When I first started working out, I wish that someone told me how to get the most out of my workouts, whether it be getting stronger or getting bigger. This article is mostly for beginners, but even I find myself neglecting these three tips. So if you are an intermediate or advanced lifter, read through the rest of this article to see if you forgot some important tips.
Every day is
not arm day
Believe it or not, when I first started lifting, I squatted three to four times a week. I injured my wrist on the bench press and I resorted to doing legs almost everyday because my wrist couldn’t handle back exercises or arm workouts. When my wrist finally healed after four months, I was finally able to do something other than legs and I wanted to catch up on my lagging arms. I hit bicep and triceps for what seemed like every day and I kept that up for months. Eventually my legs fell behind and my back was being neglected for the longest time. Moral of the story is that you need a balance in your workout so that you can keep progressing at a steady rate.
Progressive
Overload
Time and time again, I go into the weight room and I see the same person benching 225 plus or minus five or ten pounds for the last six months, and then they complain that they haven’t been getting stronger. Why aren’t they getting stronger? Because they haven’t been pushing themselves hard enough. They were able to bench 225 for the first time and they became content with that weight. When you become content with the weight, that’s when you will hit a plateau.
Some tricks that I learned over the years to make sure I am not content with the weight is to train with a partner. When I was first lifting in high school, I always trained with people that were stronger than me. This made me want to push myself harder and get stronger faster. Another trick that I have learned over the years is to add weight every week, whether it is 2.5s on each side, or adding 20 more pounds each side. Your reps will go down, but you will be conditioning your body to the heavier weight. Just a warning, if you add 20 more pounds, It would be a good idea to have a spotter to help.
Programs
are great
When I first started lifting, I had a coach making programs for the class. When I started lifting on my own, I didn’t follow a program and did whatever I felt like in the gym. Doing what you want is fine, but if you don’t have structure to your workouts, then don’t expect to get the results you want, you have to be intentional with your training to get the most out of your workouts.
A great tip for beginners is to at have at least a weekly outline of your workouts. For example, Mondays are chest, Tuesdays are legs and so on. You can see my training split here for a weekly workout split. By having a program to follow, you can maximize your efforts in the gym based on your goals. A quick disclaimer is that everyone is not the same, and doesn’t have the same goals, so be careful buying cookie cutter programs that influencers sell, if the program has no structure for the workouts, and are just a bunch of random exercises look somewhere else. look for custom programs that will support your goals. Message me on Instagram or leave a quick message under this article and I can work with you to get a custom program that fits your goal.