Progressive Overload in Aim Training
Let’s talk about this cool concept called progressive overload and why it’s super important for any player who wants to keep leveling up their aim skills.
Progressive overload is a fundamental principle in training and skill development that involves gradually increasing the difficulty or complexity of the training over time. In the context of aim training, this concept is crucial for continual improvement and breaking through plateaus.
The core concept
At its heart, progressive overload means consistently challenging yourself beyond your current skill level. This approach is based on the principle of adaptation: when you repeatedly expose your body and mind to a specific stimulus (in this case, aim training exercises), you adapt to meet the demands of that stimulus.
For example, a new aim routine will lead to improvements as your brain and body adapt to the variations and challenges in the training. However, if you continue with the same routine without increasing the difficulty, your rate of improvement will slow down and eventually plateau. This is because the neural pathways in your brain and body already adapted to the level of challenge.
To continue improving, you need to progressively increase the difficulty of your training. This could involve factors such as:
- Increasing the speed at which you need to shoot targets
- Reducing the size of the targets
- Introducing more complex target movement patterns
- Extending the duration of your training sessions
Before making changes to the difficulty you need to do a baseline test to asses your current skill level. For example, find a comfortable shooting speed where you can hit targets consistently with an accuracy around 85-90%. Using a metronome is a great way to find what shooting speed fit’s your skill level.
How to apply progressive overload to aim training
With the multiple factors to increase the difficulty, there are many ways to apply progressive overload to your aim training. Most importantly you have to balance the difficulty of the training. You don’t want to push your limits in every training session. Doing this and you will quickly hit that plateau that’s hard to break through. Not only do you hit the wall where you stop seeing any improvements, you also increase the risk of injury and burnout.
Instead, you want to start slowly and gradually increase the difficulty of the training. This way you stay out of trouble getting injured by stressing the body beyond it’s capacity and you keep changing the training to let the practice be more challenging.
6-Week Progressive Overload Plan
Now, let me show you a simple way to structure a 6 week training period focusing on the shooting speed.
As you can see the volume of training is gradually going up while the intensity also increases across the weeks. Actually, the intensity goes above 100%. This is the where the magic of progressive overload happens, as you increase the difficulty enough to push through your current skill level.
If you look at the 6th week see the volume of training is going back to 5 hours, but the intensity remain high. This is what’s called a deload week. It’s designed to give you a break from the high training training and consolidate the new aim skills you acquired. When the period ends, you can make a new baseline test and start over again.
This 6 week training period is put very simple and there are many other variables you can consider when planning out your aim training program.
Final thoughts
By applying progressive overload to your aim training you are standing much stronger when aiming for long term improvements.
A metronome is a reliable way to do a baseline test for what shooting you have to practice with. It’s also a great way to precisely adjust the intensity of your training. Check out The Metronome Aim Training Program if you want a 12 week pre structured program designed to facilitate the benefits of progressive overload.
