How often have you found yourself in the gym attempting to go heavier, faster, more explosive, harder, more, more, more every workout?..

Mentally we can get stuck in the mindset of it’s not a workout if we haven’t gone harder, done more or at least equal to the last session. Thereby applying more pressure to ourselves, kicking ourselves and feeling guilty if we miss a session, is this sustainable?

I used to think like this…I’d train 6 times a week, often finding the start of the week was good, and as I went on through the week I would plateau out and my training would be up and down. If I’m honest by the end of the week mostly down. For a long time I never really stopped to listen to my mind and body, I thought that If I wasn’t flogging myself every session that it didn’t count and I was weaker because of it – mental.

Niggling injuries, feeling exhausted, it all builds up.
So how did I change that mindset, I came to the understanding and realisation that PROGRESS ISN’T LINEAR!!!! It’s not a straight line, it’s not up up up up, and far from it. It actually looks something like this…. (pic below).

For me I’ve come to understand that many things add up to progress, here’s but a few: – learning the skill, understanding the process, asking questions, active recovery, getting enough sleep (which is a big one!) Eating and fuelling properly is also a big one!

Taking my time and not rushing, not giving myself a hard time when I missed one session in the succession of 45 sessions! I could go on but you catch my drift. One of the best pieces of advice that has stuck for me “play the long game” (thanks to my wife Kirsten for that). But what does the next two weeks look like, the next month, the next 6 months and onwards.

Coach Scott.