Why Your Progress Slows and Why That’s Okay
What can progress look like in 6 months of training?
We all like to see ourselves getting stronger in the gym, and at first it can happen really fast! But what about when we hit a plateau and our progress begins to slow down? What used to be fun can start to feel frustrating, and it can actually inhibit our desire to show up in the gym.
Let’s look at some data to see what the research says about rates of progression. Luckily for us, there was a cool research project that looked at the data from a private gym company, survey data from powerlifting competitions, and self-reported data from an online powerlifting forum. This means we have 3 different samples: regular gym goers doing machine exercises with a personal trainer, competitive powerlifters, and people who are hobbyist powerlifters.
The results showed that “In all three of the datasets, strength gains over time followed a linear-log relationship.” This means that progress slows down over time. (Progression Models)
So, what does this mean for you? Let’s say you’ve been adding 5lbs per week to an exercise like squats. Eventually, that would slow down to 5lbs every 2 weeks, then 5lbs every 3 weeks, then 5lbs every month, and so on. This is to be expected, even for competitive powerlifters. Now, as interesting as logarithmic models are, I don’t think you really need to be concerned with how your rate of progress holds up to the ‘average’. Let’s look at a sample of my bench press training and see how I compare to the data and see why it might not matter too much anyways; because the real goal isn’t weekly PRs, but to give your body enough stimulus to keep adapting.
The progression of my training block was simple – try to get 8 reps. If I could get 8 reps, I added weight and tried to get 8 reps again. The first session I started with 190x8 on my bench press. I made some fast progress in the first month, but then I got stuck for 7 weeks at 210lbs, trying to add reps each week, before I went from 5 to 8 reps.
Then I spent another6 weeks training with 215, trying to go from 5 to 8 reps. My averageweekly progression at this time was adding 1 lb to my estimated 1 Rep Max each week. This is like adding 4lbs a month to my bench press.
Let’s be honest, that’s not very exciting. What’s less exciting is that out of the 25 bench sessions, 7 of them were worse, where I got less reps than the previous week. And 5 of them were exactly the same, where I got the same reps with the same weight as last time.
In total:
25% of my sessions had no improvement
A little over 25% were worse than the weeks prior
About half were improvements from the previous session
Here is a chart of my 6-month progress on the bench press. You can see the fast progress in the first month of training, then slowing down with more ups and downs for two months before another new PR. Followed by another wave of ups and downs for 3 months, and I technically haven’t hit another PR since July. However, you can also see the blue trendline go up. In the simplest way, without comparing my progress to anyone else’s or even understanding the details of this chart, that blue trendline going up is enough for me to feel good about my progress.
Another important factor beyond the trendline is that I enjoyed my training and I had a positive mindset. My coach would remind me that I wasn’t chasing PR’s; I was chasing stimulus. If I could train hard enough with good technique, the stimulus to the muscle would result in adaptation, and I would eventually get stronger. It can be as simple as that. The goal is to not let the anxiety of my performance in the gym dictate how I feel before, during, or after the sessions. I show up as best I can, and see what happens. I tried to have the workout be a positive influence in my life, not a negative one.
Now, this isn’t to say that your progress should look like mine or even follow the progression from the research. There are many other variables at play: my previous training experience, my dedication and interest in training (if you can’t tell, I think that this is very fun stuff), I don’t have kids, my job is fun (thanks to all of you!), and I would say my overall life stressors are low. While your results may vary, I wanted to share this as a reference.
This is a reminder that as you get stronger, your progress will slow down. While a training plateau can give the impression that something is wrong, it doesn't always mean that. We don’t need some new training style, or supplement, or ‘diet hack’, or fancy recovery tool to get to the next level. Usually, we’re doing the best we can with the resources we have. Sometimes you’re not stuck, you just need to reframe, look at your ‘trendline’ and be a little patient with yourself.
Since we’re all in this for the long game of exercising and moving our bodies, let’s think about monthly, bi-annual, and even yearly progress and try to have a positive mindset for our training goals. This is going to help keep us engaged with training over (hopefully) many years, and this is where the real progress lies.
