In large team settings, it can be difficult to make sure everyone is progressing appropriately.
On our main lifts, I’ll often use VBT or percentage based prescriptions to manage intensity. But outside of those key movements, athletes tend to load what is convenient, not what actually drives progress.
If that goes unchecked, you end up violating the principle of overload. The stress never truly increases. Athletes grab whatever is on the rack or the closest dumbbells, and the program stalls.
To combat that, I implement simple progression rules that are standardized across the team.
For barbell movements
• Upper body: increase 1–3 kg per week
• Lower body: increase 2–5 kg per week
These increases apply to all working sets unless we are deliberately deloading or targeting a specific adaptation.
For dumbbell movements, the jumps between weights can be large. So instead of forcing load increases, we progress reps.
If an athlete stays at the same dumbbell, they add 1–2 reps the following week. If they stay again, they add another 1–2.
If they move up in weight but cannot hit the prescribed reps, they can reduce the target by 1–2 reps that week and then build back up from there.
Example of a same-weight progression:
Week 1: 3x6
Week 2: 3x8
Week 3: 3x10
These rules have worked really well with teams I have trained. I encourage you to try them with your athletes.