I keep hearing people make the same comments over and over gain. “Everybody wants to get big, but nobody wants to lift heavy-ass weight.”

Well, guess what? There is truth to this comment. A lot of lifters want to go to the gym and just get under that bar in order to convince themselves that they are doing something. Then they spend the majority of that hour in the gym catching up on the latest gossip instead of lifting like they thought they would. Accordingly, a lot of these guys just really do not want to lift any heavy ass weight.

That being said, just because you are not lifting a lot of weight, it does not mean that you are not getting stronger. If you are training properly you are gaining strength. If you want to know if you are actually getting stronger, you need to track your progress. I personally use 12 week increments to gauge whether I’m getting stronger. So if your program is working, you should be moving up in weight on your lifts every 12 weeks.

If you aren’t getting stronger, that probably means that your workout programming sucks. The reasons may be that:

1. Not enough weight
2. Not enough workout volume
3. Not enough intensity
4. You may be overtraining

Now let’s explore each of these issues separately.

Not Enough Weight

Contrary to popular broscience, this is rarely the culprit when you are not seeing gains. Thanks to many YouTubers who are in the fitness and bodybuilding genre, you see the same mantra repeated over and over again. Lift as much as possible, for as many reps as possible. If you are doing PR’s multiple times, every week, chances are you are lifting heavy enough.

Not Enough Workout Volume

Another reason why people do not see adequate results is that they are not getting enough volume in their workout. This means that (in general) 2 or 3 sets of 5 reps of 2 exercises is not enough to stimulate growth, even when you are using heavy weight. For example: if you want to develop your chest and triceps you should do multiple sets of multiple exercises. Do push Ups, Inclined Bench, Bench Press, Diamond Push Ups, Spiderman Push Ups, Dips, etc during each individual workout. Many people do not use a lot of volume because by the time they reach the bench press, they may be too fatigued to hit the PR that will impress their friends.

Get over yourself and get real about strength training.

Not Enough Intensity

Plain and simple, a lot of guys (even buff dudes), spend just as much time socializing or fiddling with their smart phone as they do lifting. You really should not be spending 2, 3, 4, 5 minutes between sets talking and socializing. Save it for the club.

You May Be Overtraining

Now this is the gym rat who goes to the other extreme. Look, I know that you want to make gains fast but, if you are new to weight training or physical activity in general then you may need to slow down or risk injury. When you overtrain, you feel week, tired, sleepy and often you are constantly fighting a cold. You will not make progress unless you take some time off and rest.

Now, get your program together and hit the gym.

Good Luck!