It’s no secret that there are thousands of exercise programs out there today. A byproduct of the world of internet and technology is the access to a platform for millions of users to create their own content, which gives the user access to many, many different coaches and training styles to choose from, which is great!
However, with the easy access to a platform, also comes coaches who may teach bad habits or poor techniques that may not pass a normal vetting process from a more informed athlete or client.
If you need an example, there are thousands of accounts on tik tok, Instagram, and snapchat that are all dedicated to teaching you how to train like them. Some are really great! Then there are others that make you cringe so hard you have to set your phone down. The bottom line is, you really can’t avoid seeing it all over your feed.
Why does this matter?
For the average beginner lifter, it is important to start the “right way.” That means ensuring quality over quantity. As a coach, I pay less attention to how much you squat when you are brand new to my program (though, I will document it so you can see how much you blow it out of the water after 9 weeks). What I truly look for, are flaws in your technique. I care to build your foundation first, before there are any bad or dangerous habits developed, which happens SO often today, due to the vast amount of misinformation on social media. Think of it this way… You cannot add a foundation to a house after it has already been built, without knocking it back down and starting over.
After you build a solid foundation, what do you do next?
You stick to the plan!
Far too many new lifters give up on a program after a short time because they don’t see rapid results. Im here to tell you… None of those athletes you follow on Instagram had rapid results either. They took their time and stuck to a plan. In the age of instant gratification, where you can post a picture of yourself and instantly receive 1000’s of views and likes, it becomes difficult to convince anyone to stick it out. If you want to succeed as an athlete, you must exist in the counterculture… And that can feel brutal sometimes.
What is the point of this article? The point is this….
I cannot have an athlete completing a 10x10 overhead press once a week for two months and expect their weight to increase every week. By the same token, I cannot have an athlete run a mile every day and expect that their mile time will continuously go down.
Your body is smart. It has been through thousands of years of adaptation. It wants to grow. It wants to overcome stimulus easier each time it is introduced.
Which is why it ACCOMODATES!
In another blog post, we will go over the Law of Accommodation, but the key takeaway for now is this…
If you are a new lifter, pick a program that has consistent changes in exercises, movements, and weights (which is why I believe the conjugate system yields the greatest results). If you are a veteran lifter, do not be afraid to change your approach and explore new movements and rep schemes, even if the change is scary. At the end of the day, you can throw anything at the wall and make it stick... for a short time...
Your body will continue to provide the same answer, until you ask it different questions.
