Fit Tips: Why doing the same thing is killing your workout
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 6, 2026
By Pauline Geraci
for the Sequim Gazette
The widely quoted definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” You’ve been hitting the gym like clockwork, doing the same heavy sets and running the same familiar miles, but the mirror isn’t showing anything new. The more consistent you are with a specific routine, the better your body gets at doing it with less effort.
By staying in your comfort zone, you’ve hindered your progress. To achieve results again, you must stop exercising and start training, which means breaking the pattern before your muscles become completely dormant.
Your muscles need to be challenged. When I used to work out at a gym, I would see the same people doing the same thing. The same dumbbells, weight, reps, exercise, everything. Strength doesn’t disappear overnight, but it does fade when your body no longer has a reason to adapt. If you’re not asking your muscles to do more overtime, your body eventually conserves that energy.
That’s where progressive overload comes in. Gradually increasing workout intensity to build strength and endurance. You gradually ask your muscles to do a little more work over time. It’s not a huge increase, just enough to keep your body from getting too comfortable. Progressive overload is essentially the “Law of Adaptation” applied to your entire biology. If the demand doesn’t increase, the system has no reason to expend the energy required to improve.
Increasing weight or complexity forces your brain to recruit more “motor units” (muscle fiber bundles). You aren’t just building muscle; you’re upgrading the electrical wiring that powers them. Without that incremental “extra” challenge, your body hits homeostasis — the state where it’s perfectly comfortable staying exactly as it is.
By gradually increasing the demands you place on your muscles, they adapt over time. That doesn’t mean you have to pile plates onto a barbell. It can be more weight, more reps, more sets, better control, or even less rest. What matters is that you lift heavier over time. Progressive overload safely by gradually increasing intensity — no more than 10% per week.
As we age, we need to lift smarter or risk injuries. Men and women respond differently.
For men, heavy weights aren’t always necessary. Men should perform more pushups, lunges, and squats while creating resistance without heavy weights.
Because of hormonal differences between women and men, women’s muscles need more stimulus. Lifting heavier weights (with fewer reps) is essential for preventing muscle loss that accelerates with lower estrogen levels. Lifting heavy also helps manage hormonal balance and improve energy by improving insulin sensitivity and stabilizing estrogen levels, particularly during menopause. Women should lift heavier with fewer reps.
If you are worried about bulking up, that probably won’t happen. You are lifting enough to send a strong enough signal to the muscles to respond to intensity.
How to incorporate progressive overload safely in your lifting:
1) Train for your everyday life or functional fitness: What do you need to do in your everyday life? Do you need to squat to garden, pick up grandchildren, or groceries? Which exercises do you need to do to simulate those movements? Train the movements, not just the muscles.
2) Use machines if that is all you have: Personally, I like to use free weights, which include dumbbells and kettlebells. Free weights allow you to move in more than one plane of motion. Machines aren’t bad for you, but they don’t mimic movement in real life. Use machines if you have problems with balance or standing. Also, use machines if you are worried about safety. With free weights, you may need a partner to spot you or help you, so you won’t drop the weight and can lift safely.
3) Add sets, but don’t overdo it to the point you can’t move the next day: Instead of piling on weight or grinding out extra reps until failure, add another set at your current weight. Adding a fourth set to three sets of 10 reps boosts your training volume by almost 25%. Same weight. Same reps per set. By doing this, you endure minimal additional strain on your joints, and your muscles will thank you for additional maximum stimulus.
If you aren’t sure what to do, get someone qualified to teach you proper form with heavier weights. Your goal isn’t to survive your workouts. It’s to feel more alive and be able to do more easily because of them.
The American College of Sports Medicine (ASCM) makes it clear about lifting weights: the most important factor in resistance training outcomes is participation. According to National Health Interview Survey data, only about 28% of American adults meet the muscle-strengthening guideline of two or more sessions per week, meaning nearly three in four adults are falling short. To see muscle gains, you need to train twice a week. If you’re currently strength training once a week, the evidence is clear: twice weekly is the threshold where strength gains become consistent and meaningful.
Ultimately, progressive overload is the antidote to the plateau that claims so many fitness goals. By consistently raising the bar — whether through an extra rep, a heavier weight, or a shorter rest break — you transform your workout from a repetitive chore into safe gains in muscle. This intentional stress doesn’t just build bigger muscles; it sharpens your nervous system, revs your metabolism, and keeps your brain resilient. Stop settling for the workout you can already do and start chasing the one that forces you to evolve, ensuring that your best gains are always ahead of you.
______________________
The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended for health, medical, or financial advice. Do not use this information to diagnose or treat any health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider regarding any questions you may have about medical conditions or health objectives.
