People usually fall into one of three groups when they come to the gym:
- They show up with no plan or only a vague idea of what they want to work on that day. They wander around the gym using whatever equipment is available, hitting their favorite exercises, and copying what they see others doing.
- They complete a random workout from an influencer’s plan or app. Although they’re following a prescribed workout, each session doesn’t necessarily build on the others.
- They do the same workout(s) they’ve been doing for years, with the exact same exercises, sets, reps, and weights they always use.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing what you want at the gym. Everyone trains for different reasons, and if you’re just trying to move your body and fit some activity into your day then it really doesn’t matter what you do.
However, if you have specific goals you’d like to achieve, such as getting stronger, losing weight, building muscle, or moving with less pain, I strongly recommend you take a different approach.
Changing your body in any meaningful way requires consistency, effort, and building specific skills over time. If you come to the gym with a random plan (or worse, no plan), you’re wasting valuable time and leaving potential progress on the table. And if you always do the same things, your body will eventually stop responding. We must strike a balance between too much new stuff and not enough new stuff to consistently move forward.
I’m a true believer in long-term workout programs built around core movements and progressive overload. If you’re tired of wasting time at the gym or aren’t sure why you’re not seeing results, maybe it’s time to change the way you work out.
The Novelty Trap
Everyone wants to have a good time when they come to the gym. Since it’s often hard to find the motivation to train, it makes sense that we’d like to have fun while we’re there. This becomes a problem, however, when we derive all our enjoyment from novelty or are afraid we’ll get bored if we don’t constantly try new things.
Social media exacerbates our exercise ADD. We scroll through our instagram feeds for inspiration and see all kinds of new and crazy exercises. Our favorite celebrity is doing one thing, a pro athlete we admire is doing another, an old classmate is promoting a new exercise system, and a fitness model we follow is doing something entirely different. It’s tempting to pick and choose a little bit of everything we see. This results in random workouts that may be fun but do very little to advance us toward our goals.
Too much novelty leaves us trapped in learning mode. Each time we go to the gym, we devote tons of time and energy to figuring out how to perform new exercises. If you’ve ever tried to learn a new movement, you know it’s tough to push yourself on your first few tries. This is because your brain is not initially efficient at telling your muscles when and how to move. If we don’t give our nervous system time to adapt, we’re never truly able to drive desired adaptations like fat loss, muscle gain, or increased strength. We need time and practice to be able to push our bodies to improve.
You know what I think is entertaining? Getting results. Repeating workouts (with smart progression over time) will always give you more bang-for-your-buck than reinventing the wheel each time you hit the gym.
Read more: Why motivation doesn’t work (and what to do instead)
But don’t I need to confuse my muscles and keep my body guessing?
The idea that you can trick your body into making progress by constantly switching up your workouts was popularized by workout programs like P90X. Muscle confusion is one of those appealing myths that seems like it could be true but isn’t actually rooted in science.
You need fewer changes than you might think to continue progressing over time. I often have my clients work on the same three or four basic strength exercises for several months. I add variety by changing the number of sets and reps performed each month. When the reps are lower, the client will be lifting heavier weights. If I then bump the reps up again and the client can still lift the heavier weight, we’ll know we are making good progress. Even a slight change in sets and reps can also totally change the demands and feel of an exercise. I’m happy because my client is improving through repeated practice, and my client is happy because they feel engaged in the training process.
Read more: How often should I switch exercises?
Another benefit to keeping your workouts simple is that you’ll have exercises and training techniques in reserve for when progress slows or you want a total change of pace. If you’re constantly performing every exercise you know, you’ll be stuck when you hit an inevitable plateau. There’s nothing for you to change and no new direction you can go. You’re more likely to injure yourself and less likely to get really good at anything.
Read more: How to bust through training plateaus
Finally, understand that underneath all the flashy instagram workouts or new products they’re promoting, every person with a great body is performing (or did perform for many years) primarily boring workouts filled with basic exercises that everybody knows. This is true for bodybuilders, pro athletes, crossfitters, and fitness models. I guarantee that 80-90% of their time at the gym is spent doing simple things you probably already know how to do. You just don’t see this stuff online because it’s not as sexy and it doesn’t sell new workout programs.
Want better results? Get back to basics and push yourself.
Only a few things truly matter at the gym if you want to build a lean, strong, and healthy body. You will always be leaving results on the table if you ignore these principles in favor of exotic exercises, flashy workout techniques, and too much novelty.
No matter what goals you’re chasing, you should train all of the foundational human movement patterns every week. Everyone needs to perform some variation of a squat, hip hinge, lunge (or other appropriate single leg exercise), upper body push, upper body pull, and loaded carry. Pick exercises that are appropriately challenging and don’t bang up your joints.
When in doubt, simplify. You can get a lot of mileage out of seemingly basic exercises like goblet squats, dumbbell Romanian deadlifts, pushups, rows, and farmer carries.
You need to train with intensity if you want to see results. Your workouts should push your physical and mental limits while still allowing you to recover. Challenge yourself with heavy loads, more sets, less rest, or intensity techniques.
Repeating workouts several times helps you find your groove and generate more intensity. In my experience, the sweet spot of most programs occurs in the third or fourth week. This is when people feel most comfortable with the exercises and can lift the most weight or perform the most sets.
Focus on progressive overload. Over time, you should see your gym performance improve. This could mean lifting more weight, doing more sets and/or reps, taking less rest, using better form, being more explosive, or progressing to more challenging exercise variations (eg progressing from a kettlebell deadlift to a trap bar deadlift). If you’re not getting better in measurable ways over the long term, you need to take an honest look at your workouts and/or your effort.
If you’re serious about your results, you need to commit to a long-term workout program. I write four-month training blocks for most of my clients. I’ve found this is an ideal amount of time to build essential skills and see noticeable progress toward a goal. Even if you don’t follow a three or four month program, I strongly recommend repeating one set of workouts for four to six weeks before switching things up.
Finally, trust the process and be consistent. Getting stronger, losing weight, building muscle, or rehabbing an injury all take time, focus, and hard work. If you keep showing up and appreciate all the little moments along the way, you’ll have a much better chance to achieve lasting success.
Have I convinced you that your workouts need an upgrade? Here are two ways to move forward:
Sign up for online coaching. I design 100% customized, structured, long-term workout plans based on your unique needs. I also offer nutrition and lifestyle coaching and accountability check-ins to support you with your goals.
Purchase Full45, a done-for-you three month training program designed for busy professionals who want to get stronger and leaner. Train your entire body twice a week for 45 minutes using these client-tested workouts.