5 Training Mistakes Slowing Down Your Progress
Look around a commercial gym and you will probably understand what I’m talking about in this post. In fact, I’ve even seen several coaches make these mistakes with their clients as well. This is simply because it is very easy to get lost in all the fitness-based information on the internet. If you feel you’ve been putting in the effort and not getting the results you should be getting, make sure you are not making the mistakes listed below. While I say this, keep in mind that this only applies to drug-free lifters. If you’re on any sort of gear, you can get away with the worst programming and still get decent results. Also, I have mentioned the caveats to each of the solutions below because this post is just outlining what’s optimal. It is in no way saying that you won’t make any progress at all if you go against these. That being said, if you’re a novice who doesn’t have a solid strength base, you’ll see the best progress if you make sure you aren’t committing the 5 mistakes listed below.
1. Training low frequency.
Frequency simply means the number of times you train a muscle in a week. Research has shown that training with a higher frequency leads to more gains when compared to training a muscle just once a week. Why is this the case? Because as a natural lifter, muscle protein synthesis only lasts for 48 - 72 hours after you train the muscle. This might make you wonder why the majority of people use bro splits, i.e. a split where you train one muscle once a week. The typical chest day, back day, leg day, etc. The reason why the bro split became so popularized is that bodybuilders realized that protein synthesis levels can be elevated for longer periods of time with the help of drugs. This simply means that they could train a muscle only one time a week and it would keep growing till they train it again the next week. As a natural, this strategy is suboptimal and in fact, could lead to loss of adaptations made if you wait a week to train the same muscle group again.
Solution - Train with a higher frequency. Utilize a full body split 3 times a week or an upper lower split 4 times a week. The split in itself doesn’t matter as much as making sure that you are training the muscle group at least two times a week.
Caveat - This does not mean that training with a bro split will not bring any results at all. It just means that it is suboptimal. People have made gains using a bro split and they will continue to do so. Someone consistent on a bro split will make more gains when compared to a person using an optimal frequency but skipping workouts every now and then.
2. Training with too much volume.
For this case, we’ll take volume as the number of sets and reps performed in a given session. One of the biggest mistakes people make is to add too much volume to their training. More is not always better. In fact, if you keep adding more and more sets for a given muscle group, you might reach a point where you end up making no gains at all, or worse, even losing some. Research has shown that adding volume has diminishing returns and thus should be added wisely. This problem is linked with the previous point, where people end up training a muscle just once a week and try to add more sets and reps thinking that the muscle will keep growing if they do more and more work. Keep in mind that as a natural, you can only recover from a certain amount of work.
Solution - Be wise while adding volume into your sessions. If you do implement a higher frequency approach such as stated in the point above, make sure to reduce volume accordingly. This simply means that if you were used to doing 12 sets of chest once a week, split it as 4 sets 3 times a week in the case of a full body split, or as 6 sets twice a week in an upper-lower template.
Caveat - This does not mean that high volume training has no place at all. I believe that high volume training blocks can be helpful for you based on your goals but this is just outlining the general tendency to do more all the time. The goal of training is to provide a stimulus and not to annihilate the muscle with excessive volume.
3. Training to failure.
Haven’t we all seen that person who picks up a weight, does 2-3 reps on his own, hits failure, and then proceeds to rep out 5 more with the help of a spotter? Failure simply means the point where you cannot execute a rep on your own. A lot of people find it unbelievable that training to failure is not necessary. In fact, training to failure could do more harm than good. Besides muscle recovery, you have to pay attention to the fact that your central nervous system (CNS) also needs to recover. If you keep pushing every set to failure, it will take longer for your CNS to recover and this, in turn, will affect your performance in your next workout. Furthermore, pushing a set to failure could impact your performance on the following sets in the same workout itself. So, in a way, pushing every set to failure could be sacrificing the quality of volume you’re performing.
Solution - Do not go to failure on every set in your session. Try using a scale such as the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale while training to help you get an idea of how hard you’re pushing yourself. In most cases, it's best to leave a rep or two in the tank while performing your big compound exercises like the squat, bench, deadlift, etc.
Caveat - This does not mean that you can never hit failure. You need to understand that hitting failure on a bicep curl is going to impact your CNS recovery in a very different way compared to failing a heavy squat. Also, this doesn’t mean that techniques such as supersets, drop sets, partials, etc. which help you train past failure are ineffective. This simply means that the majority of your training based on the compound lifts should not be done to failure.
4. Poor exercise selection.
There isn’t much to explain here. Don’t be that person who does ten different variations of raises to hit the delts from all angles but avoids any form of shoulder pressing whatsoever. Focus on big compound movements when you start and add in ‘isolation’ movements in the latter part of your workout. This simply means that if you want to build your glutes, focus on movements such as heavy squats, hip thrusts, romanian deadlifts, etc. before you move on to the various types of cable kickbacks.
Solution - Focus on the compound movements. Don’t get distracted by all the fancy exercises you can do. You will see the best results by getting stronger on the big lifts.
Caveat - This does not mean that accessory movements have no use at all. It simply means that the majority of people starting out think that they have to utilize the fancy exercises to build muscle while that simply isn’t the case.
5. Short rest periods.
If you want to make better progress, increase rest between sets. Yeah, you read that right. This one is for the people who rest 60 seconds between every set and then complain that they aren’t able to increase the weight on the bar. While some may argue that shorter rest times work well for them, generally it is recommended to take a little more rest between your heavy sets. This is simply to prevent the breakdown of form while executing the lift. Also, the extra rest could help you squeeze out an extra rep or two, which eventually works in your favor.
Solution - As a general rule, it is recommended to take between 2-4 minutes of rest between your heavy sets. Shorter rest periods can be used for accessory movements.
Caveat - This does not mean that short rest periods or techniques such as rest pause training which focus on short rest periods are ineffective at building muscle. It simply means that increasing the rest time between sets can help you achieve more reps leading to progressive overload over time.
To read more about progressive overload, click here https://www.bodymindquotient.com/home/progressive-overload-the-key-to-muscle-gains
Conclusion
It is very easy to get lost in the sea of information on the internet and that is one of the main reasons why people end up training in a way which isn’t particularly suitable for them and their goals. If you have been making one or more of these mistakes and you feel you haven’t been seeing progress in the weight room, try to move onto a more optimal approach for your goals. Keep factors such as volume, intensity, and frequency in mind while making your workout plan and focus on the exercises which give you the most bang for your buck. That being said, there is absolutely no harm in experimenting as there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach in fitness. In the end, it ultimately comes down to consistency and patience.
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