Ever have one of those days where nothing seems to go right?
You spill your shaker bottle mixing pre-workout, rip your boxers while warming up, and your attempt at a new deadlift max leaves the bar stapled to the floor.
Not to mention, your gym is expecting you to pull some big numbers while blasting “My Heart Will Go” by Celine Dion . Yeah, not gonna happen slick.
If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably been training for a few years and you’ve got a bit of experience under your belt. Maybe you’ve done a powerlifting meet or a local bodybuilding competition but regardless of the title, you'll inevitably hit a plateau if you train long enough.
So, what happens when you do? Well, look no further, this article is going to delve into 11 topics that might be holding you back from attaining the physique you desire.
1. You Prioritize Fatigue Over Fitness
For some reason there’s a very disturbing trend within the fitness industry: some trainers have become obsessed with absolutely crushing clients. In the end, some folks would rather be laying in a pool of their own sweat gasping for breath wondering why they can’t feel their legs.
Truth be told, if your idea of “programming” consists of walking into the gym and doing whatever pops into your head, you’re going to have a tough time making consistent progress, if any.
Any coach who is worth their weight will tell you that the best athletes plan out their training in advance. This is the entire idea behind periodization; you should know what you’re doing tomorrow, next week, and a month from now. Drop the mindset that you’ve got to destroy yourself every session and put some thought into your long-term progression under the bar.
2. You’re Eating Like a Teenage Girl
The age-old saying still rings true, “You can’t out train a bad diet” but it goes both ways - muscle gain or fat loss. You will NEVER gain mass unless you eat more calories than your body needs to maintain its current weight. You can’t somehow outwork the first law of thermodynamics; it takes calories to build muscle and not just protein!
Learning to eat big is a process. Having put on a fairly lean 65lbs in 18 months and now routinely eating over 4,000 calories a day to maintain that newfound mass, I'll be the first to admit that sometimes you’ve got to consider eating a part-time job.
You have to accept the fact that there are going to be times when you’re not hungry. Adapt and conquer: make a smoothie and incorporate more liquid calories, eat foods lower in fiber, carry around a bag of homemade trail mix along with a whey shake, or just eat more frequently if you can.
3. You Think More Is Better for Everything
It’s funny, I see lots of articles and workout splits written by professional bodybuilders emphasizing INCREDIBLY high volume. I’m not talking about a simple 4x10 either. I’m talking about some serious rhabdomyolysis, the stuff that prevents you from brushing your teeth for two weeks.
If you take nothing else away from this article, remember that context is key in all situations. The next time you read one of those articles, keep in mind that those guys are sipping a different “Kool-Aid” than you and as such, they can handle quite a bit more training stress.
