One of the great things about weight training is the possibility for continual improvement of your body, your health, and your mind. The sky is the limit and the adage “you reap what you sow” couldn’t be more fitting. The harder and more intelligently you work in the gym, the better your results will be.
Answer The Question
The question you need to ask yourself is; are you getting the most out of every workout? Are you putting forth the effort necessary for continual improvements or are you settling for less than your best? Answering these questions honestly may shed some light on the areas you need to make better.
Each workout provides you with an opportunity to improve in some way. The degree you improve and the magnitude of your results will depend on how well you take advantage of the opportunities presented to you each day.
One way to make sure you are making the most out of each training session and setting yourself up for continual improvements is to set daily training goals of bettering your numbers from the previous workout. Bettering your numbers could mean an increase in weight, more reps or an extra set with the heavier weight you finished with the week before. The key is you improve in some way compared to your previous workout for that body part.
These weekly progressions don’t have to be huge to be effective. Small increases add up over time, and by making a conscious effort to improve your numbers week by week, you’ll continue to elevate your performance and keep creating the ultimate stimulus for strength and muscular development – progressive overload.
Without daily workout goals, it is easier to get complacent with your performance and slip into training mediocrity. I am sure you’ve seen people in the gym everyday who are simply going through the motions. They never look very different or show marked signs of improvements. They lift the same weights, have the same routine and ultimately have the same body as they did months ago if not years. One of the reasons they are not improving is they are not pushing themselves to better their performance. If they had more specific daily workout goals their training would not stagnate and neither would their results.
I’ve been more aware of the numbers I’ve been putting up and making a concentrated effort to improve them each workout. I’m finding a greater emphasis on daily goals is making training more fun and more productive.
Always Make Each Workout Better Than The One Before
After you train for so long, you can begin to take aspects of it for granted. If you are not careful and you may find yourself coasting more than you should and not digging in with your best efforts each day.
A seemingly simple little exercise like making daily workout goals to better your numbers over the week before can have a bigger impact on your results than you may think. Going to the gym with very clear goals and objectives each day will make you more accountable for your performance and make you step up to meet a new challenge each workout.
Keep a training journal to help with your daily workout goals. If you keep a record of your lifts, you’ll know right where you left off the week before and exactly where you need to start, so you don’t take any steps backward with weight selections.
Remember, each workout presents you with an opportunity to get better and it’s up to you what you make of it. Striving to better your numbers will keep you on the track for continual improvements.
