06/04/2026
If you spend every penny you make each week, are you surprised when your account is a barren wasteland of Insufficient Funds notices and overdraft fees at the end of each week?
If you put the pedal to the metal every time you get behind the wheel of your car, take sharp turns at high speeds, and let your car run until it's really low on oil and other fluids, are you surprised when your car transforms into a barely functioning, duct-taped-together bucket of bolts and mismatched spare parts?
So then why are you surprised when you "give it 110%" and "leave it all in the gym" each and every time you train...and have only aches, pains, and frustrations to show for it instead of PRs and gains?
Like with anything good in life, the more you force it, the more it gleefully eludes you. Training is no different. Any attempt to force your body to do something it's not ready for will end in your body working against you. As it's been said before, in order to control nature, you must obey nature. The obedience required to consistently lift heavier, do more work, and crush more weakness is as follows:
* Consistency and frequency over balls-out intensity.
* Prioritizing recovery over mindlessly pushing forward.
* Training in the 50%-80% range most of the time, and testing yourself only every once in a while.
* Knowing how to interpret the signs your body gives you and come back again another day when necessary.
* Don't change exercises once the gains stop rolling in - change your approach (i.e. a different variation of the same exercise, etc.)
The list could go on, but you get the idea.
Seeing how sore you get is a job more easily accomplished by getting hit with a baseball bat.
Seeing how much of a burn you can feel is a job better done by sticking your hand in a fire.
Seeing how much you can puke is a job more appropriate for a spoonful of syrup of ipecac.
But getting better consistently and measurably is a job better done by patience, consistency, and nudging your body forward rather than trying to drag it kicking and screaming. Try this approach out for the next few months and you'll be amazed at the kick start in your strength and conditioning gains. You might even learn to like being patient.
www.AleksSalkin.com - strength and movement made faster, easier, and simpler.
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