So before I kick off with this cutting edge article bringing to the forefront not a brand new training system but the merits of applying basic common sense to your training plan, i want you to look back over the past six months and ask yourself if you've improved as much as you expected?
If you answer no then do you know why? Perhaps you havent been so focussed on training, perhaps you suffered an injury, let your diet slide or just lost a bit of motivation to train hard? If you know the answer to that then you know what you have to do to fix it, this article isnt about giving you that motivation to start hitting it hard again or judging people for not throwing everything in to what is just a hobby for the majority of us. No, this article is for the people who answer 'no, i dont know why the hell i arent progressing'.
I'm going to presume you're busting your arse in the gym and have your nutritional needs met, both of which we all know are super important variables so look at these first. So what else could be the problem here? How about your training system?
There are now lots of 'new' training plans available, websites and phone apps were you are spoon fed what exercises to do, how many reps, how many sets and what days to do it. As a beginner this is great, it allows you to follow a solid plan and gives you that starting point- but if you havent improved much over the past six months chances are you are not totally new to this or if you are then the reason for lack of progression is likely due to something that is very simple to fix.
Look around, time and time again you see people perservering with a training system but questioning some of the principles or swapping to a different training system to help them get over that rut they've been stuck in for the past few months. The common denominator is people mostly stick to the plan even if it's not working great or take a new plan and stick rigidly to that. What im telling you is, wait for it.......bastardise the training system, take that rep scheme that the guy you look up to has set out and dare to say 'i know my body better than you do'. We're talking about the set generic plans here not asking for specific coaching and then doing your own thing, if that even crossed your mind take a minute to give your head a shake, get some fresh air and commit to stop taking those stupid pills.
The thinking here is to make small changes to the plan that has given you great gains in the past but not so much lately- where do you think all these 'new' systems come from? The popular systems out there are often the result of small changes to other systems until it gets so far away from the original it is branded as a 'new' way of training. The kicker is that this is what they have found works best for themselves- the principles will also generally be effective for others but perhaps a small change could make things even more effective for you!
So now it's your turn to look at what you're doing, take what works and throw out what isnt. This isnt a lifelong commitment, what isnt working now may do in the future. Confused where to start? Just start small, changing all variables at once might help for a time but it becomes hard to work out what exactly made the difference- this knowledge will be valuable in the future. One thing is universal and that is to get the best gains you have to believe in the training plan you are following one hundred percent!
If you answer no then do you know why? Perhaps you havent been so focussed on training, perhaps you suffered an injury, let your diet slide or just lost a bit of motivation to train hard? If you know the answer to that then you know what you have to do to fix it, this article isnt about giving you that motivation to start hitting it hard again or judging people for not throwing everything in to what is just a hobby for the majority of us. No, this article is for the people who answer 'no, i dont know why the hell i arent progressing'.
I'm going to presume you're busting your arse in the gym and have your nutritional needs met, both of which we all know are super important variables so look at these first. So what else could be the problem here? How about your training system?
There are now lots of 'new' training plans available, websites and phone apps were you are spoon fed what exercises to do, how many reps, how many sets and what days to do it. As a beginner this is great, it allows you to follow a solid plan and gives you that starting point- but if you havent improved much over the past six months chances are you are not totally new to this or if you are then the reason for lack of progression is likely due to something that is very simple to fix.
Look around, time and time again you see people perservering with a training system but questioning some of the principles or swapping to a different training system to help them get over that rut they've been stuck in for the past few months. The common denominator is people mostly stick to the plan even if it's not working great or take a new plan and stick rigidly to that. What im telling you is, wait for it.......bastardise the training system, take that rep scheme that the guy you look up to has set out and dare to say 'i know my body better than you do'. We're talking about the set generic plans here not asking for specific coaching and then doing your own thing, if that even crossed your mind take a minute to give your head a shake, get some fresh air and commit to stop taking those stupid pills.
The thinking here is to make small changes to the plan that has given you great gains in the past but not so much lately- where do you think all these 'new' systems come from? The popular systems out there are often the result of small changes to other systems until it gets so far away from the original it is branded as a 'new' way of training. The kicker is that this is what they have found works best for themselves- the principles will also generally be effective for others but perhaps a small change could make things even more effective for you!
So now it's your turn to look at what you're doing, take what works and throw out what isnt. This isnt a lifelong commitment, what isnt working now may do in the future. Confused where to start? Just start small, changing all variables at once might help for a time but it becomes hard to work out what exactly made the difference- this knowledge will be valuable in the future. One thing is universal and that is to get the best gains you have to believe in the training plan you are following one hundred percent!
