Keys to Success - Intensity, Consistency and Time
When I started training, I spent hours reading trying to find the optimal way to train and the perfect diet. I thought everything had to be perfect in order for me to get bigger and stronger. I wanted to do the perfect amount of volume, optimal amount of frequency of exercises, form had to be ‘internet forum’ perfect and I needed to consume the correct ratio of carbs, fat and protein. I kept changing programs as I was always looking for the perfect program and the missing link. The program hopping was stopping me from progressing.
As I progressed I realised that none of this stuff really mattered. The three things that were always there when I made progress were
- Intensity
- Consistency
- Time.
"Training is 85-90% effort and consistency and 10-15% programming/knowledge."
Jim Wendler
Jim Wendler
Effort
When I talk about effort, I'm talking about the intensity of effort you put into your workout. This is something missing from most people's workouts.
How often do you see people spend their time in the gtm talking instead of training?
Or playing on their phone resulting in taking longer rest between sets?
Are you 100% focused when doing a set?
I see very few people training with any intensity and actually putting some effort in.
A lot of people haven’t ever exerted themselves physically in their life. As a result, once they start a training program they only know how to exert themselves to a level that won’t produce results. Often they will believe they are exerting themselves, but they have much more in them.
Leg training is where you see it most. Leg training is hard and uncomfortable. It’s not unusual to see someone stop a set believing they could only do one or two reps when in reality they had five+ reps left in the tank. They give up at the first sign of discomfort.
This doesn’t mean you should push your sets to failure, but it does mean you need to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
How often do you see people spend their time in the gtm talking instead of training?
Or playing on their phone resulting in taking longer rest between sets?
Are you 100% focused when doing a set?
I see very few people training with any intensity and actually putting some effort in.
A lot of people haven’t ever exerted themselves physically in their life. As a result, once they start a training program they only know how to exert themselves to a level that won’t produce results. Often they will believe they are exerting themselves, but they have much more in them.
Leg training is where you see it most. Leg training is hard and uncomfortable. It’s not unusual to see someone stop a set believing they could only do one or two reps when in reality they had five+ reps left in the tank. They give up at the first sign of discomfort.
This doesn’t mean you should push your sets to failure, but it does mean you need to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Consistency
I’m talking about the consistently training with the intensity I mentioned above.
Lots of people train hard for a short period, but then they stop training. They’ll train hard for weeks and then stop training for months. They come back back to the gym insisting they’ll stick to it and again last a short time. The stop-start cycle continues and they never make any progress. Training hard is important, but problems arise when people allow the intensity to interfere with consistency. No single workout, no matter how good it was, matter that much.
Instead, what matters is putting in consistent work and making improvements over a long period of time.
Lots of people train hard for a short period, but then they stop training. They’ll train hard for weeks and then stop training for months. They come back back to the gym insisting they’ll stick to it and again last a short time. The stop-start cycle continues and they never make any progress. Training hard is important, but problems arise when people allow the intensity to interfere with consistency. No single workout, no matter how good it was, matter that much.
Instead, what matters is putting in consistent work and making improvements over a long period of time.
Training is a marathon, not a sprint.
Time
It takes time to build strength, gain muscle, get fitter and lose fat (though losing fat can be done fairly quickly). While you will get quicker results when you first start training, to achieve anything that’s impressive will take time and consistency.
If you’re 30 years old and out of shape it’s unrealistic to expect that you’ll undo it in a couple of months. It takes time to build muscle. If you’re underweight and want to gain muscle it will takes a long time of consistent effort. There aren’t any short cuts. Don't train for 3 months and then be shocked you don't look like someone who has trained for years.
If you’re 30 years old and out of shape it’s unrealistic to expect that you’ll undo it in a couple of months. It takes time to build muscle. If you’re underweight and want to gain muscle it will takes a long time of consistent effort. There aren’t any short cuts. Don't train for 3 months and then be shocked you don't look like someone who has trained for years.
If you train with intensity, consistency for a long time, you'll suceed no matter what else you do.
If fail to do one of these you will fail no matter what you do.
If fail to do one of these you will fail no matter what you do.
These are the three things that are needed. Even now, if I’m not making progress and look at these three things and I’ll always find I’m slacking on one of them. The program I’m following doesn’t matter that much if these three things aren’t there.
I’ve made great progress following the most basic training program ever. I remember squatting 140kg x 7. Over three months the only weight I used was 140kg and built it upo to 14 reps. I then did the same for 160kg, 180kg and got up to 200kg x 7 reps. If I had posted this plan on an internet forum I would have been laughed at and told it was stupid. However I trained extremely hard, was consistent and was patient enough to see the results.
I'm not saying the program you do doesn't matter, but I have seen people succed following all kinds of training.
I’ve made great progress following the most basic training program ever. I remember squatting 140kg x 7. Over three months the only weight I used was 140kg and built it upo to 14 reps. I then did the same for 160kg, 180kg and got up to 200kg x 7 reps. If I had posted this plan on an internet forum I would have been laughed at and told it was stupid. However I trained extremely hard, was consistent and was patient enough to see the results.
I'm not saying the program you do doesn't matter, but I have seen people succed following all kinds of training.
Nail the basics and train consistently with intensity for a long time and you will succeed