7 basic things you should pay attention to in order to achieve lasting training success!
You probably know it too: you can find “the perfect plan” to build muscle and reduce body fat in a number of fitness magazines, fitness blogs and internet forums. This multitude of different opinions and tips doesn’t exactly make it any easier to find out what the right plan is for you. Especially as these plans cater to a wide range of people and only work up to a certain point, if at all.
The questions you should ask yourself before using them are:
- Does this training plan work equally well for everyone?
- Is the plan tailored to my individual needs?
- Am I able to perform the exercises in a technically clean and correct way?
- Will I achieve the desired results with this plan and will I reach my goals?
It is highly unlikely that you will be able to answer yes to any of these questions.
Below I have seven basic factors for you that you should consider in order to train successfully and correctly in the long term:
1. Basics First
Include the most important basic exercises in your training plan first. In other words: train squats, split squats, pull-ups, lat pull-downs and bench presses before you do single-joint exercises such as bicep curls or calf raises. These complex exercises target a large number of muscles/muscle groups simultaneously and are therefore highly efficient when it comes to building muscle and reducing body fat as a result.
2. The right training concept
As already mentioned, there are a large number of training plan templates that promise to bring you closer to your desired figure. However, the training plan should always be tailored to your individual needs. A number of factors play a role in adapting the right training concept:
- How many times a week can you train?
- How high is your stress level in everyday life?
- What is your current condition: body fat percentage, lean body mass, physical condition?
- Restrictions, acute injuries, activity level, training experience?
- Can I make progress with the specified training program?
For example, if the training plan specifies that you have to train four times a week, but your time only allows for two sessions a week, your stress level is already high anyway and the program simply overwhelms you, certain physical movement restrictions or deficits do not allow you to perform the exercises correctly and you therefore cannot make any progress, you should reconsider your current training program.
3. The optimum time for training
When is the right time to train? The answer: “It depends.”
Some swear that early in the morning is the best time, as they are still fit and not flat and tired from work and the often stressful everyday life. Others claim that training in the afternoon or evening is best as they have already consumed enough energy in the form of food during the day and are therefore more efficient.
According to studies, our performance varies by around 26% throughout the day. Doesn’t sound like much at first glance? But if I can do a barbell squat of 80 kg in the morning, for example, it might only be 59.2 kg in the afternoon, which is a considerable difference in terms of performance.
Basically, it should be possible to integrate training into your everyday life. As most of us have to keep to our regular working hours, there is usually only time for training in the morning or late afternoon/evening. If you decide to train in the morning, bear in mind that your biorhythm needs about 90 minutes to get going and that you will only be fully fit after that. For example, if you want to train at 7am, you should get up at 5:30am to get the most out of your training. You should also have eaten breakfast before training, as your blood sugar level will already be relatively low after a long night and you’ll need more energy:
- Need energy for the upcoming physical exertion and
- to prevent your blood sugar level from dropping further.
For most people, a further drop in blood glucose levels not only leads to a drop in performance during training, but also to a lack of performance during the day if it is not stabilized.
If you decide to train in the late afternoon or evening, you should do so as early as possible. The reason for this is that training is naturally strenuous and, in addition to its many positive effects, also has an activating effect on our body that goes beyond the workout itself. You may therefore have problems switching off in the evening and find it difficult to fall asleep or sleep through the night. Among other things, the “stress hormone” cortisol plays a decisive role here, which we naturally need for training. However, this increase in cortisol does not subside within a very short time and you will stay awake longer than you would like in the evening.
4. Training frequency
Basically, if you do less than 45-60 minutes of intensive strength training twice a week, you will not be able to make constant progress in the long term. You should therefore plan at least this amount of time. With three to four sessions, the whole thing naturally goes much faster. And with five to six sessions per week, you need to plan your training and recovery very carefully to avoid “overtraining”.
Wie sieht es denn mit den Regenerationsphasen zwischen den einzelnen Workouts aus?
If we assume, for example, that you want to train three times a week with a full-body training plan, you should ideally have a break of one day between the two training sessions. If you choose intervals that are too short, for example three training days in a row, your regeneration will suffer and your training progress will be negatively affected as the training stimuli will be too close together. Furthermore, in this example you would not train for four days, so you would take too long a break and miss the right time for a new training stimulus.
The process described here is called the principle of supercompensation. “It means that the body not only restores its readiness to perform at the same level after a training load, but also increases its performance beyond the original level during recovery (regeneration) and maintains it at this level over a certain period of time.
If this higher level of performance is used for each new training session, there is a sustained but limited increase in performance over a longer period of time. If the regeneration phase between training sessions is too long, the training effect is lost again. If, on the other hand, training is too much and/or too intense, the body does not have enough time to regenerate and the performance level drops (overtraining).”
