The Compound Effect

Your workout habits will improve or depreciate based on the routine you set for yourself.  

Powered by Trucks : Anthony Trucks

   Have you ever noticed how many people start New Year’s resolutions to get in better shape and fall short of their goal about 4-6 weeks in? Ever wonder why? Well, I found out that it’s because little by little they start exercising less and less until it goes from five days a week to no days a week. It’s because of the compound effect, and it’s both good and bad.

   If you keep going to the gym, you’ll stay consistent or even add days. But if you take days away, you’ll keep taking days away. 

   This also transfers over to the actual weight you lift during your training sessions. If you start minimizing weights or pushing yourself a little less, you’ll start being ok with decreasing or staying the same. If you focus on adding weight, the smart way, and increasing your intensity, you’ll continue to add weight and increase your strength. 

   Here are a few key principles to make sure you stay on the right track:

   >> Track everything you do “” how many days a week you train, what exercises you do, the weights of those exercises, time you rest between sets, etc. This way you’ll visually be able to see where you are.

   >> Plan ahead “” No plan equals no destination. If you want to increase something, determine how much you want to increase it and structure out the steps to get there. You can tweak along the way, but you can’t tweak what you don’t have.

   >> Focus on making the right decision and ACTION “” When you do well, it’s more motivation to continue to do well. Drop the ball once, and it gets easier to be comfortable dropping it again.

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