Have you worked hard enough?

The reader recently sent me a good question:

“I’ve always wondered if I worked hard enough during strength training. My goal is to build strength and muscle, not a fragile old lady.”

This kind of problem is more common than you think! Almost everyone wants to know this at some point: “Why should I work hard when lifting it?”

Let’s break it down.

✅1. Will your muscles feel during and after the exercise?

You don’t need to destroy yourself to make progress, but you should It feels like your muscles are doing something meaningful.

This may show as:

• When lifted, you feel nervous and “work” in your muscles
• Feeling your weight begins to slow down unconsciously because you are in the middle of the suit
• After a light muscle “pump” exercise
• Slight muscle sore the next day (but not cruel)
• Feeling that you challenge yourself at the end of each group

If you finish your workout and feel like you can do the whole thing right away…it may be time to add a rep, weight or suit.

✅2. What kind of soreness do you get (if any)?

Contrary to common belief Soreness is not the only sign of progressbut it can provide us with clues.

Here is what I’m looking for:

• Gentle soreness 1-2 days? Great! You may get enough work.
• Extremely sore Lasts for 4-5 days or more? Too many. Dial it back.
• no way Essentially sore? It may be time to push things intentionally or switch practice.

Again, soreness is a signalnot a scorecard. It’s not a chase anyway, but it’s a difficult problem to understand what works and doesn’t work for you. 😃

✅3. Have you seen it evolve over time?

Strength training is about challenging the body, and then ​Challenges gradually increase over time​.

• Are your weightlifting more than 4-6 weeks ago?
• Do you make more representation or more sets in the same weight?
• Are your movements more stable, confident or controlled?

If the answer is yes, then you will become stronger and stronger. That’s what we want.

If not ​Periodic procedures​ This gradually increases volume (sets and reps) or strength (weight lifting) over 6-12 weeks.

Note: As we age, we will naturally lose some muscle and strength. This is completely normal! However, we can help reduce this loss through intelligent training.

Even if your 70s may be fewer people than your 30s, you can still improve in your exercise program to gradually increase the challenge. The principle of progressive overload still applies, you just need to adjust the starting point to any ability of your body now. 💪

🧪 Want to test your strength safely?

Another way to check if you work hard enough?

Try what I said Litary Settings.

Here is how it works:

1. Choose an exercise You’ve been doing the usual job – like weight squats, push-ups, dumbbell rows or machine presses.
2. Make a solid warm-up. Let your body move and your joints feel good.
3. Then go all out: Make as many quality representatives as possible in good form. Stop when you know you can’t finish another clean rep.

This is the easiest (safeiest), with:

• Machine (you have “discovered”)
• Weight exercise (you can stop without risk)

Not ideal:

• Free weight movements, such as barbell rear squats or heavy bench presses (unless you have a discoverer and extensive experience)

What are we looking for?

Compare your litmus setup with your usual workgroup.

example:

• If you usually do this 3 groups 10 represent And your litmus suit lets you 12-13 timesthat best position in the rep of several failed replies.
• If you hit 20+ RepeatOn the other hand, during a normal exercise process, you will leave over 10 reps in the tank. This means it’s time to gain weight or represent a continued improvement.

Most muscle building happens ​1-4 failures represent​ On the work set. But if you don’t know the failure Feel Like, it’s easy to stop.

The litmus kit helps recalibrate your efforts and build confidence that you can push harder if it makes sense (safely).

💡Bottom line

You don’t have to crush yourself to get stronger. But you Do Hope your exercises are purposeful and challenging to require your body to adapt.

Looking for:

• Muscle tone (during the assembly)
• Muscle fatigue (after exercise)
• Mild soreness (especially at the beginning of a new exercise program)
• Progress over time (representation, weight, technology)
• …Occasionally the litmus is set to clear

If you don’t see these? Let us adjust your approach and help you find that best position.

remember! If you ask this question, it means that you are already working out which one is great!

You have this.

– Matt PS coach needs help finding the next step to improve your workout? Send me an email and I will see how I can help! 💪