Your training should constantly evolve

When you feel like your hitting a plateau or feeling stuck in your training it’s most likely because you’re constantly doing the same thing and not tracking your performance.

To continually improve and continue to enjoy strength and fitness, your training needs to evolve so your brain doesn’t “figure it out”

and stop adapting to the training. The workouts need to become more personalized and specific over time. For instance a beginner will get away with 12 weeks of absolutely anything. I can include squat, lunge, push, pull, core and aerobic circuits in any variation and they will get results. That’s because the training is so new to them (well, their brain) and will improve with whatever you throw at it. Fast forward 15 weeks and you’re still doing the same style of training – well let’s just say it’s not just you that’s getting bored but also your brain. He ain’t gonna make any more improvements for you!

So what are you going to do about it??

Add more stress!! Physical stress of course. Let’s say your last 6 weeks of training have been 3 sets of 10 on the bench press, leg press, split squat and push-ups followed by some cool lookin’ shit you saw on Instagram – these typically include a sled, battleropes and a kettlebell lol! Sorry, not sorry but these blind efforts will only get you so far.

So instead of the humdrum workout above stress that brain out a bit by changing up the variables. Change the number of sets from 3 to 6, change the reps from 12 to 8, apply a slow tempo instead of racing through the reps. Reduce your rest period for an even greater metabolic response. Keep every exercise compound or multi-joint, there ain’t no place for a push-up in your strength training lol …you probably know what I mean by now…and just in case, push-ups rock..if you’re a beginner, otherwise keep them in your aerobic training lol!

All of the above is very much tongue in cheek but to summarise you must change your training every 4-6 weeks and the volume (sets and reps) must change too. It needs to be specific to your needs. If you’re crap at squatting do more and every 8-12 weeks test yourself out with 3 reps and 5 rep loads. Make sure to add complexity every 4 weeks. Change your split squat to a bulgarian split squat, change your goblet squat to a dual kettlebell front squat. These are just some examples. I’ve written previous posts about this and specifically applied to aerobic training too, go check them out!