It’s more common than you might think. The same people in the gym day after day, week after week, year after year and nothing changes. I could recite their routine from the minute they walk in until the minute they leave. They are predictable and so are their results. Complacency is the kiss of death in the gym. If you are not growing, you are regressing. If you want to grow and get stronger in any area of your life, you need to get out of your comfort zone and get to work.

Start by getting organized and devise a plan. You can begin by going to the nearest Dollar Store and picking up a steno pad. Then you can start tracking your progress each and every time you train. It may sound tedious, but it is the only way to make progress. Every set, every rep and the corresponding exercise needs to be recorded. Then the next time you train, you’ll know the exact numbers you are trying to beat from the previous session. Whether it is more weight, more reps or shorter rest periods, the goal is to always improve. That is how you get stronger. Don’t be discouraged if from time to time you don’t beat your previous numbers. If you stay the course, you’ll see your numbers go up and your body will reflect that. This much I can promise.

I spent my first 5 years in the gym walking around aimlessly, running purely on instinct. The barbells and dumbbells looked ominous and so did the guys who were lifting them. On the other side of the gym, those shiny new Nautilus machines that were all the rage in the late 80’s looked much more appealing. The more futuristic they looked, the more time I spent on them. I thought that as long as I did a few biceps curls, some bench pressing and hit the leg extension from time to time, I would grow. I was mistaken. My first year in the gym resulted in a net gain of 3 lbs of solid muscle. For someone who has been training for 20 years, that is quite an accomplishment. But for a teenager in his first year of training whose testosterone levels are at their highest, this is very disappointing. Gains of up to 15 to 20 lbs of muscle in the first year of training for a male between the ages of 18 to 25 is not uncommon. That is provided you are performing the right exercises, eating enough high quality food and giving your muscles enough time to recover.

Next week I’ll discuss which exercises give you the best bang for your buck and the role frequency of training plays and how it relates to recovery.