So a little while ago my girlfriend broke up with me. I’ll spare you the messy details for the sake of privacy but anyone who has been in a failed relationship knows the name of the game. In the beginning things are great with no problems in sight. Everything is new and exciting, and I mean EVERYTHING, even things you’ve already done before. You know what it’s like, when colors are more vivid and the world seems more clear. Like the first time you saw Avatar in 3D.
But then low and behold the humans come in and rain on your parade, tryna blow up your trees and stuff, ruining the perfect life you had with that fine blue female. For those I may have lost, it’s a metaphor for problems starting to occur in a relationship. So what happens? Usually you can weather the storm a little bit but then eventually every relationship comes to that one point that can make or break it. The war for Pandora begins (a little heavy on the Avatar references but I just re-watched it and it was awesome). Will you both stand and fight for what you have or whilst thou crumble?
It can go either way depending on the type of people you are but I’m telling you right now a successful relationship is built around two people who are willing to WORK TOGETHER. As sad as it is, sometimes that person is just not the right person for you. You could be perfect matches in everything in life but if that person just isn’t willing to put in the effort to be with you then she (or he) ain’t for you. You are better off looking for someone who wants to be with YOU. Enough with the rant, let’s get to how this will help you with training.
Throughout your training life you will go through many different training programs and experiment with different concepts and techniques. These are like relationships, as you will find some that you really love and couldn’t possibly tear yourself away from (max effort deadlifts por moi) and some that you absolutely hate and wish that they’d stop calling your house and asking for you (single leg work – that bitch). You will get to a point where those great relationships will stop being so great and stop working for you. Unfortunately you’ll have to realize that it’s not helping you reach your goal and you’ll have to move on to the next sexy, or not so sexy, lady. Like I mentioned earlier, a relationship is built around two people working TOGETHER. If she’s not working for you ditch her before time takes its toll and things get grimy.
Take away: No matter how much you love a particular style of training you must be prepared to change it up when things get stale.
BUT, sometimes relationships do work, they just require a little directed effort. Maybe you’ve hit a plateau and you’re thinking about giving up. What you should do before making a rash decision is assess the situation. Is she/he really the problem or is it something else? Could it be YOU? (Gasp) Take a good, hard look at it. Are you really lifting at a high enough intensity to get stronger? If you’re trying to gain muscle mass are you slacking at the dinner table? Or maybe you’re trying to lose fat, meanwhile you’re sneaking around behind your training program’s back with that red-haired vixen Wendy. Just like a relationship, for a training program to really deliver results you have to give it the attention it deserves and realize that other decisions you make in your daily life will affect it.
That Wendy. She is mischievous.
Take away: Training programs require effort and the collaboration of other aspects in your life, such as nutrition and sleep, for them to be truly successful. If you’ve hit a plateau it doesn’t necessarily mean you should scrap everything. Assess the situation and pick up the slack.
Sometimes we find the ones for us and sometimes we don’t that’s just life. If he/she is really no good leave them. Staying with them will get you nowhere and it may even hurt you. However, you should learn to realize a good thing when you see it. Something great in the long run is always worth a little (or big) fight.
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