As a PT, I hear a lot from other gym goers that they struggle with seeing noticeable results over time. So, what is the main cause of this? How can we ensure that we are actively getting stronger in the gym? Why does it matter?
Getting stronger builds your muscles. This may seem like an obvious statement to make, however this is an important concept which drives muscle growth. People will sometimes go into the gym and do an arbitrary set and rep scheme (4 sets of 12, 5 sets of 10, etc.) with whatever weight they feel comfortable with on the given day, and then repeat over and over again anytime they go to the gym. While it’s good to start somewhere and just learn exercises, if you aren’t actively tracking what you do in the gym and trying to get better, you won’t progress much. So, by ensuring your lifts are improving week over week, you are ensuring the muscle has sufficient stimulus to grow, as you are signalling that it must perform beyond its current capacity.
You need to track all of your lifts, and actively attempt to do more than you did the last time. This is called Progressive Overload. Let’s say you’re doing a dumbbell bench press, and currently, you’re able to bench 40lbs for 6 reps. After your chest has become sore and recovered fully, you’ll want to do the exercise again and do your very best to get 7 reps with the same weight. Over the weeks you should be progressively overloading that 6-7 rep set to 8-10 reps, which is a good indicator that you can then move up to the 45lb dumbbells and start again at 5-6 reps, and repeat the same process of increasing reps again. When you do this consistently with all of your lifts, you will ensure you get stronger, which will make your muscles bigger. Remember; lifting weights is a marathon, not a sprint, so go for marginal increases in strength rather than massive ones, as this will allow you to make consistent gains with a lower risk of injury.
Understand that gains are made in the kitchen, not the gym. When your programming has improved, you’ll notice that you get stronger. However, if you really want to optimize your results and ensure that you grow the most muscle, you need to eat properly. Working out with weights will provide stimulus for the muscle to grow, and food will provide the fuel. Pair these up and you will grow! Make sure to eat 1g protein per pound of bodyweight every day, and eat in a 200-300 calorie surplus. I’ll be going into more detail about calorie deficit+surplus in a later post!
If you pair these three tips with a good attitude and a willingness to be consistent, you’ll get big and strong in no time! Remember to take things day by day, and don’t get discouraged if you aren’t stronger every single time you go to the gym. Fitness progress is never linear, sometimes you need to step back to step forward. If you’re consistently not getting stronger, try implementing some of these tips and see if they work for you!
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