My first experience in the training business was training Division 1 athletes at the University of Northern Iowa. I was in my senior year, and I was an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for my internship. Five days a week for 4 months, I got up at 5 in the morning and walked (no matter what the weather – and we had some bad storms that year in Iowa) to the gym to train.

Now, to some of you that probably doesn’t sound all too bad, but for a college kid who had classes and tests right after training for 4 hours and then having a 4 hour practice after, along with all the fun that goes into homework and studying, I didn’t exactly get a lot of sleep. But I really enjoyed it and learned a lot in the process that has helped me and hopefully can help you.

So I’d like to share with you a few points that may be able to help you out with your fitness goals.

Not All Programs Are Created Equal

Being relatively new to training back then, I never really thought too hard about programming and what types of results they should be giving depending on the design. After a couple months, I started noticing some people doing really well and performing much better in their sport. Other people were having a lot of problems making any type of significant progress.

Same program, but different results. Now this probably doesn’t sound like a revolutionary discovery to you, but I at least found it interesting. I mean, when you think about it, probably about 95 per cent of people do the same type of workout in the gym. Mostly just body part training, right?

To be honest with you, a lot of people aren’t getting the results they are looking for doing that type of training, but that’s the only way a lot of those people know how to exercise in the weight room. That type of workout has worked for some, so is it the go-to workout? No. Is there a better, more efficient workout? Yes.

How do you find out what’s best for you? You can either hire a qualified fitness professional who can teach you a variety of options or you can experiment until you find something that really seems to work well for you.

A couple tweaks and a few changes really helped the athletes not getting great results start to make significant progress in their training and performance.

Not Always Fun, But Always Worth Doing

I’ve done it, the athletes did it and maybe you’ve done it. Six in the morning workouts aren’t exactly always fun. Sometimes you just don’t want to get out of bed. When I was at Northern Iowa, I was a baseball player, and as an athlete along with the athletes I trained, we had no choice. We had to be there no matter what.

You have a choice whether you go or not. Remember that consistency is the key to getting great results. So skipping a workout every once in a while won’t hurt you. It’s when you start making it a habit that is becomes a problem.

You know what I mean. There’s that first day you just skip your workout. Then a couple days later you still don’t really feel like working out, so you tell yourself that skipping two workouts in a week isn’t that bad. Then you actually get to the gym a couple days later, but put in a weak effort. All of a sudden, working out has become a chore and before you know it, your trips to the gym have decreased significantly.

Here’s a tip. Next time you don’t want to go workout, your mission is to still go to the gym, but just sit there in the locker room for 5 to 10 minutes. If you still don’t feel like working out then go home. Most of the time, however, you will workout just because you’re there.

Sufficient Sleep = Biggest Gains

The athletes who got enough sleep were the ones who got the biggest gains. A lot of college kids don’t get enough rest, which is true of most people actually. I started asking some of the athletes who were making great gains in the gym how much rest they got at night on average and almost all of them said at least 7 hours. When I asked the athletes who were always drained and not making very good gains, hardly any of them got over 6 hours of sleep.

Rest makes a huge difference, so you should really do your best to plan on getting at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night.

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what it all comes down to

There are always exceptions to the rule, but what it almost always comes down to is hard work. Some people don’t need as much rest as others, but they still have to work hard to get results. Some people love exercise more then other people, but everyone still has to work hard to get great results, whether they like doing it or not. Most quality programs will give you some great results if you work hard enough at them.

Have a question for Dan? Email him at dan (at) thesoko (dot) com.

Have a great day,

Dan Grant,

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