3 tips for success

3 tips for success 

Training is a journey with many variables that may affect how you perform, how you feel about yourself and your results. Most will agree that being consistent with training is a huge part of success. However, no one ever really talks about HOW to stay consistent. So, here are 3 tips for staying in the game no matter what.

1. Set specific performance based goals 

Many of us have an aesthetic goal that was the reason we started training in the first place. While there isn’t anything wrong with this, it can be similar to watching paint dry. Training definitely contributes to aesthetics, but most cases a desirable physique owes itself to proper nutrition.

When it comes to discussing aesthetics versus performance, in my experience, strength is the most successful marker. This is probably because gains in strength often precede noticeable fat loss.

So, if you set performance-based goals

 (like strength) 

as your initial milestones, you will probably see the benefits of training sooner. This will keep the motivation to train high while simultaneously setting yourself up for longer-term success.

An example of a performance-based goal would be to add 5 or 10 lbs to your squat or deadlift from the previous months, or to be able to do one more un-assisted pull up in training than last month

2. Focus on one goal at a time 

While performance-based goals are a great thing, they are also something we can easily become overzealous with. I find that many of people who are new to strength training tend to make goals too big and focus on too many things. While it is beneficial for a novice to work on several aspects of their fitness, making one of those aspects a priority over the others is ideal.

Early in ones training age, if one small attainable goal is picked, it is usually met pretty swiftly. This is important for breeding motivation to work towards the bigger picture. When a novice trainee makes a goal, they may set a new goal or continue to push the previous goal. This can be repeated until the novice reaches a plateau at which point more advanced periodization needs to be included in the program.

Try prioritizing one or two small performance-based goals to do them every training session for a certain amount of time (try 4-6 weeks). You may work on different versions of the same exercise or change it completely when ready to progress

3. Build a better base for movement and recovery 

Injury is definitely something that can keep us out of the gym physically and mentally. 

While there isn’t really much we can do for acute injury, we can improve movement quality and delay fatigue so that chronic training injuries are at least minimized.

In order to keep healthy it is important that we train appropriate movement-patterns and only overload them appropriately. 

The movement-patterns I’m talking about specifically are crawling, squatting, kneeling and reaching (overhead).

It may not be 100% that you’ll get injured if you can’t do one or more of these patterns, however it does set you up for some compensation down the line which is a good recipe for overuse of the things we don’t want to over-use.

If you can’t do any of these patterns with control or ease then you may want to re-think overloading.

If any of these patterns hurt, have it looked at by a doctor, plain and simple.

And finally.. 

Doing low-intensity continuous training at a heart rate of 130-150 beats per minute will increase the amount of blood pumped per minute allowing for more blood to reach the muscles faster. It is common to think of cardio as the elliptical or stair climber, but it doesn’t have to be on a machine. You can create a circuit of your favorite exercises. 

Don’t have a heart rate monitor? Make sure you can do the entire circuit while breathing in and out of your nose to insure that your intensity is not too high. 20-30 minutes 1-2x per week is ideal.

Patrick Ciera