The Only Thing You Need to Make Progress in Fitness
The internet has really over complicated a lot in the fitness industries. Everyone has a voice, which is great. But in an effort to stand out amongst the sea of information, people have resorted to advertising weird and wacky approaches that, of course, offer the absolute best results. This could be some amazing programme to increase your squat strength by 20kg in 4 weeks or the perfect lifting routine to add that extra roundness to your butt. In reality, as a novice lifter there is only one thing you should focus on…
CONSISTENCY
Yup! Sorry to disappoint you, but this is the single most important factor of any muscle and strength building routine. Dr. Eric Helms, Andrea Valdez and Andy Morgan highlighted adherence as the absolute foundation of their muscle and strength pyramid; an invaluable tool for anyone interested in building muscle and strength (If you can’t afford the book go check out the Free YouTube series).
Finding a routine that you can consistently adhere to is 100 x more important than following the perfect plan. It’s all well and good finding a plan where you are in the gym 5 days a week, 2 hours per session. But if you work 80 hours a week, have a family and travel a lot- chances are you aren’t going to be sticking at it very long. Even if you are determined enough to stick at it, chances are your energy levels may suffer, you may miss a few workouts and you simply might just not enjoy the routine- thus you wouldn’t make the progress you would have hoped.
At the other end of the scale, we have another group of beginners who are perhaps younger, have no responsibilities and have all the time in the world for the gym. I know this group very well, I used to be one of them. As a teen lifter, you can almost become paralysed with the sheer amount of content available on how to train. If you are keen, you will be doing a tonne of research and will soon find 50 different programmes that all guarantee to pack on the muscle. My advice for you guys, it really doesn’t matter. Just pick a plan and just stick at it for 6 months.
The magic of being a beginner is that doing any form of weight lifting will actually put on muscle, regardless of how it is structured. Trust me, the angle of the bench during your chest press is not going to impact your progress at this stage. If you consistently put in work in the gym 2–4 times a week for 6–12 months, you will make huge gains; so focus on that, not finding the right routine.
It’s easy for me to say that you should be consistent, but to actually achieve it, we should think about a few things:
- Schedule: How many times a week can you train consistently? How long can you commit to each session? Each week, identify the exact days and times you can commit to your workouts and work around your weekly schedule.
- Preference & Goals: Strength training can take longer as it requires more rest between each sets whereas training to build muscle or general health can afford to have less rest times with other time- saving techniques such as super-sets. The more your training reflects your goals, the more likely you will be to stick to your routine.
- Plan: How can you put yourself in a position to be as consistent as possible? Maybe this will include packing your gym bag the night before, taking food to work with you or setting an alarm 45 minutes earlier.
Thinking about these factors will help put you in a position to create or find a workout plan that you can adhere to consistently in the long-term and achieve the progress you are looking for. As a beginner, it is easily to see our idols and rush ourselves to look like them. Just know that the beauty is in the journey.
