The other day I was having a conversation with a friend, and he talked about how it is frustrating that they are stuck at the same bench weight for several months.
We talked through some of the different factors that develop the Bench. Such as technique, sticking points, and tracking overall volume (sets x reps x weight).
After talking, the most significant factor was the inconsistency at which he had been training. They had taken a few months off from the gym due to travel, sickness, and unmotivated, and when he finally got back to the gym and under the bar, he became frustrated that he was doing the same weight as before.
I pointed out that it is incredible that you didn’t lose any strength, after all that time off.
The beauty of the quality of strength is it is easy to maintain but hard to develop.
You can take a few months off and still lift about the same weight. It takes a long time to develop, which means it starts to decrease at a slower rate. Research says you can go about 6-8 weeks without training strength before you start seeing a decline.
Developing strength also takes a consistent 6-8 weeks of training to see improvements in your strength. The stronger you are, the longer it will take to see progress.
That is why consistency is so important when wanting to develop any strength quality ( core strength, back, legs, and so on). It is easy to feel stuck or like you are not making progress, but the biggest key to progress is showing up every week consistently and putting the work in.
It will be hard to see significant strength improvements if you cannot do that.
What I am about to say could be another post, but keep in mind that not all strength is the same, and we do not all need to be able to lift hundreds of pounds to live a happy, healthy lifestyle. However, we need to be able to lift enough weight to prevent injuries and easily do our daily tasks, like lifting a box of cat litter and bringing it to the basement.
Strength is lovely and empowering and takes time to develop, but it is also forgiving, and if you do have life get in the way of your workouts, strength is not quick to leave you.
Your Fitness Sherpa,
Josh
