Which principle states that the demands placed on the body must be greater than those of daily activities?

• A. Specificity
• B. Progressive Overload
• C. Regularity and Recovery
• D. Balance

Answer: (B)

Progressive overload means that to trigger adaptations, you must increase the demands on your body above what it handles in daily life. By gradually making the training stimulus harder—lifting heavier weights, doing more repetitions, increasing training frequency, or shortening rest periods—you push muscles and systems to adapt, leading to greater strength, endurance, or power over time. Small, consistent increases are key for steady progress while allowing recovery and minimizing injury risk. Other principles touch on different aspects: specificity is about training that targets the exact adaptations you want, regularity and recovery emphasize staying consistent and giving the body time to rest, and balance focuses on keeping training volume and effort in check to prevent overtraining.