Progression planner
This strength progression planner tells you either how many weeks it will take to reach a goal weight at a given weekly increment, or how much you need to add each week to hit a goal by a set deadline. Enter your current and goal weight, pick a mode, and get a week-by-week plan alongside the headline number, capped at 52 weeks.
Weeks to goal
8
Week-by-week plan
How it works
The math is a straight line: linear progression assumes you add the same increment every week, which works well for beginners and intermediates on compound lifts but slows down and eventually stalls for anyone further into their training. Treat the output as a planning target to check progress against, not a guarantee.
In the first mode, the planner divides the gap between your current and goal weight by your weekly increment and rounds up to a whole number of weeks, then adds that many weeks to today's date for a target date. In the second mode, it divides the same gap by the number of weeks you give it to find the increment required.
The week-by-week list below applies the increment to every week between now and the goal, so you can check your actual numbers against the plan as you go, and adjust the increment if you're ahead or behind.
Frequently asked questions
How much weight should I add per week on a lift?
Beginners on major barbell lifts often add 2.5 to 5 kg (5 to 10 lb) per week early on, slowing to a fraction of that as they advance. There's no universal number: use your own recent rate of progress as the increment in this planner rather than a generic figure.
What happens when linear progression stops working?
Most lifters stop being able to add weight every single week within months of consistent training, once early neurological adaptations are used up. At that point the increment in this planner should shrink, or progression needs to move to a weekly or monthly wave instead of every session.
Should I use bodyweight, working weight or 1RM in this planner?
Use whichever number you actually track and want to progress: your top single, your working weight for a rep range, or an estimated 1RM. The planner only needs a current and goal value in the same unit and works identically either way.
Related tools
- 1RM calculatorEstimate your one-rep max from any set of reps and weight, with a percentage table and the same banded formula the Overload app uses.
- Plate calculatorWork out exactly which plates to load per side for any barbell weight, free, with the achieved load and shortfall shown instantly.
- Warm-up sets calculatorBuild a free warm-up ladder of sets leading into your working weight, so every jump between the bar and your top set is planned.
- RPE calculatorConvert any set to a percentage of your 1RM or a target load from RPE, free, with a full table of reps against RPE 6 to 10.
Chart your e1RM progression in Overload
Overload plots your estimated 1RM per exercise over time from every logged set, so you can see the real trend behind any plan. Free on iOS and Android.