The Fastest Way to Make Your Training More Effective

There’s a simple and almost instantaneous thing you can do to make your workouts much simpler, easier, less stressful, and much more effective. 

Yet few people ever take this small step that can send tsunami ripple effects through their life.

This simple step is to clearly define exactly what you want to accomplish in your workout before you even begin your warm-up. 

Yes, I’m talking about goal-setting; a mundane activity that many coaches preach you should do, but I’m going to share with you how to make it actually work for you. 

Many people set goals that relate to their long-term overall fitness goals. Losing weight, building muscle, getting stronger; these are all great goals to have, but they are often too vague to clearly define what you need to do in a single workout. 

If you take care of your workout goals, your general fitness goals will take care of themselves, and that’s what having a training goal is all about. It’s focusing your time and energy on the most effective exercises and programing that directly influences your long-term goals. 

Understnading your short-term training goal, is like receiving the next step on a GPS. It’s only one step, but it’s the single thing that ensures you’re getting closer to your destination. Not knowing that next step is like knowing you want to drive to the airport, but not knowing which exit to get off of on the highway, 

My job as your coach is to always know exactly what your training goal is for each and every workout. And no, just pushing hard, putting in a good effort, or working up a sweat are not reliable training goals. Those are success by general correlation rather than direct causation. 

And the single best way to understand what your training goals are, is to keep a workout log. There’s a reason why all of the good trainers and coaches are walking the floor with clipboards and tablets. They are keeping track of their clients workouts so they know for sure what to do in each session to keep making progress. 

And a training goal doesn’t have to be complicated. You’re not trying to split atoms here. You’re simply trying to step-up your physcial performance. That could be as simple as doing an extra rep, moving with a deeper range of motion, or having more control over your technique. 

The important thing is to have a clear understanding about exactly what you want to make your body do in the workout as supposed to just put in mindless work and laborious exercise. It may seem like a trivial thing, but it can make all of the difference in the world.