By: Anthony Campo
Any individual looking to succeed in training needs to constantly evaluate their training program, and evolve it based on their needs. With all of the complexities that go into training, one fact always holds true. You should be doing AT LEAST one thing per training session that pushes your limits. Take a look back on your last few training sessions. Can you honestly say that you really pushed yourself for at least one set, and tried to hit a personal record for yourself? If you are like the majority of people, then most likely you did not, and are missing out on one of the key principles in terms of achieving success in the gym.
I would like to think that anybody that enters into training is trying to better themselves. Even if your goal is to just maintain your current level of function and fitness, you still have to train to better yourself each session or else you will decline. With that being said, the most important thing you can do to achieve success when training is to choose at least one movement or exercise that is safe for you, and try to push your limits in terms of intensity. This can mean lifting more weight, the same weight for more reps, or the same weight in a shorter period of time. This will ensure that you are training to succeed, and not just wasting your time. The key word here is safety. I do not mean pick a movement that you are not proficient at, throw on a bunch of extra weight on and have at it. An educated decision should be made on the movements and exercises that you can push the limits on. Also the decision of which intensity to push (Maximal Weight, Rep Effort, Rate Of Force Production) should also be chosen in a careful and appropriate manner.
If you cannot say that you are really pushing it for at least one exercise or movement each training session it would serve you greatly to hire a professional that could teach you how to do just that in a safe and appropriate manner. Doing this consistently over time is simply the best thing you can do to ensure success with your training.