When it comes to getting results in the gym, there is no training program in the world that will get you results without effort! One world renowned coach who I am respect very much, Ben Bergeron, likes to call it “grit”.
“What is grit, really? It's a word that's been used to describe everything under the sun, but it means something specific: when things get hard, you push harder; when you fail, you get back up stronger; when you don't see results, you don't get discouraged, but you just continue to pound away day, after day, after day, with relentlessness, consistency, heart, and passion -- that's grit.”
― Ben Bergeron, Chasing Excellence: A Story About Building the World's Fittest Athletes
As coaches at 306, our job to make you get uncomfortable. I have been in the “globo-gyms” and seen trainers walking on the treadmills beside their clients carry on conversations for a workout. This isn’t a workout! This is a waste of money. Getting “uncomfortable” is going to be very different for each person and as coaches we want to make sure we identify this “for you” and help you get there. We do our best to encourage and push because we know what each of you are capable of. However, we can’t do the work for you (trust me, I want K-Rhode to do my barbell work every day!). This “grit” is up to you. We’ve talked in the past on our “why” in the gym, and “getting to be here”, and “being excellent”. All of these things apply here in order to help us “do grit”! We want to push and get uncomfortable every time we are in the gym. To a point.
For a conditioned individual looking for what we like to call “GPP”; or general physical preparedness, that point most often simply looks like three days of training followed by one day of rest. This allows the body to heal and recover allowing us to perform at our best on the days in the gym without overuse injuries. This outline is our median point. For someone just starting off and substantially deconditioned this might look of a one day training followed by one day off. For a highly conditioned elite level athlete we might stretch it to a four on, one off thing. There’s far more to these cycles when we get to the “elite” level (meaning you would Rx the workout every day) and we aren’t going to dive in to that spectrum here.
Putting grit in to every work combined with a sensible (for you) work:rest schedule will not only maximize your time in the gym, but also maximize your results! Regardless if our goal is to lose weight, gain some range of motion, sharpen up a biomarker, look good naked, become an elite athlete, or any combination of these things, we have to execute with grit. “Doing the work” is fantastic; but it isn’t going to get you results without effort. “Doing the work with effort” is where want to be. Stay motivated and stay hungry. Come in and train with effort and do not forget that rest is a huge component to the puzzle.
“Talent without grit is just potential. But talent with grit is unstoppable.”
-Ben Bergeron