This Is Why You're Not Making Progress In The Gym
When it comes to training, there is a bottomless pit of information out there. Thousands of coaches, personal trainers, nutritionists, health experts and influencers, all putting out content about what you should and shouldn't do. What's "optimal" and what's a "waste of time". So what happens when you're bombarded with information that contradicts itself? You shut down. You get overwhelmed. And you end up feeling like a failure.
But look, I get it. You want to try that new fancy exercise because someone told you it was the best movement for the results you're after. The reality is that most of the time, all that person is doing is preying on your insecurities to either A) sell you a product or service you probably don't need or B) bait people for views so they can bump up their revenue.
None of those posts were created because the person behind them cares about where you end up.
So what do we actually do to keep moving towards what we want instead of away from it? There are three things worth looking at: workout split, movement selection and intensity. Let's break it down.
Workout Split:
There are hundreds of workout splits out there to help with a variety of different objectives and the reality of it is, despite the social media accounts breathing down your neck, there is no perfect programme. The perfect workout split is the one that works with your body. The one that works with your abilities, challenges, experience level and your genetics! For example, the type of training Arnold Schwarzenegger did may not work for you, and the training Eddie Hall does probably won't work for you either.
In talking about workout splits, another factor that is often overlooked is how important it is to like what you are doing. In order to achieve your goals in the most effective way possible, sometimes it's not down to your exercise or workout split. Sometimes it's down to what you are actually doing, e.g. gym workouts, sports and classes. So take a moment to sit down and write out what sports, fitness and health activities you think you'd enjoy and try them out! That could be anything from basketball to padel, tennis, badminton, CrossFit, running and even just classes that are hosted at the gym! You'll probably start to find that there is a much more enjoyable method to achieving your goals.
Movement Selection:
Movement selection is often heavily overcomplicated due to the influence of social media accounts. There are ample influencers and "science-based" lifters putting out information that ultimately makes you feel like what you do isn't good enough. When it comes to actually selecting a movement, I cannot preach hard enough that the basics work and the basics are what you need. There are too many overcomplications with:
moment arms
eccentric-concentric contractions
muscular flexion and extension ranges, and so on
When all we really need is to do the basics, do the basics well and do them consistently. So what can you do to avoid being over-encumbered with pointless information on what movements you should do? If you really like the influencer, mute those accounts. Otherwise, just stop following them. Don't engage with their content, and follow accounts that are actually going to benefit you and not overcomplicate everything.
If you're looking for a very basic workout routine to take to the gym, into the weights section, this is all you really need. Take note of this:
You need something to press.
You need something to push.
You need something to pull.
You need something to carry.
You need something to hinge.
You need something to squat.
That's it. That's all you need. Any movement that fits those profiles is perfect. For example:
Shoulder press.
Bench press.
Lat pull-down.
Deadlift.
Barbell squats.
Sandbag carry.
You can see from those examples there isn't a lot of equipment required. It's just hitting every single major movement plane that will stimulate the body in the right areas to grow, and a lot of these movements will hit multiple muscles at once. For example:
Bench press will hit your triceps, your front delts and your chest.
Shoulder press will hit your triceps, the medial head of your shoulders and a little bit of your traps and upper back.
Deadlifts will hit your hamstrings, quads, glutes, abs, upper back, lower back, shoulders and traps.
Squats will hit your abs, quads, hamstrings, a little bit of calves, your glutes and maybe your upper back and shoulders too.
These movements can yield a lot of progress without overcomplicating it into the specific movements you see online.
Movement Intensity:
When it comes to movement intensity, we're often bombarded again with content online from social media influencers and fitness creators, and even personal trainers, saying that going to absolute failure is the key to success. In reality, going to failure is not the key to success. If anything, reaching muscular and mechanical failure during your workouts will result in levels of overtraining that increase the risk of injury.
How should you train? How intense should each of your movements be? It should be enough to stimulate the muscle. Enough to get that feeling everybody calls the pump. The pump is not the inability to flex or contract your muscle. It is a feeling whereby your muscle feels ten times bigger than it is. Be sure to gauge your movement intensity carefully by reaching stimulation rather than going to failure. A phrase I used in a post yesterday sums it up: "Train to stimulate, do not train to annihilate."
Stay Weird 🖤
FJB
