I’ve always enjoyed deadlifting and pressing. When I got into training I spent more time working on these 2 lifts than the others because I liked them more. As I trained them more the lifts got better, and thus the cycle continued of enjoyment and improvement and more enjoyment.
I’ve had to bring up my squat and bench press because I didn’t put as much into training them as I did the others. You should enjoy your training, but don’t neglect certain movements or muscles because you don’t like working on them. Similarly, don’t neglect certain elements of your physical development because you don’t enjoy it. Things like cardio, high(er) rep sets, pushing sometimes closer to failure. It’s not always pleasant, but working on what you don’t like doing can help improve your physical abilities.
Tips to try if you’re stuck:
- If you’ve always worked in the 4-6 rep range, try going up or down (sets of 2-3 or 8-10)
- If you’ve never done any cardio, try adding one session of biking per week for 20 minutes
- If you only (insert exercise name) once per week, increase the frequency to twice per week
- Work on what you dislike first in the workout. If you want to get better at pull ups, program them before deadlifts while you’re fresh.
- Keep doing what you’re good at-bringing up a weakness doesn’t mean stop doing what you’re good at
- Wholesale change- if you’ve been training for several years and are mentally/physically stuck, take 3-4 weeks and do the opposite of what you’ve been doing. If your training was primarily focused on the barbell lifts, change up your equipment. Use dumbbells, kettlebells, machines, etc.. Try new exercises or challenge yourself to a different goal. Lifting is about longevity. Try new and different things to work on your weaknesses, while also keeping the training enjoyable.
