I've been faithfully working out and using a new program for about four months now. This program is from the "Average to Jacked" guy on YouTube (look him up - he's pleasant to look at). And I can boil down his entire mindset/training principle to two words: Progressive Overload.

In this program, Progressive Overload is integral to the body's adaptation. If you always lift the same amount of weight the same amount of time, you won't progress. But if you push just a little more every time, you will.

Today's routine was "Push". Triceps, Shoulders, Chest. And last week I'd managed to get 60-lb dumbbells locked out 10/10/9 times in incline DB Presses (three sets with 2 minutes of rest between). So today, the goal was 10s, all the way across. Sometimes I hit my old lift and spend another week or two trying to beat my old record. And frankly, I wasn't really feeling too confident I'd squeak by today. But I lay down and started. To my great surprise, I got 10s all the way across. Three sets. Good form. Not perfect, but good. That means something.

Since I hit my goal, I'm now scheduled to try 65-lb dumbbells next Monday. I've literally never pushed those in my life. Not once. I've never dared even try. And now they're supposed to be my working weight. The idea is I'll drop the goal to 8 reps and see how I do with all three sets.

I'm very careful to avoid injury, but my slow and steady progression is paying off. I'm 51, and I've never been stronger in my life.

Am I jacked yet? No. Am I strong? Oh yeah. And that's just FUN.