Keys to success - what's your top 3

Bigger Stronger Leaner
21

If that is covered by programming what are your next 2 to make it all work.

22

I like to think this is enough but I know plenty of people who have passion for a sport or Pastime and are still inconsistent or spin their wheels with poor programs.

If passion isnā€™t enough what are you falling back on?

23

A few other I think ( and I think this can relate to program hopping is), find a template for training that works for you long term and only (mostly unless you have genuine good reason to) play around with the minor things like: What kind of curls am I gonna do, interval training vs circuit training etc.

Also, when it comes to goals/visualisation, thinking in terms of chipping away at a mountainous goal vs how much more I have to climb etc can sometimes be useful.

Example: I want to be able to do 40 push-ups in one set, so you think in terms of, I can currently do 23 so, 17 to goā€¦and so on.

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24

Simo what a great initial list of parameters. I can tell you have spent time thinking about this before:

  • Consistency/discipline
  • Diet
  • Recovery
  • Program
  • Intensity
  • Equipment

My initial list looked like this:

  1. Consistency/discipline
  2. Diet
  3. Intensity

As Brant Drake pointed out recovery and diet are linked. They are different enough but also adjacent to one another. I found myself going back and forth between the two in terms of importance and settled on the fact that diet is a subset of recovery in my view.

Nutrition is the fuel source and building materials for recovery and adaptation. But focused time for sleep and restoration is essential so diet alone isnā€™t enough (long term). Programming is the stimulus for adaptation, and consistency is your follow through to execute the program. So I ended up here:

  1. Consistency/discipline
  2. Recovery
  3. Programming

Admittedly an odd list and I was surprised.

You can be consistent, and recover well but without intensity youā€™ll just get stuck lifting the same weights for a long time.

Programming to me is attempting to build in proper recovery and balancing it with a measured intensity using the specific equipment you have available. So perhaps this parameter should be higher on our lists but the problem here is that a great program will be different for everyone and many programs are ā€˜good enoughā€™ if you apply them consistently and with proper intention.

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25

I like where you ended up and your thought process to get there. If we assume that programming takes care of intensity which would include some sort of periodisation and progression, then just sticking to it and recovering will definitely get you jacked.

26

Having solid pillars i base my training on.

27

Big legs deff help :joy:

28

Smart assā€¦ :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

How about i use the term solid principles

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29

I understood you just pullin your chain.

If you have all your principle and programming sorted. Is there anything else you need ?

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30

Patienceā€¦
common sense

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31

How do we get newbies to understand this one???

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32

Iā€™ve always said that consistency and intensity were the keys. If I had to personally pick a third, it would be diet, I guess.

This assumes someone is smart enough to pick programming that aligns with their goals.

Consistency is pretty obvious. I say intensity because I think a lot of the people that come on here asking why they can only squat 185 lb after 3 years of working out just havenā€™t figured out how to train hard. Theyā€™re waiting for a particular weight to feel ā€œeasyā€ before adding more, or some other metric. I donā€™t think the program they choose matters much in this regard. I list diet because of the amount of posters weā€™ve seen on this site who ā€œcanā€™tā€ lose or gain weight. You have to figure that out to get to whichever goal youā€™re seeking.

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33

You dont.

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34

number 1 by a long shot for most people. slightly less for advanced

you canā€™t build muscle without enough protein. Canā€™t lose fat without a calorie deficit

I feel like these go together. An appropriate programme is one that allows for enough recovery.
However, I donā€™t think most non-personalised programmes should be followed to the letter.

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35

This is a great point. Maybe for some training hard or being uncomfortable is just not obvious enough.

36

So for you program is more important than access to equipment or the intensify of the workout ?

37

A programme that absolutely requires equipment you donā€™t have isnā€™t a good programme for you. Most exercises can be substituted for ones that require different equipment/less equipment without loss though

Intensity without proper programming and technique is a fast pass to injury or spinning wheels IMO. If intensity was all it took, the average crossfitter would be more jacked

Iā€™m not saying itā€™s NOT important, I just think itā€™s not top three

38

Whilst I somewhat agree with this statement I think there are lots of examples of jacked strong people who knew nothing about programming but certainly knew for to work HARD. I think using CrossFit as an example here is a little flawed, because despite the intensity I think it is the programming that causes the issues.

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39

Iā€™ll tell you when Iā€™m successful :joy:

Personally I think that emphasis sleep among anything made the most difference with me, or other people.

Then, training like an animal.

And way down, nutrition.

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40

That is my point

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