I think everyone, at least once within his or her training history, has been stuck.
It’s that time where the scale just isn’t moving in the direction you’d like it too, the weights aren’t going up like you expect them too, you’re not losing that last bit of belly fat, or you’re not putting on that slab of muscle you dream of.
But why?! You’re doing everything right, eating clean and hitting the gym as often as you should be.
So what gives?? Well, usually its pretty damn simple… It’s one of two things, no matter what you issue or goal is.
YOU’RE NOT TRAINING HARD ENOUGH!
Plain and simple, you’re not getting uncomfortable in your sessions and you’re not getting under the bar with some HEAVY ass weight on it.
I see this all the time, especially in our gym at Vigor Ground… People come to me and say, “Bootcamp just is to easy for me now, do you guys have a harder class or something?”…
This is just complete nonsense and I am sorry if you’re a bootcamper who has said this to us and are now reading this, because I really am not trying to be rude.
But myself, my boss [Who is a beast to say the least] and ALL of the trainers at our gym can agree with me when I say, “Bootcamp is ridiculously hard and pushes me to my limit”.
But why is it that the people who have trained consistently, every day, for the last 5-20 years of their lives get smashed in this class and the average person who has been training a year off and on goes through it “Easily”?
Simple. We’ve learned how to push ourselves. Bootcamp doesn’t push me to my limit; I push myself to my limit IN bootcamp.
The two things are much different from each other and if you’re that person who just doesn’t go hard enough in the session, that’s ok but you need to learn.
By no means do I assume that I wasn’t at that stage either because I was and I remember it. But I also remember the moment I had to switch gears and learn how to get uncomfortable, push past that limit of feeling good, and ultimately embrace the suck.
My point with this article is not to bag on people who don’t try hard enough in the gym, its to open your eyes to the fact that you can do more, be better, lift heavier, move faster, and at the end of the day get better results because of it all.
Let this motivate you. Let this allow you to look back at your last training session and ask yourself, “Could I have done more?” because the answer is probably yes.
We can ALWAYS be better. Every day, 1% better… after a while, that adds up to a lot of improvement.
So here are my rules with training sessions,
1.) If you can laugh, smile or talk… You’re not training hard enough.
2.) If you’re in a metabolic or conditioning style training session and you can have a calm, regular or smooth breathing pattern… You’re not training hard enough.
3.) Sweat isn’t a measure of fat loss, but if you’re completely dry, smell good still, or not have a drop of sweat on you… You’re not training hard enough.
4.) If you don’t have to grunt, yell, scream, or at least make an absurd looking face while busting out a rep… You’re not lifting heavy enough.
5.) If you’re taking longer than 2-3 minutes between sets, rounds, or circuits… You’re not training hard enough. [Unless you’re a power lifter or competitive athlete]
6.) If you’re lifting at the gym longer than an hour… You’re definitely not TRAINING HARD ENOUGH!!
Don’t take offense, don’t say I’m full of shit, don’t tell your mommy… Just train harder. If you think you cannot train any harder than you currently do, you’re full of shit.
This doesn’t mean you aren’t training hard right now, but I’m sure you can go harder.
Your goal should be to drenched in sweat, need a nap, struggle to grab your steering wheel, be too shaken up to even eat your post workout meal, or even hate your trainer a little bit… but in that good type of way 😉
YOU’RE NOT CONSISTENT!
This is the silent killer of 80% of the people not getting the results they want, most of these people probably aren’t TRAINING HARD ENOUGH EITHER!
[HAHA… Had to throw that one in there!]
This goes for every single aspect of training from your weight lifting, your cardio plan, your sleep, your recovery plan, and probably the biggest of them all, your diet.
This is a good reason why I advise most people to keep a journal, if they’re serious about getting some real results. I myself always keep a journal; not only for my lifts to make sure I am progressing but also for how I am feeling, sleeping, my energy, my diet, etc.
It’s the best way to analyze things and see what the issue may be or what needs to be adjusted.
Too many people have come to me with the, “My weight hasn’t dropped… Maybe we should cut carbs? Add cardio? Am I eating too much fruit?”
The answer is always the same too – No, no, no, and no.
The reason the weight hasn’t dropped yet is simply because you have only been following this plan for 2 weeks…
Your body takes time to adjust to things, unfortunately a lot longer than we’d like. But that’s just the nature of the body, so we got to take it or leave it!
So remember, next time you’re struggling to see the results, you just need to understand and trust the process.
Understanding the process is huge, so I will break this process down a little bit for your understanding.
Our bodies have millions of cells and organisms working hard to keep our bodies in homeostasis and by us trying to either lose weight or gain muscle mass we are trying to take our body out of that homeostasis. So essentially we’re fighting against what our body wants to achieve what our minds want or goals are.
There’s also tons of variables that come into play in which make time and consistency a huge player in this aesthetic game. Things like hormones, nervous system, tissue recovery, metabolism, and much much more are affected by us changing our diets or training hard. So they need to get used to what we’re doing and adapt to the changes so they can allow things physically to change.
At the end of the day, best rule of thumb to follow is 4-6 weeks of consistent dieting and training before making any adjustments. This is the time it takes to really see some changes and for your body to start losing weight or adding muscle/strength.
Now, it takes MUCH longer to build 5lbs of muscle than it does to lose 5lbs of fat… but that’s an entirely different article, so I’ll save it for later.
After 4-6 weeks of complete consistency and adhering to a diet and training program, without skipping sessions or cheating, then you can question if we should make changes. And if you have a good coach, they will probably adjust things a bit and the results will come very shortly.
After those 4-6 weeks of being consistent, you’re pretty likely to see results weekly from that point on. It may be slower some weeks or get slower as the weeks go on, but that’s when you make adjustments to training and nutrition to keep the ball rolling until you reach that end goal.
So what am I really trying to tell you with all this?
I’m trying to tell you that those people in the magazines and on instagram didn’t do a 12-week fat loss plan to get shredded like they are… They’ve been training for a long time, like years upon years to be honest.
Does that mean you can’t get results in less time? Not at all, it just means you need to be patient, have a realistic goal and give yourself time to reach that goal in a healthy way.
This gives you focus, a path to follow and some excitement for the road ahead.
For example, here’s my goal.
In the next year, by April 2016:
-Gain 10-12lbs while still having visible 6 pack.
-Increase main lifts by 100lbs put together. [Deadlift, Bench & Front Squat]
-Enter into Emerald Cup physique show, in 2016.
-Be forced to up my shirt size to a large… [Not really, but I wouldn’t mind that!]
Now you may be thinking, “10lbs?? I could gain that in a few months!”
You’re right and I could do, by eating myself fat everyday. But adding that weight with it being 85% muscle is VERY hard and I’d rather stay healthy, stay lean and slowly put on muscle.
This would put me up about 15-18lbs from my last stage weight, before the final weeks of cutting, and would ultimaetely give me the look I really want to achieve.
This goal is long, difficult, and going to require a strong and patient mindset. But I planned out the road there, what I need to do in every aspect of training, nutrition, and recovery and I will not slow down until I reach it.
My suggestion to you is to do the same.
Make a long-term goal, get focused, be consistent, and god damnit… TRAIN HARDER!! 😉
If YOU feel like you need accountability to stay consistent, need a training or nutrition plan to be consistent with, or even need help focusing on a specific goal. Please do not hesitate to click the picture of my big ol’ face below! I’d love to help you in any or all of these aspects.
Can’t wait to hear from you…
