Quality Over Quantity
Quality over quantity! You’ve heard the phrase thrown around all over the place before, but do you really apply it? Do you really believe in it? Is it true? One place that, as a coach, I truly wish I saw this applied more was in people's training in or outside of the gym. We live in a culture that highlights “more” so much that it is hard to even give advice to someone about doing less. They look at you odd, or assume that you don’t want the best for them, or that you are making the assumption they don’t have what it takes or they they are soft. Doing less, and doing less but better is far from being soft, far from not having a chance and far from being a mistake. The value and practicality of doing “less" at a greater quality is the one thing that can add to your personal resiliency, save you time and allow you to establish habits that drive physiological adaptation and not just suffering!
Look around at the gym. There are simply right and wrong ways to do things. People don’t really like to admit it but the vast majority of people in a gym don’t know what they are doing. They need a coach, they need a mentor they need help. People don’t like feedback though. People don’t like to feel inferior and don’t like advice on things they don’t seek advice on. But the truth is that everyone should be seeking advice on what they do in the gym. We are simply so far removed from understanding what our bodies need and want that we have to be ok with understanding we should leave the teaching and execution to a pro. You want to know an even harsher truth? Most coaches, most trainers, or fitness influencers aren’t professionals at what they do to begin with. Most coaches in the space don’t know how to coach movement, see movement and correct movement in such a way to even give you sound advice or sound cues to help you improve what you are already doing.
Ok, I’ll stop ranting and give you some clarity here. My advice first is to get ADVICE. Follow a good program, find a good coach and get some real coaching. Invest in your training at least for some time so you actually take lessons away and learn so you eventually can oversee your own development. Second, film yourself move. You have to know if you are doing things correctly so you can actually get good results and not hurt yourself. The key to reaching any goals, whether it is your physique or your performance is consistency. You can’t have consistency if you are always run down from too much training or injured from doing too much or moving like like crap. And lastly accept this phrase before you ignore the obvious, “ quality over quantity”. Get in quality sets, of quality reps and quality weights and leave the gym! The biggest pitfall of most young folks in the gym is doing too much and doing too much too often. Get in, be productive, get out and get focused on recovering your body.
Keep rising.