people train consistently for years.
If you found this helpful, check out More Train, Less Pain for more on these ideas. Episode S3E13 with Tony is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
