If you do your own thing at the gym – no program, not too much thought – any improvement will need a stroke of luck.

It's certainly been me before.
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So here’s a few key training principles to keep in mind:


1. Adherence

Consistency beats intensity.

Lift heavy but not hard. Always leave 1-2 reps in the tank. Don't go to failure. Come back fresh tomorrow.


2. Individualisation

Do what you like. And what you have access to. This’ll help your adherence.


3. Form 

Don’t let fatigue or ego cook your technique. Injury is the best way to stop your adherence.


4. Great than zero

Anything is better than nothing.

On your shit days, you’ll still get neural and recovery benefits by dropping the intensity (weight) and volume (total work).


5. Progressive overload

To keep improving we’ve gotta make things harder over time.

The simplest way is to up the intensity or volume by about 3-5% every week (but you could also play with the reps, sets, tempo and rest).

Then after 5-8 weeks, back off for a week (where you’d rest or do really light weights).


6. Specialised variety

The law of specific adaptation to imposed demands (SAID) says to get better at something, we have to do it. So we need repetition.

But the law of accommodation says the more we do something, the less we benefit from it. So we need variety.

So our training needs to be the same but different 🤔

There’s a handful of ways to do it. Specialised variety is the simplest (slight movement variations).

A back squat one day. A Bulgarian squat the next. And a goblet squat the one after.

Grip, bands and chains are other easy ways to mix it up.


7. Hit the key movements

Tick all the boxes throughout the week:

• Push – push up, overhead press, bench press…
• Pull – pull up, bench row, band pull aparts…
• Squat – back squat, front squat, pistol squat…
• Hinge – kettlebell swing, deadlift, Romanian deadlift…
• Lunge – weighted lunge, Bulgarian squat, knees over toes split squat…
• Cross body – windmill, Turkish get-up, kick sit…
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‍8. Superset

Cut session time in half by supersetting with non-competing exercises (alternate between exercises that use different muscle groups). Like a push and a pull. 


9. Compound exercises

These are the best bang for your buck. Because they’re multi-joint movements (so there’s more muscles working).

A squat is a compound exercise cause we move at the ankle, knee and hip. But a bicep curl only moves at the elbow.

Deadlift, hip thrust, split squat, bench/shoulder press, rows are other good examples.


10. Strength

Follow the rule of 3-5 for strength training.

Train 3-5 times per week.

3-5 sets.

3-5 reps.

Rest 3-5 minutes between each set (or half of that if you superset).

Control the eccentric. Focus on moving the load as fast as possible in the concentric phase.

(The concentric phase is where the muscle shortens. Like standing up from a squat. Or pulling up in a chin up. The eccentric is the "easier" bit. Where the muscle lengthens.)

Note: This is for the Everyday Athlete. I think elite or pro athletes in competition should follow something more like the Rule of 10.


11. Hypertrophy (muscle growth) 

15+ sets a week per body part.

2+ sessions a week.

5–30 reps per set.

Rest 45 secs to 2 mins between sets.

Slow the tempo down. Focus on contracting the muscle as hard as possible.


That's it.

There’s a million ways to get big and strong. But following these principles is a simple formula for progress.

And when you’re done, take a few mins to hang, stretch and breathe.

Anything you’d add? Any questions? Let me know.