HOW
MUCH MUSCLE SHOULD I BE ABLE TO GAIN?
(or
How Much Weight Can I Lose? or How strong Can I Get?)
(Loooooooooong silence)
Me: “Oh, sorry. I was waiting
for you to finish your question”
In a week? In a month? In a
year?
How should I know?
The truth is, I have no
earthly idea.
The same answer applies to;
How much weight can I lose? Or
How much stronger can I get?
It depends.
Tell me what your goals are
and I’ll tell you if they are even remotely possible. If you tell me you want
to lose 25 pounds before your sister’s wedding next month, I’ll pass. There are
other people who will tell you they will help you. But I won’t. I’m not going
to damage your health in order to meet an unrealistic goal. Especially a short
term goal.
You want to get as big as Jay
Cutler or Kai Greene by next year? Pass.
Training is a Marathon, not a sprint.
Set unrealistic goals and one
of several things will happen:
1.
You’ll do
something stupid and get injured
2.
You’ll wear
yourself down and all progress will stop
3.
You’ll get
discouraged in a short time and quit.
The Reality
Almost everything works when
you are a “Newbie”. Mainly because most beginners have been sitting on their
butt doing nothing. So almost any activity at all will work for a while.
Rates of progress naturally
slow over time as you approach your muscular and strength potential. Everyone
has a maximum potential (unaided by “chemicals”)
You may be able to add 10
pounds per week to the bar for a while. But not forever. You have to keep your
goals realistic in that context.
Sooner or later your goals
have to adjust to reality. Progress may seem maddeningly slow after a while
compared to the progress as a beginner. But it’s going to happen. You can become a quitter and give up or you
can adjust.
You have to think long term.
Adding 5 pounds to the bar once a month may seem slow compared your progress as
a beginner. But you have to think “consistency”. Five pounds a month is 60 pounds a year!
It works just like compound interest.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated and will posted once approved