Are you struggling with your training? Here are a few ideas and suggestions that may help guide you forward.
1. How Much Muscle Have You Gained?
This needs to be a priority, especially with the upper-body lifts. If you've eaten X to get to Y results, eating X isn't going to get you to Y plus more results. You need to eat X plus a lot more.
This doesn't mean you should stuff your face with Big Macs and pizza, but if you are only eating a certain amount of food each day, it's only going to get you so far.
Whenever someone starts consistently eating for size—over several months, not days—I'm talking 2–3+ lbs. of meat each day, the results are crazy. Especially when they've been eating like kids or eating less than 1 lb. of meat a day. If you don't eat meat, find another way around this obstacle.
The takeaway: what got you to Point A won't get you to Point B.
You can print out a weekly or monthly blank calendar page. You can also buy these from basic office supply stores. Write your goals at the top and then mark the days you actually do what you're supposed to be doing.
Many times we get frustrated because we make a big change and aren't seeing results. Then you look at your calendar and are reminded it hasn't even been a week yet, even though it feels like forever. Even if it's not going perfectly, you'll definitely be doing better and moving toward your goals in a measurable way.
2. Are You Looking Outside the Box for Assistance Work?
How have you stepped that up? For example: DB/handle push-ups with a bigger range of motion (ROM), DB bench presses at different angles with full ROM and a ton of force and purpose, dips, and lots of upper-back and lat work.
Have your chins and DB rows improved greatly? They need to if you want to get to the next level. What about your arm strength? Are your abs and low back being trained like an animal? Or do you believe that “squats and deadlifts are good enough for your midsection?”
What about your leg strength? Do you have a “dumb-dumb” leg movement that drives your leg strength?
That's a lot of questions, but they are all about the same thing: intense and purposeful assistance work.
Everything works together when you train—it's not just about the single movement. Unless you are genetically suited to perform the main lifts, you have to push assistance lifts and build more muscle.
3. Remember That Training Can Work Against Itself
In regard to the last statement, “everything works together,” it's also true in reverse—training can work against itself, especially with other lifts.
There is a huge price to pay for each and every lift you do. When you are pushing the squat hard—or the deadlift—there is a good chance your other lifts will suffer during this period. Not everything goes up, all the time, forever.
This is the fantasy of the “linear progression crew.” You will hit pockets of downtime, plateaus and frustration. So enjoy the other lifts going up because they too will hit a wall, and you'll remember these as the “good times.”
4. Try Something You Haven't Been Willing to Try Consistently
The answer is always something you haven't been willing to try consistently. Sometimes it's doing less. Other times, it's doing a certain exercise. It's hard to know exactly what to do, but the answer is definitely not “Change Nothing.”
In my experience with athletes, they'll hit a wall on the bench press and it's always the same thing: get stronger on the assistance, be patient and don't try to “test” all the time. Instead, simply let the work “do the work.”
It's never going to happen overnight. If it did, everyone would be muscular and awesome. Don't expect a big result if you aren't pushing yourself in a different direction or being consistent with that effort.
Look around you. If you do what the average person does, you will likely look and feel very similar to that person in line in front of you. I'm going to risk it and believe you probably want more.
5. Quality Always Matters
Make sure your reps are aggressive and dialed in on both main movements and assistance. Reps should be done with purpose and with a goal in mind—not just to finish the set.
There is a time and a place to phone in your assistance work—when you're sick, lacking sleep or dealing with other serious short-term priorities—but not when you want to make progress a priority.
If you're not sure what to do, how much to do or how little to do, I wrote a few books on that.
One of these simple training books can take you very far with way less stress and confusion. Pick the program that fits your life and schedule—the program that interests you—and DON'T change a bunch of stuff. They are balanced as written.
Following a specific plan can be the thing that frees you up to work hard and have fun in the gym again, as opposed to manipulating and negotiating your way through each individual session. None of us should be doing that.
If needed, review the above again and consider which area you are willing to make a big change in and which other area you are willing to give new effort and attention. Write it down in a way that makes it real and allows you to track your progress.
That would be a manageable amount of measurable change to get you moving again.
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