Here are the 3 biggest mistakes I’ve seen in the last 12 years and continue to see that are the reason for athletes not achieving their goals of being strong, fast, and confident.
- Rest intervals that last 2x longer than they should keep you slow and weak.
Most athletes will do a set of squats and then wait until they are ready to do the next.
Think about that for a minute…
Wouldn’t you get more out of it if you did your next set before you “felt ready”?
There is an absolute science to rest intervals. This has been studied and researched for YEARS.
For example, if the current workout phase you are on is “Hypertrophy”, which is all about growing your muscles by using a 10-12 rep range, then your rest intervals in between sets of an exercise should be ~90 seconds.
If your current phase is “Strength”, which is all about being able to move heavier weights by using a 6-8 rep range, your rest should be a little longer, say 100-120 seconds.
The point is this→ you are costing yourself serious gains by not paying attention to your rest intervals. Pro athletes get told by their trainers EXACTLY when to start their next set, even when they are tired ;-)
- Letting your feelings dictate how much weight you use, how long you train for, and how many reps you do keeps you slow and weak.
This one is obvious but I want to address it because I hate seeing people who are frustrated with their results not address this one themselves.
Because they are not following a progressive workout plan that is planned over 12-24 weeks, they just choose random weights based on what they feel that day.
They sometimes stop their workout early, they don’t finish their sets strong, and oftentimes they leave their workout right before they are going to have a breakthrough (which comes on the other side of “I’m really not feelin’ it right now”).
These are the same athletes who get stuck at the same weights for years (or worse, they keep increasing weight but their form decreases at the same pace, leading to injury and diminished gains).
- Not training at the speed of your sport movements keeps you slow and weak.
This one is more subtle, but a huge contributor to an athlete who fails to achieve results.
We watch bodybuilders lift weights slowly and methodically and we think that is how an athlete is supposed to train.
It’s not.
Bodybuilders are typically not rhythmic, not agile, not explosive, not fast, and not shifty.
Pro Tip: as an athlete, the rule of thumb for 90% of exercises in the gym is to go SLOW on the way down, and FAST on the way up.
Think about a baseball player:
Right before the pitcher throws the ball, they slowly load their back hip/leg, slowly rotate their upper body, and then EXPLODE out once they swing.
Think about a football wide receiver breaking out of a 5 and out route:
They are stationary, loading the front leg, then they explode out once the ball is snapped. They get to the 5 yard marker, they slow the body down (their breakdown), only to then EXPLODE out again to the sideline.
I could go on and on but for most movements in the gym (squat, bench, push up, chin up, rows, step ups, etc) you are best to control the body on the way down, and EXPLODE on the way up, just like in sports!
Hopefully you see now that the way you train is everything.
The best thing you can do for yourself or your athlete is to invest in a trainer or performance coach so that you don’t really have to think about this stuff.
We will do that for you.
We will sit down with you, learn about your goals, make you a plan, and then teach you day in and day out how to maximize that plan for optimal results.
And, we will even make it fun, enjoyable, and customized along the way.
Our Next 6 Week Athlete Program Starting October 2!!!
You can book your free discovery call today to get started, we have 3 open slots the remainder of this week.
Dedicated to your success in sports and life,
Coach Andrew and the PFP Team
