What is a good workout? The answer to this question will differ according to the mentality of each lifter. Some lifters have a short-term mentality, and some have a long-term mentality.
A Short-Term Mentality
Lifters who have a short-term mentality are focused on the immediate results from a given workout. They are mainly concerned with questions such as:
Did I push myself enough to thoroughly exhaust the muscles I was working?
Did I get a good pump?
Did I set a new personal record for weight or reps?
Did I feel sore after the workout?
Do I look bigger or better the day after the workout?
A Long-Term Mentality
Lifters who have a long-term mentality may be aware of these same concerns, but they are far more focused on the following question:
Are the workouts that I am doing over the course of the next 12 weeks going to result in the ability to lift more weight 12 weeks from now?
The lifter with a long-term perspective understands that a so-called great workout that is performed today may have a negative effect on workouts that are to be done three weeks from now. For example, shock methods may produce immediate results while undermining the progress you will experience a few weeks from now. Going all-out with max effort singles, or going all-out with max reps on every set may help you break a record today, but if this is your mentality for every workout, it will usually back fire by causing overtraining and an endless sticking point. Some lifters want to hit a homerun in every workout, but smart lifters know that this is not possible.
A Series of Workouts
A different approach is to think in terms of doing a series of workouts that are preparing your body for an increase in weight at some point in the future. The key to this strategy is to push just hard enough to reach the point where each workout feels as though it is starting to become uncomfortable. The workouts must then be performed often enough and repeated enough times to give your body time to acclimate to the workout. When your body acclimates to the workout, the workout will start to feel easier. When it feels easier you will be able to add more weight. The process is then repeated over and over again.
Slower, but More In The End
At any point in time, you could abandon the long-term process by pushing harder. This will help you to make immediate progress, but if you keep trying to make immediate progress in every workout, the end result will be a sticking point. If you want to make-long term progress, you will have to sacrifice instant strength gains in favor of slower but more consistent progress that adds up to more strength in the end.
If you want to know more details in regard to how hard to train to make long-term progress, I suggest that you read books such as “Precision Responsive Lifters,” “Marker Rep Training,” or “Frequency Responsive Lifters.” You can read these books for free by going to the homepage of this website. Best of training to you.
Consider Reading The Following Books
