My top 3 reasons WHY you are not seeing results from your training:
1) Environment/Culture:
The biggest predictor of success in the gym in my opinion is the environment & training culture that surrounds you. You only need to take a look at the All Blacks to gain great insight to how they have become the most successful professional sports team in the world. Ultimately it is the unique standards, values & culture created from the Coach’s & Management that influences the success of the individual players & team as a whole!
As Jim Rohns famous quote goes, “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”.
If you you want to get stronger? Hire a coach who knows how to get you stronger that can be your gps & keep you on course. Alternatively find a training partner that is consistent & stronger than you are. Remember “if you walk with the lame you develop a limp” (Louie Simmons). If you are not happy where you currently are then perhaps all you need is a change of environment &/or hiring a coach that will hold you accountable & raise your standards with training and nutrition!
2) Be patient! Play the long game & plan ahead:
You should never miss a opportunity to add more weight to the bar however grinding out to failure on those last reps set after set will only place too much stress on your nervous system making it very difficult to recover from, often leading to worse performance in future sessions, becoming run down & more susceptible to becoming sick. My biggest mistake I have made in the past was training like this 6x per week sometimes more. These days I make the best progress strength training 4x per week while being smarter with my weight selection so I can recover & continue to increase loads between workouts. Lastly before starting your first week of a training program it’s important to think about where you want to be in the last week and by selecting weights in the first week that allows you to have perfect technique on your big lifts with 2-3 reps in reserve with the knowledge that you have 100% confidence in building your weights over the coming weeks while never missing a rep! This builds confidence, feeling of success and helping testosterone levels sky rocket!
3) Reassess Weekly:
You can’t keep doing the same thing week in week out and expect a different result! This is by far the biggest mistake I see made by 90% of the population. By this I mean look back at what worked well and what didn’t! If you have been eating the same or training the exact same for more than 4 weeks chances are you need to make changes in some way shape or form. It’s actually okay to make mistakes but one must Learn from them. Find what works for you! Not the model or assisted athlete you see on Instagram. The reality is what works for you may be completely different. Your training & nutrition must match your lifestyle, if you are only sleeping 6-7 hours a night & working long hours then training 4-5 x per week with shorter 45 minute workouts may be the best approach! More is not always better ! Same as nutrition eating less is not always the answer sometimes focusing on reducing stress, anxiety & improving sleep quality can make a positive impact on fat loss. My biggest mistake & probably still something that needs work is focusing & being more proactive towards recovery & sleep, remember “fatigue masks performance”. Unless you are an advanced athlete, training with advanced methods or training stupidly too often each week, more times than not you are not overtrained you are more likely under recovered. Prioritising good sleep hygiene with regular sleep wake times while having time out reduce stress to get outside to the beach or coast walks for example are the little things each week that can have a huge impact on your recovery & results over time!