You must have patience if you want to make the most of your weight training journey. I will admit that some people can gain a lot of size and strength in three to six months, but most people are going to need more than weeks or months to get substantially bigger and stronger, it’s going to take years. You may know of a few lifters who have made rapid progress in a short amount of time, and maybe you are one of them, but it you are not, don’t conclude that there is no hope. Instead, be patient, embrace the process, and train with a long-term perspective in mind.
Traits of a Long-Term Perspective
What are the distinguishing traits of a long-term perspective? A long-term perspective takes the time to learn perfect lifting form before trying to lift heavy. A long-term perspective is going to start out light while using a full range a motion and build up strength in every part of that range of motion; especially the weakest parts. A long-term perspective is going to pursue progress within the context of health in order to avoid pushing so hard that injuries or over training occur. A long-term perspective is not going to gain through constant overload but will utilize occasional overload followed by a substantial period of acclimation to every increase in load. A long-term perspective is going to build up training volume and frequency gradually instead of suddenly. A long-term perspective is going to take the time to build up body part weaknesses that are preventing progress. A long-term perspective will compel you to keep lifting and never quit. A long-term perspective will inspire you to be a lifetime lifter, but being a lifetime lifter is not enough, you must also be a lifetime learner who keeps on learning throughout your continuous journey as a lifter, and you must be willing to go through a process of trial and error.
Examples of a Long-Term Training Perspective
There are lifters, athletes, and coaches who have reaped the reward of patience that comes from a long-term perspective. An example is Leroy Colbert, the first natural bodybuilder to build his arms over 20 inches. He will freely admit that it took years to build his enormous arms. Another example is Cristopher Sommer who is a gymnastics coach. Coach Sommer advocates patience in the strength building process with his athletes. The first step for his athletes is to take plenty of time to strengthen their joints and connective tissue before loading their joints with heavy stresses.
Within powerlifting circles, Richard Hawthorne is a powerlifter who advocates patience and plenty of time under the bar before facing heavy weights at the end of a training cycle. He says, “it’s going to take time (to build strength) but if you do it the wrong way, then it’s really going to take time.” By this he means, if you rush the process by lifting so heavy that it forces you to constantly use poor form, your desire to lift heavy is going to keep you from lifting as heavy as you eventually could. It is better to put in the time necessary while using good form.
All the men that I have mentioned so far express these view points in the following videos:
Leroy Colbert (1st man to build 21 inch arms before steroids were used)
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Christopher Sommer (gymnastics coach)
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Richard Hathorne (World Record Deadlift Champion)
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A Quote from Coach Christopher Sommer
I think it would be very appropriate to this discussion to provide a quote from Christopher Sommer when considering the importance of patience in the strength building process. Coach Sommer says:
“The main thing that we try to always hammer with students is they’re always in a hurry, got to get it right now. Dude if you can handle it, we need to change gears, we need to go slow now in order to go fast later. A lot of people don’t care for it because it’s not the high intensity sexy work, but it’s that fundamental work that makes the high intensity work possible later. We don’t train through pain. As a national team coach, for a long time, physical preparation was always our number one priority. We built the physical structure first.
We get some people who are addicted to the rush. The problem is that you can’t do that if you are a world class athlete because (you must tell yourself), I have to be back in the gym the next day and train again. You want to work, but we don’t want to work so hard that…it’s like for a long time it was a big thing for people doing kipping pull ups to take pictures of their hands being raw and bloody from their rips. Yes, they worked really hard, but I looked at it differently, I looked at it like, you stupid, what are you going to do tomorrow now? Because there’s no amount of work that you could have done today, that will offset the amount of progress you would have made throughout a properly structured week.
It’s an attitude deal. An immature athlete is someone who wants what they want right now. A mature athlete is someone who is willing to do what needs to be done now to get rewarded for it later. Delayed gratification. And it’s the mature athlete that in the long run always comes out on top, They’re always the ones with the greater longevity and the greater success. The other one, the immature ones, if they’re talented, they may stay ahead for a while, but eventually they’re going to get so broken and dinged and beat up, that they have to step aside. But the mature athlete, the mature guy, they’re just doing their thing over time. It’s the consistency that adds up over time, that’s where you see these great athletes. You’ve got to understand, when you see a world class athlete, they did not start training yesterday. This is a multi-year process.”
The lesson is to be patient. Enjoy strength training enough to stick with it and be willing to learn along the way. That’s the only way you will reach your potential. Best of training to you.
Related Resources
Most top bodybuilders do high volume workouts with lots of sets and reps. If you read or hear about how many sets and reps they perform, you may want to do the same thing. This is good if you build up to it gradually. It took Leroy Colbert years to work up to the high-volume workout that he eventually worked up to. Bill Pearl recommends 20 months to work up to his high-volume program. The same goes for high frequency training. It may work, but only if you work your way up to it over time. I suggest the following books for those who are both interested and patient enough to work up to high-volume or high-frequency training.
The Volume Responsive Lifter PDF
The Frequency Responsive Lifter PDF