Quelle: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superkompensation
However, if you have a split plan, which means you train the upper body and lower body on different days and which is also possible from 3 units per week, you can train directly on two consecutive days. This should be followed by at least one day’s rest.
5. Training intensity
As a personal trainer in Stuttgart, I experience the following scenario, or something similar, time and time again: The client implements the discussed plan in the gym on their own. After three to four weeks, we meet again for the next appointment at my personal training studio.
I ask: “So, how did you get on? Were you able to improve and get better at the individual exercises?”
His answer: “Yes, it went well, I even managed eight of the specified six to eight repetitions in all sets.”
My question: “And were you able to continuously increase your training weight?
His answer: “Yes, but because I always wanted to do the eight repetitions, I often used the same weight several times.
My answer: “Ok, and after the last set of eight repetitions, did you always have the feeling that no more were possible?”
His answer: “Well, maybe one or two more repetitions would have been possible… but nothing more.”
My answer: “So why didn’t you increase the weight? Or did you try to move a heavier weight, but only with six repetitions?”
His answer: “Good question, that might have been too exhausting for me.
My answer: “I see.”
What I mean by this is that training success and the resulting results in terms of body fat reduction and/or muscle building will only happen in the long term if you are prepared to leave your comfort zone.
The training intensity should always be selected in such a way that a continuous increase from set to set, exercise to exercise and training session to training session is possible.
It should be possible to increase the weights in each individual training session. Even if it is only one kilogram more.
If this is no longer possible after a certain period of training, you should switch to a new program based on the old training plan.
All my personal training clients receive a new plan at regular intervals to ensure continuous progress.
6. Nutrition
The “right” diet can be a difficult topic, as each of us has different basic requirements and dietary preferences (e.g. meat eaters, semi-vegetarians, pesco-vegetarians, ovo-lacto vegetarians, vegans, etc.): Meat eaters, semi-vegetarians, pesco-vegetarians, ovo-lacto-vegetarians, vegans,…).
Depending on your starting point, your diet should first be individually adapted to your needs and goals.
Questions that need to be considered:
- When do you eat what?
- Do you eat regularly?
- How much of which foods do you eat?
- What is the right amount of macro and micronutrients for you?
- How well does your body metabolize carbohydrates?
- Do you have intolerances or do some foods make you feel better or worse?
The easiest solution is to find an expert (a well-trained personal trainer or nutritionist) to help you find the right diet for you based on your goals.
In my personal training studio in Stuttgart, I regularly carry out the YPSI skin fold measurement with my clients. Based on this, we see what the ratio of body fat to lean mass is and what your body fat distribution looks like based on our hormone balance. You may have noticed that you have accumulated more fat pads in some parts of your body and less in others. This is precisely where our hormones play a decisive role. Based on the measurement, we make adjustments to your diet and sensible nutritional supplements at regular intervals in order to achieve continuous progress.
If you believe that you can only achieve long-term success through training alone or, conversely, by changing your diet without training, you will realize at a certain point that you are not making any progress.
7. Mindset/Self-image
Self-image is also referred to as mindset or “inner” attitude. It describes our personal development: how we learn, what goals we set ourselves and how we approach challenges and problems.
A leading researcher in this field is Dr. Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. In her book: “Self-image – How our thinking causes success or failure”, she describes precisely this challenge.
People with a static self-image believe that their characteristics and abilities are limited and are virtually set in stone. They are extremely frustrated when they fail and do not make any great effort to do better next time.
People with a dynamic self-image, on the other hand, assume that they can develop their qualities and abilities through their own efforts. They see failures as opportunities, they can cope with setbacks more easily and are happy to take on bigger challenges. Instead of constantly thinking negatively, people with a flexible self-image work on developing their potential.
The question now is, do you have a static or a dynamic self-image?
For a static one, the following examples would be related to your training:
- I can’t do the exercise anyway because I’ve had an operation and my mobility will never be the same again.
- I can’t manage to lose weight anyway because I’ve always been overweight.
- The others build muscle much faster anyway, I’ve always been so thin.
- I wasn’t sporty before, so why should I be any better now?
- The training plan is far too strenuous for me, I don’t manage to reach my goal anyway.
A dynamic one, on the other hand, would look like this:
- Although I find it difficult to perform the exercise, I am continuing to work on my flexibility so that I will soon be able to perform the exercise correctly and effectively.
- I am finally ready to change something and will do everything necessary to lose weight.
- With the right training plan and the right diet, I will finally manage to build muscle.
- I have never been athletic, but I will do my best to be successful.
- I find the training plan exhausting, but I will go through with it anyway and achieve my goal.
Ultimately, it is therefore largely up to you and your mindset or attitude whether you will achieve training success.
I wish you every success in implementing the seven training tips.
If you would also like to achieve more training success, then get in touch with me for a free, no-obligation consultation.