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2007/08/15, 03:29 PM
I know that sometime people get frustrated in gym because they are not reaching their goals or believe that they aren't making any progress. Here a few tip that I have found useful.
First keep track of everything this way you have something to compare against.
Everyone loves progress, however I don't think that most people measure it with enough granularity. Each time I step into the gym, I try to do at least one thing better than before. A few thing that I judge as improvement are:
Adding weight...nothing feels better than 5 more lbs on a big lift.
Sometime it is not possible to add more weight. When this is the case an alternative measure of improvement is getting one more rep at a given weight. I am just at happy having a rep PR as I am getting new 1RM.
Another measure of improvement that I like use is TBS(time between sets) Lets say one week you had 2 min TBS. If you lowered that to 1:45 TBS the next week and were still successful then you made an improvement.
The fourth and final measure of improvement that I use is speed. One week I might have been able to squat 315lb for 1 rep, but it was slow and ugly. Instead of trying to beat that next week, I would probably try it again with goal of increasing the speed and quality of the lift.
Some of these things might seem small. Well, they are, but these small improvement will make you feel productive week after week and believe me, the small things add up pretty quick.
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2007/08/15, 11:20 PM
Yes pemdas I agree...Its all about finding the things that motivate!!!I feel great adding 5 lbs to anything i shoot for!!!And yes,if I can do more reps,then do it!!!!In this field its all about the little changes that make us smile!!i know your one of the motivated people from reading the message boards,and its why im glad to be part of FT...everyone has helped me get my butt out there and shock myself4 times a week!!
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2007/08/17, 01:38 PM
Thanks for that post. I'm really struggling with the motivation to get up in the morning to go to the gym. The only time that I've been able to make to get there is 4:30 am with my other committments. I've not been getting to bed early enough and have REALLY been struggling to haul my butt out of bed in the AM. I've gone from 5 workouts a week to about 3. I know that's not bad, but STILL! I can tell too, the measurements have not changed, the weight hasnt changed, my clothes haven't changed for about a month. I have to quit slacking and get back to it!!!! If I can just get motivated to go to bed by 9:00 like I need to, I'd be just fine!!!! Ugh.
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2007/08/17, 02:13 PM
Set progress is another one that I forgot to mention.
Example:
Week one 3 set of 8
Week two 4 sets of 8
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