I work out every day.
I dont really get sore.
I dont worry if I have to miss a workout.
I make progress over time.
I have good days at the (home) gym, but I almost never have bad days.
My secret, while effective, isextremelyboring.
It is, simply, consistency.
For as much as I train, youd think Id have all the secrets for managing soreness.
(I do, but thats not the point.)
In truth, its very rare for me to feel sore.
Thats because sorenessisnt a measure of how strong you are or of how good your last workout was.
Its just a thing that pops up sometimes when you do a workout youre not used to.
Maybe your workout was harder than usual, but you could also get sore if its just different.
Ive only felt truly sore on a few occasions in the last year.
Another time, I started a program with pull-ups in it, when I hadnt done pull-ups in forever.
I lift heavy, and feel fine the next day.
Thats a perk that consistency buys you.
And nearly every athlete is confused by the question.
Why would you need that?
Think about it: do you oughta be motivated to brush your teeth every morning?
To go to work?
No single workout matters very much
Weve all had good workouts, bad workouts, missed workouts.
I remember skipping a workout one day, a couple months in to following a serious, consistent program.
Maybe I was sick, or maybe I was busy at work.
Consistency also means that you dont have to challenge yourself to a super intense workout without a good reason.
You might feel the need toget sweaty and exhausted to convince yourself that youre tough.
But if you work out consistently, those too-intense workouts will stick out like sore thumbs.
You made yourself miserable…for what?
Did this workout teach you anything?
Was it necessary for the progress youre trying to make?
There will be important days, and intense days.
If you compete, your race day or meet day may be one of those.
Consistency leads to progress
Think in terms of years, not months or weeks.
What will happen if you work out consistently for five years?
How strong, how fast, how flexible could you be?
Sometimes I despair when looking at a young athlete who seems stronger than I will ever be.
Consistency adds up over time.
But progress isnt just about timealthough thats part of it.
You make progress when you train purposefully toward a goal.
If youre lifting weights, the weights get heavier.
Its not the same journey as periodically losing interest and then re-starting the same program over and over.
Its not even to add 10 pounds at your next workout.
In time, those 100 pounds will come.
(Ive been usingthe 1x/week intermediate program from here, if youd like a deadlift-specific suggestion.)
Once you embrace consistency as your goal, the ramp up becomes more manageable.
Start from where you are, and add a little bit at a time.
Instead of seeing each day as its own unique challenge, build on what youve done before.
