Double progression vs RIR: how your coach decides
Two of the most useful ways to get stronger over time — what they are, when each fits, and how your coach picks for you.
Getting stronger over time isn't magic — it's a method, applied patiently. Two of the most useful methods are double progression and RIR-based progression. Your coach uses both, and which one shows up on a given exercise is a deliberate choice.
Double progression, in plain terms
With double progression you progress two things in order, not at once.
First you chase reps. Say an exercise is prescribed for 8–12 reps. You stay at the same weight and work up the rep range over sessions until you can hit the top — 12 — with clean form on every set. Only then do you add weight, which drops you back toward the bottom of the range, and you start climbing again.
It's forgiving and self-correcting, which makes it excellent for isolation work and for newer lifters: you earn the next weight rather than forcing it.
RIR: training by reps in reserve
RIR means reps in reserve — how many more reps you could have done before failure. An RIR of 2 means you stopped with about two left in the tank. It's the same idea as an RPE target, just counted from the top.
Progressing by RIR keeps intensity honest on the big compound lifts. Instead of a fixed number, your coach asks you to work at, say, 2 reps in reserve, and nudges the load as your strength climbs so the effort stays in the right zone — hard, but not grinding to failure every set.
How your coach decides
There's no single best method — there's a best fit:
- Compounds (squats, presses, pulls) often lean on RIR, where managing fatigue matters most.
- Isolation and accessory work often use double progression, where chasing reps is simple and safe.
- Your experience shifts the balance: newer lifters do well with the clarity of double progression; stronger lifters benefit from RIR's finer control.
Your coach makes that call per exercise when it builds your plan — and you can see which method it chose, and why.
What it means for you
You don't have to memorize any of this. The point is that progression on GetMyCoach isn't a guess or a flat "add 2.5kg every week." It's the right method, on the right lift, adjusted to what you actually log. Strength is the result of doing the boring thing correctly for long enough — these methods are how your coach makes sure the boring thing is the right thing.