For the average guy, there’s a sort of blind faith that comes with going to the gym. Ultimately, we’re all there working out for the same reason. Sure, maybe some of us are trying to lose a few, while others just want to get shredded. But we share a common goal: progress. What exactly that looks like, we’re not always entirely sure. How long will it take? Couldn’t tell you.
Yet, on we rep, hopeful that we’re doing it right. At the very least, we’ll live a little longer. Of course, there is a science to progression, whether you’re looking to build muscle, get stronger, or clock a faster time around the track. And while our perception of it might be understandably distorted in the age of bogus TikTok hacks and wayward looksmaxxers, it’s actually not all that complicated.
Here’s everything you need to know, according to experts. It’s easier being green
Ask any personal trainer how long it takes to see progress, and they’ll ask you how long you’ve been training. That’s because results come much more quickly when you’re just starting out and tend to level out over time. “People that lift weights for the first time are going to probably see a response within the first two to three weeks, just because the body’s breaking down tissue and doing something that’s uncharacteristic,” says David Ayotte, MS, CPT, CSCS, strength and endurance coach and studio manager of Limitless Fitness.
If you’re coming off the couch and doing
“If you’re coming off the couch and doing sets of squats, you’re going to see changes pretty much immediately.” The same applies for people coming back to training after spending significant time away from the gym, like a return to the weight room following an injury, Ayotte says. This holds true whether you’re looking to build muscle, burn fat, or run a faster half-marathon.
“People will always progress a lot faster when introduced to a new stimulus,” says Ben Parker, co-founder and head coach at Runna. “If someone’s new to running, they will typically see progress faster than if they have been running for many years. But there’s nuance to that as well. You could have someone who’s done a lot of recreational running for fun, but never really done any structured training.
If they go and do some structured intervals in a balanced training regime, they will see speed improvements very quickly. It goes back to that same logic of introducing a new stimulus.”
Plateaus are made to be broken
Obviously, nobody is a beginner forever. At some point, even if you’re working out multiple times a week, results naturally start to level out as your body gets used to a particular stimulus.
Fortunately, trainers have figured out how to keep
Fortunately, trainers have figured out how to keep the gains flowing. The trick is to view your training not as an endless slog into the abyss, but rather as a series of training blocks—each one slightly different from the last, whether that’s reshuffled rep schemes, different exercises, or a whole new goal to focus on. “The length of a training block is normally around 12 to 16 weeks, and those durations have been tried and tested over time,” says Parker.
“Imagine you’re training three times a week for 16 weeks. You’d improve enormously. If you were to then do another sixteen weeks, you’d probably improve by slightly less. But what we see is that you can then go and adjust your training stimulus, and you’re able to consistently build up over time.”
“I usually run people on 12-week cycles, and at that 12-week mark we’ll start adding in progressions that will allow them to break through that plateau,” says Ayotte.
“It could be that we did dumbbell squats for the first 12 weeks, so for the next 12 weeks we’re introducing barbells. It’s about throwing in new things once you become competent with a certain movement pattern.”
Training blocks smash mental ones
The inconvenient truth about progress, regardless of whether you’re pushing weight in the gym or running laps around the track, is that you have to train uncomfortably hard to see meaningful results.
Most people don’t push themselves hard enough
“Most people don’t push themselves hard enough to change,” says Ayotte. “To get to that next level, you have to get those muscles to turn on and push that little bit extra. You can’t get comfortable.”
For example, we now know that to maximize muscle growth, you have to be training to failure, or at least very close to it. Similarly, you can’t expect to shave seconds off your running splits if you’re not pushing yourself against the clock.
But if you can dig deep on a consistent basis, the gains are there to be had. According to Ayotte, two months is enough time for seasoned lifters and runners to expect to see “significant” muscle and pace gains, respectively. Training blocks not only switch up the stimulus on your body, allowing you to continue to unlock further progress; they can serve as a mental reset, so you can keep pushing with renewed motivation and grit.
“That’s probably the most important factor to see long-term gains,” says Parker. “It makes for a more interesting year. And it allows you to feel like you’re making progress all the time.”
Zoom out—and lock in
Depending on the metrics you’re tracking, progress doesn’t always need to take months, or even weeks. For example, “if your paces are dialed in, and you’re focusing on recovery, you should probably see a five to 10-second drop in your easy run pace per week,” Ayotte says.
That doesn’t mean you should be scrutinizing progress
But that doesn’t mean you should be scrutinizing progress on a weekly basis. For one, not all of your goals will progress at the same rate, and some inherently require more time than others. For instance, it typically takes longer to see new muscle in the mirror than it does to add heavier plates to the bar. “Usually, you’ll see the strength come first,” says Ayotte. “Similarly, in running, we always say that endurance training builds the engine, and speed comes after that.”
Viewing your training on a broader timeline will give you the truest sense of your progress.
It also accounts for the fact that progress is not always linear. “Over a long time horizon, it would be very unlikely for someone to entirely eliminate the risk of injury,” says Parker. In fact, you may even want to schedule planned “setbacks” into your training. “My recommendation would always be to take a deload week every three to five weeks, where you’re massively reducing your mileage and intensity, to allow your body to recover,” he says.
“It can also be an opportunity for you to check in, and see how your body’s feeling.”
Ultimately, progress comes down to training hard, switching things up every couple of months, and sticking to the plan. “Most people try to level up too fast, and then they inevitably get injured and lose motivation,” Ayotte says. “Instead, put in the work and allow progress to come to you.
If you stay consistent, the progress will come.”
This story originally appeared in British GQ.
Source: www.gq.com
