Make Progress That Lasts (Practical Information On Training)

Most of us train for years and never get the REAL result we are looking for.
All of that time and all of that hard work feels wasted.

You know the feeling, where you’re saying to yourself
“I THINK something is happening, I can see a shadow has changed on my stomach”

“But I’m not really sure”

The truth is: you're bummed out because you haven't gotten what you want but
you don't quit because you're not the type of person who gives up.
So you try harder and put more effort in.

When your program and nutrition are on point you will see change.
You will know with certainty that all your effort is changing your body
because the change is obvious.

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My first show in 2011 & the WBFF World Tittles 2016. Visible and definite change over time

"So Why Isn’t My Body Changing?
"Why Aren’t I Getting Results?"

It’s not because you aren’t training hard.
It’s not because you haven’t put enough time in.
It’s not because you have bad genetics.

In fact, you’re not the only one.

I coach a whole heap of women who are fitness industry professionals, professional fitness models, PT,s, Crossfit box owners and strength and conditioning coaches.

Even those fitness professionals who know a whole heap about exercise and nutrition struggle to get a good result, change their physique and feel satisfied when they look in the mirror.

"Ok, What Is A Good Result?"

For almost everybody, a good result is where we have less body fat and more muscle. (Improved body composition).

This is the case for girls who want to look tall and willowy like a model on a catwalk, athletic like an olympian or lean like like a fitness model. If you are trying to improve your strength or athletic performance nothing correlates better with performance than improved body composition.

We also want a result that lasts.
There is nothing worse than killing yourself to get in amazing condition while at the same time knowing that your nutrition and exercise regime will be impossible to stick to later.

So It’s crucial that a good result is also sustainable in the long term without a crazy amount of exercise or a hyper-restrictive diet.

We have our criteria for a good result

  1. Actually seeing our body change in response to our training and nutrition
  2. Less body fat, more long lean muscle (improved body composition)
  3. Eating a varied diet we enjoy
  4. Doing a reasonable amount of exercise

"Cool, So How Do I Improve My Body Composition?"

Your body needs a strong signal before it will change itself.
Our bodies want to remain the same, they don't want to change unless our survival is threatened.

High levels of tension being applied to our muscle threaten the integrity of our muscle fiber. High muscle tension can be the result of our body weight and gravity (think gymnastics) or an external load (resistance training).

"How Does This Apply To My Training?"

There are really two parts to this.

The first part is how you structure your training: how many times you train what you’re doing each session and how much rest you have. It’s the part you plan in your calendar each week.

The second part is how you structure your training sessions: the reps, sets, weights and exercises that you use. It’s what you see when you look at your training program.

 "What Needs To Change In My Calendar?"

Train Less/Train More Often

When you strength train you are literally tearing your muscles apart.
Just like when you get a cut your immune system floods the site with white blood cells.

As a result, the muscle fiber gets inflamed and that inflammation is a signal for your body start repair works. You repair that muscle fiber slightly better and slightly bigger than before.

It takes about three days for your body to rebuild your muscle from your last training session. If there is too long between bouts of activity that muscle will start to regress and become less conditioned, you start taking two steps forward and one step back.

So for a program to be optimal, we need to

  1. Train hard enough to break down muscle tissue in every session
    (high muscle tension)
  2. Give your body enough time to repair its muscle fibers’ after that session
  3. Train that muscle again at about the three-day mark or as soon as possible after it is recovered so that it is constantly changing and not taking the two steps back.

However when I look at most girls programs’ they are

  1. Using a mode of exercise because it makes them feel tired,
    makes their muscles burn at the time, makes them really sweaty
    or because it makes them really sore afterward.
    None of which is a sign of high muscle tension
    (Full disclosure: I love the feeling of all of the above)
  2. Repeating this type of exercise every day and not really ever getting a chance to rest and recover because they feel anxious and unhappy about their bodies.Sometimes girls will tell themselves that“I’m doing it because I love to exercise”but truthfully it has become a form of punishment.
  3. Doing body-part splits where they are exercising each body part once or
    very occasionally twice every 7-10 days. So they are taking too long between sessions to capture the benefits of their body adapting
    (one step forward, two steps back)
  4. Actually doing all of the above and wondering why they don't get a result or why after an initial change the body has staye the same.

What we need to see when we look at your calendar

  1. A training session that creates high muscle tension
  2. Two or three days of rest for that muscle followed by another session that creates high muscle tension in the same muscle
  3. Two or three days of rest and recovery each week
    and every six to twelve weeks you take a three or four-day break from training.

For most girls that will mean having a two-day program that you do twice a week OR
a three-day program that you do five to six times a month.

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Gemma Strikes a balance between high muscle tension, training and rest

"So What About My Training Sessions?"

Inducing your muscles to change and getting elite body composition requires that you change your mindset and move away from the activity of exercising towards the concept of training.

When you exercise you are moving around but it is essentially random.
When you are training you are making each session progressively more difficult and trying to get better and better at something.

