Are you working out hard enough?

A reader recently sent me an excellent question:

“I always wonder if I push strong enough during strength training. My goals are to strengthen strength and muscles – and not be a fragile old lady. ”

This kind of question is more common than you think! This is something that almost everyone wonders at one point: “How much should I work hard when I lift myself?”

Let’s decompose it.

✅ 1. Do your muscles feel used during and after your training?

You don’t need to destroy yourself to progress, but you should I have the impression that your muscles have done a significant job.

Which could appear as:

• Feel tension and “work” in your muscles by lifting
• Feel the weight start to slow down involuntarily while you tire in the middle of your whole
• Light “pumping” after training
• Light muscle pain the next day (but nothing brutal)
• Have the impression that you have challenged yourself by the end of each set

If you finish your training and have the impression of being able to redo everything immediately … It may be a sign, it’s time to increase rehearsals, weight or sets.

✅ 2. What kind of pain do you get (if applicable)?

Unlike popular belief, Pain is not the only sign of progressBut that can give us clues.

Here’s what I’m looking for:

• Light for 1 to 2 days? Great! You probably get enough work.
• Extreme pain Does it last 4 to 5 days or more? It’s too much. Rest it.
• Never Endolori at all? It may be time to push things a little more intentionally or to change exercises.

Again, pain is a signalNot a dashboard. It is not something to continue whatever happens, but it is another piece of the puzzle to understand what works and not work for you. 😃

✅ 3. Do you see a progression over time?

Strength training consists in challenging your body and then ​Gradually increase this challenge over time​.

• Are you lifting heavier weights than 4 to 6 weeks ago?
• Do you do more rehearsals or more sets with the same weight?
• Do your movements feel more stable, confident or controlled?

If the answer is yes, you become stronger. And that’s exactly what we want.

Otherwise, it may be time to move to a more structured plan, like a ​Periodized program​ which gradually increases the volume (sets and repetitions) or the intensity (quantity of weight) over 6 to 12 weeks.

Note: As we get older, we will naturally lose a certain amount of muscle and strength. It’s completely normal! However, we can help reduce this loss with intelligent strength training.

Even if you lift less in your 1970s than you were in the thirties, you can always progress in a training program to gradually increase the challenge. The principle of progressive overload always applies, you simply adjust your starting point to everything your body is currently capable of. 💪

🧪 Do you want to test your strength in a safe way?

Another way to check if you work hard enough?

Try what I call a decisive set.

Here’s how it works:

1. Chose an exercise You have done regularly, something like body weight squats, pumps, rows of dumbbells or a machine press.
2. Make a solid warm -up. Move your body and your joints moving well.
3. So go to all: Make as many quality representatives as possible with good shape. Stop when you know you can’t finish another clean representative.

It is the simplest (and the surest) with:

• Machines (you are already “spotted”)
• Body weight movements (you can simply stop without risk)

Less ideal:

• Free weight movements such as bar back squats or a bellied developed (unless you have an observer and a lot of experience)

What are we looking for?

Compare your decisive set to your usual work sets.

Example:

• If you usually do 3 sets of 10 representatives And your decisive set obtains you 12–13 repetitionsYou are right in this ideal point in some failure representatives.
• If you hit 20+ rehearsalsOn the other hand, you leave more than 10 repetitions in the tank during your normal training. This means that it is time to increase the weight or the representatives to continue to progress.

Most muscle construction occurs when you are inside ​1–4 failure representatives​ on a work set. But if you don’t know what failure feel Like, it is easy to stop short.

A decisive set helps to recalibrate your efforts and strengthen the confidence that you can push stronger (in complete safety) when it is logical to do so.

💡 The essential

You don’t need to crush yourself to get stronger. But you TO DO You want your training sessions to be determined and sufficiently stimulating to require your body to adapt.

To research:

• Muscle tension (during the set)
• Muscle fatigue (after your training)
• Light pain (especially at the start of a new training program)
• Progress over time (representatives, weight, technique)
• … And the occasional sunflower for clarity

What if you don’t see them? Adjust your approach and you help find this Sweet Spot.

And remember! If you ask this question, it means that you are already working, which is incredible!

You have this.

– Coach Matt PS needs help to find the next step to progress in your training sessions? Take me an email and I will see how I can help! 💪