In a today's world, I see many who continue to pile on to their schedules in effort to become more successful. Many believe that the more we do, the better we get.  Unfortunately, this isn't always the case.

Simplifying your life can be the best thing that leads to happiness. Here's an articlethat speaks to simplifying your life.  You can google more articles that speak to the same thing and how it will make you more productive.

However, today's blog post is about 'Simplifying your training' not your life.  I believe that these two are very similar.  

In training, three things will create success. These are 1.) Simple, 2.) Hard, 3.) Consistent. Yes, that's it.  Period.

We all did science experiments in school, right?  What's the difference between the control group and the experiment group. One thing, That's it.  Only one thing.  It's simple and effective. Why is it effective?  By only changing one thing, you can determine if it works.  If you change too many things, then you will not know which one actually caused the change.  I see this all the time.  People will start a workout program and after a period of time they may see some results, but eventually(due to the novice effect) the results tamper off. The person will scrap the entire program.  They start back at square one instead of finding out what worked and what didn't.  Keep a journal of your training and only change one thing at a time to promote results.  

Hard?  What's hard mean?  Most believe hard is complex. It's not.  Hard is difficult, intense, with effort.  Nothing comes without effort.  However, I will surmise that everyone's level of effort is different.  A person who has never lifted anything over 50lbs. will take a lot of effort to lift 55 lbs.  On the flip side, if a person consistently trains with 100 lbs, lifting 55lbs will be relatively easy and without much effort.  To see results, effort is necessary. 

Lastly, and definitely not least, is consistency.  Consistency is key.  'Rome wasn't built in a day' as the phrase goes.  One of the biggest things that fitness experts agree on is the idea of 'stress, recovery, adaptation'.  When you workout, you stress your body. When you take the next day off, you recover.  Adaptation occurs when you workout again soon thereafter. If you don't, the adaptation will be for nothing and progress will not occur.  This takes discipline and accountability.  

There you have it.  Simple, hard, and consistent will get you to your goals. 

If you are interested in reaching your training goals, whether it is to lose fat, gain muscle, or learn self defense, check out our classes!

Shawn Vicknair