What You Should Know about Pattern Overload

Good Afternoon.

Today I would like to talk about a fairly controversial yet necessary topic in the exercise world: pattern overload. We have all seen people that go to the gym and perform the same exercises, over and over again. Whether it’s the result of “old school” mentality, lack of knowledge, or someone steering them in the wrong direction, consistently doing the same exact exercises (just with increasingly higher weight) will lead to dysfunction.

Pattern overload is defined as an injury to the soft tissues caused from repetitive motion in one pattern of movement or restricted movement in one or more planes of motion. In layman’s terms, too much of one specific motion causes soft tissue damage and/or restricted movement patterns.

Some symptoms of pattern overload include:

• Stiff neck, shoulders, back, or knees in the morning

• Needing 1-5 “warm-up” sets to “loosen up”

• Restricted movement patterns

This can cause a real problem with your performance in any walk of life. The reason why so many people suffer from this is because they do not “load share” correctly. Without boring you with science, it basically means that not all of the muscles are doing the required work, usually as a result of improper form on an exercise. This is why finding an educated professional trainer is key for optimal development.

Here are some ways that you can develop “pattern overload”:

• Working on machines at the gym - Outside of a cable machine, you should not be using machines at the gym. They restrict movement patterns, which causes not all of the muscles to work properly for lifts…which leads to trigger points…which leads to, you guessed it, pattern overload.

• Consistently using the same movement, over and over again (otherwise known as Repetitive Stress Injury) - Doing a high number of reps (30+) of any exercise is dangerous in that your form starts to diminish. So, even if you started to do an exercise correctly, you may forget to adduct, tilt, turn, or squeeze something, leading to potential disorder of the movement.

Here is a practical example of what I’m talking about:

Let’s say that you are told to perform a squat exercise. You would probably know that you are supposed to keep your feet apart, head up, and heels down. A more educated lifter would know to keep their abs tight and their shoulders back, as well as would know the proper breathing pattern. On paper, this sounds like a great squat! However, there is still one thing that is missing: a “hip hinge,” which is a posterior pelvic tilt (performed by sitting back into the hips and snapping forward with a strong glute contraction at the finish). If you continually perform this exercise without proper form and all of the required elements, you likely will develop trigger points, put excess strain on your quads and lower back, and do a number on your knees.

Hopefully I didn’t cause any of you to become alarmed. At the end of the day, pattern overload is very common and can be corrected relatively easily. The body’s soft tissue damage usually heals relatively quickly, and trigger points can be healed quickly as well. Still, some ways to avoid or minimize pattern overload are to avoid performing a high number of reps (30+) of a singular exercise multiple times per week and to avoid using exercise machines as much as possible. Also, be sure to never train a region that has sore joints or muscles, as this will only further exacerbate the injuries and performance problems.

The final thing that I will say on the issue is that if you do not know how to properly execute an exercise, ask a fitness professional. I love when clients come and ask me the technical questions about what is being worked, why we are working it, etc. It keeps my mind sharp and helps the client understand exactly why we do things. And if I don’t know, I love to go and research the answers. Don’t be afraid to ask!

Did you enjoy this article? Hate it? Either way, please continue sending your feedback! I love hearing from you all. Bill@nextlevelnj.com

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