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The Importance Of Consistency In Weight Training

The Hare and the Tortoise

By Kevin Dye

In today's fast paced society, where instant gratification is getting easier to obtain with each passing day, it is little wonder a majority of trainees seek immediate gains for their efforts. Not content to widdle away with weekly weight increases on the most basic of exercises, most want, no, demand results NOW, if not yesterday in return for their investment! Unfortunately, this isn't the way weight training works, if it were we would all be as big as possible in record time. Getting what we want is rarely ever easy, it takes patience and time, something a lot of trainees lack. As the saying goes, "something worth having is worth working for", sums up exactly the way we all should approach our training, it's a slow process requiring dedication and patience.

By far the most prevalent mistake I've seen trainees make over and over again is letting their enthusiasm work against them in their efforts to produce results. Like the story of the hare and the tortoise, the slow, steady way usually leads to far superior gains in the long run. The body can only grow and adapt at a certain rate, despite the level of ones enthusiasm to grow faster. This becomes increasingly more important the longer one trains and the more advanced one becomes, as to compensate for continual strength levels something has to be adjusted to keep equilibrium. This can either be a reduction in volume per workout, or reduced frequency of training, and both will have to dealt with eventually. It's the law of nature, and no-one is immune. Not I, or you, your training partner, or even Mr. Olympia!

You've heard Stuart and others in Hardgainer talk about the need for small weekly weight increases, but how many of you are really that patient? I too used to possess that mindset, for most of my training life in fact, which is why I always added the most amount of weight to any exercise I could progress on. In my haste I was lucky to see progress once or twice a month, and it was so sporadic that I never knew when I would witness progress again. Changing my approach in the early 90's I immediately saw I was actually capable of small weekly progress, which is far more satisfying to the mind and body than sporadic progress where you sometimes don't even meet the goals you'd hoped for despite last workouts progress.

Patience is either inherent or we have to obtain it, which requires a change in attitude, staying focused on the big picture not the small one. A pound or two on an exercise neither looks impressive or feels it, often you don't even feel you've achieved anything! But in time it's the gradual build up of all these small steps that takes you to the goals you set for yourself when you commenced. Let's face it, we all would love to be able to add 10-20 lbs each week, wouldn't that satisfy even the most hardcore of trainees? But that rate of progress isn't reality, our joints and tendons couldn't cope, despite the mental satisfaction such increases would deliver. Strength, like size takes time, it's not an overnight obtainment, which is why many give up their dreams of obtaining their goals, their hare mentality defeating them every time.

I knew when I commenced training in the late 70's that it was something I would do for life. My parents who bought me the weights weren't so sure, they had seen my previous years Christmas present (a guitar) collect dust in the corner for months, so naturally they assumed the weights would shortly follow suite. But after a few months, when I gradually started adding pieces of equipment to build the well equipped gym I presently own, their attitude changed, and now they accept my workouts as part of my life, as they are so ingrained I wouldn't know life any other way. This is how training should be, it isn't a whim type of endeavor where you train for a few short months, get big and strong then either give it up or hardly train at all. There's too many gyms out there where trainees do just that, and it's the turnover of the clientele that keeps them operating. Their interest lays in your money not your goals, their advice next to worthless.

Unfortunately I was once part of that establishment, a popular gym which was fancy and appealed to the well off. But as someone who cares that people get worth for their money, it ultimately cost me my job. Delivering results was something I prided myself upon, which made me unpopular amongst my fellow staff who didn't care if anyone progressed or even turned up. After adding 2kgs on a roadie who'd trained for 3 months without results, having followed the volume approach they advocated, followed by helping a doctor add 5kgs in a month, which improved his pride and appearance, I was promptly fired, but 6 members left with me! I left with pride as I knew I'd done my job, that is what they had paid for and that is what I gave them, these were the type of trainees with a tortoise mentality that would keep with training for life.

Unlike the super heroes, which first peaked our enthusiasm who strut the screen with muscular and impressive bodies we all could die for. Us mere mortals have to earn ours, even if the fruit of our labors lay well below what we hope for. Regardless, anyone can improve upon their present build, but the journey to get there is where the real fun lays, not the destination. As even now, at 231lbs, well above the 200 I'd always craved, I'm still merrily going along, now set of getting to 250, which will deliver the results I (presently) have my heart set on.

When I started I (merely) wanted a Bruce Lee type of body, a v-shape upper body my main goal. That promptly changed in a year when I came across my first edition of a Weider publication, with Arnold bulging menacingly out of the front cover. My attitude, along with my focus, completely changed, no longer did I want to possess a small muscular build, I now wanted to see how far I could go! But to get where I presently am took numerous years of learning and making mistakes, but if I had the mindset of a "hare" I would have given up in frustration years ago. I possess tortoise traits, as I've learnt from every mistake, sure not to repeat it again. Others can't fathom why I'm still so keen to attack the weights each workout, my enthusiasm a complete mystery to them. Training is ingrained in my life, striving towards my goals as simple as the next opportunity I have to train again.

I suggest you too adopt this attitude, be content with progress weekly, or bi-weekly at worst, as some progress is better than none, each step closer to your goals. If you are a "hare" type of trainee then I can assure you that you are in for some rough times ahead as obeying your overwhelming enthusiasm to grow results in a disappointing downfall. So while it's to be commended that people turn to weights to improve themselves and change their body, it's the "tortoise" trainees who are in it for the long haul, willing to wait for their eventual rewards, they are more likely to obtain.

Note: For more information please read the book "Heavy Duty Memioir" by Kevin Dye.

If you have any questions or comments, please email us.

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Disclaimer: This information is not presented by a medical practitioner and is for educational and informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read.

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