You are trying to optimise your efforts and all of the variables so that you get better and better each training session.
This includes optimising how much you rest between sets, how many exercises you do, which exercises you choose and what weight you use.

The weird thing is exercise will often feel harder than training.
You will be a sweating, dripping mess after a big circuit like in Crossfit or F45. Your muscles will be burning after a Pump class and you have an awesome glute pump after doing squats and hip extensions to exhaustion at the gym.
Chances are your exercising and not training.

A change will happen when you start exercising but you will plateau after 6-12 weeks and your body will stop changing.
You will probably get disheartened and stop or you will continue but not really get anywhere and then quit after 6 months

or even worse

You will continue to train for years without much happening other than you getting really tired and frustrated.

"What Happens When You Stop Exercising And Start Training?"

Your body will change.
You will be able to see an obvious difference. Your body will continue to change your whole life. You won’t take two steps forward one step back.

You will always be reaching for a challenge that is just outside for what is possible right now. You will always be getting better, you will always be getting stronger.

Every time you go to they gym you will feel like your universe just expanded a little more
because the boundaries of what is possible for you just expanded.

So emotionally and psychologically training is enormously fulfilling and it is what generates a massive, lasting and sustainable physical transformation.

When you start training your body will change and the change will last for life.

"So How Do I Start Training?"

Every time you train your muscle needs to experience more tension than the last time you trained.

That means the weight needs to be heavier than last time or
you need to lift that weight more times in the training session than last time or the amount of time your muscle is under constant tension needs to increase.

If you don’t fulfill one these conditions EVERY SINGLE TRAINING SESSION your body won’t change over the long term.

The truth is: pretty much no one is doing this.
Yes, including professional figure competitors and
including fitness industry professionals.

So your mission is simple.

Move a heavier weight than you did the last session
or
do more reps with that same weight
or
use that weight for longer on each rep.

Keep a record of exactly what you did the last session and make sure you beat it in your next session. This is the only guarantee that you will break down enough muscle fiber to start the process of muscle development and change.

"What Exercises Should I Use?"

Pick and stick.
Use the exercises you have skill in and see how good you can get,
see how much muscle tension you can end up creating from that exercise with training over time.

You are not going to get sustained results If you are using a training method that is continually rotating exercises or is essentially random. It may help entertain you but it’s not training.

Most girls change exercises way before they need to usually because they are bored.
This is the mindset of the unsuccessful, this is the mindset of someone who is just exercising.

Every time you change an exercise you have to start practicing and getting good at a new movement. That takes time and initially, your progress and improvement are fast. However, your improvement will slow down once you have developed the basic skill.

This now the point where you are good enough at that exercise to start breaking down muscle fiber because your skill level has just caught up with the load required to break down muscle fiber. This is also the point at which most people stop and move to something new.

Instead of switching you need to keep doing each exercise until your strength or output completely plateaus. Not just in the one session but plateaus completely for 10-14 days.

Once you get to this point it is time to change exercises and then max out all of the improvements you can get from that new exercise.

This process can go on literally for a lifetime of self-improvement and physical development.

That Sounds Kind Of Simple Right?

It is. Most of us are just missing the forest for the trees.
We are focusing on “training programs” and learning new exercises when we need to narrow our focus to one thing.

Getting better and better every time we step in the gym.

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Jolene gets better every time she steps in the gym!

This was a pretty long note! I just get really passionate about this topic because I see so much unnecessary suffering amongst the girls I'm speaking to because they have spent a lifetime NOT doing this right.

Let me summarise what we have discussed today so that it's clear and you can start making some actual, lifelong gains.

  1. A good result improves our body composition
  2. A good result is sustainable over the long term
  3. You must create high muscle tension every session
  4. Muscle tension is created by using more load, doing more reps at a given weight or making your reps go for longer
  5. Take 2-3 days to rest that muscle
  6. Train that muscle again as soon as it is recovered
  7. Give yourself plenty of rest so your body has a chance to recover
  8. Keep training an exercise until your strength gains or output plateaus for 10-14 days
  9. Every time you go to they gym you will feel like your universe just expanded a little more
  10. Put all of this together you will have an incredible physique AND
    enjoy a lifetime of amazing results.

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I have three spots coming up in The Sports Model Project.That's my super high-level system
for women who have been doing resistance training hard for at least 12 months.

It's not for girls who are just starting training or are getting back into training after a break.This is only for girls who have been putting in the work and need the tools to go to the next level.

You will transform your body,
You will live nutrition for high performance and elite body composition
You will become a weapon in the gym.
You will learn to rock the stage and photo shoots
You will ascend to the next levelWe handle all of your training, nutrition and we work on your mindset with you.
I teach girls who want to compete how to pose, walk and win fitness shows.

Click this link answer the questions and you can jump the queue.
The most detailed applications will be considered first.

Can't wait to meet you!
Love and light
Hattie xoxo

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