When setting goals for muscle growth you should be thinking long term. In order to make long term progress, one of the most important factors is consistency. Consistency means staying consistent with not only your training but your nutrition and lifestyle too. In this blog we will discuss why and how consistency will make you achieve your dream physique.
Lifestyle changes
To achieve your dream physique it has to become a lifestyle. If you are someone who goes out excessively drinking alcohol every weekend, you will be making it harder to stay consistent with your training and nutrition. This doesn't mean you should stop going to social events however try to plan around them and choose low calorie drink options. Even if you just to go to the big social events which are less frequent, this will help you to stay consistent. It is common that people stay on track all week and when the weekend comes they consume thousands of extra calories over the weekend through alcohol and takeaways. This sets you off track for the week because you have to think of your calorie and macro intake over a weekly average.
Training Consistency
Training consistency doesn't mean going to the gym and consistently doing the same weight on the same exercises. Consistency is related to your training intensity and progressing as often as possible. If you have a set plan that you can follow then it makes it easier to see if you are progressing up the weights and then you can focus on your training intensity. You may have heard of RPE, this is a way of tracking intensity. You should be aim for 7-9 RPE on your working sets or 1-3 RIR (reps in reserve).This will mean you are really pushing yourself and it will give your muscle tissue a reason to grow if combined with progressive overload.
Nutrition Consistency
Staying consistent with your nutrition is arguably the most important factor to consider if you are looking to make progress. Your nutrition is what fuels the quality of your workouts and it will have a big impact on your overall body composition. You should look to set yourself a daily calorie and macro goal and look to stick to it as accurately as possible. It is important to stay consistent with this as it comes down to a weekly average therefore if you are not consistent for a couple of days, it will set off your weekly averages.
Consistency Builds Habits
By consistently showing up your brain starts to pick this behaviour up and then it becomes a daily habit that is easier to stick to. Even on the days where you are lacking motivation, by building up habits you will be more inclined to go to the gym. This links back to the lifestyle change as fitness really is a lifestyle change.
To conclude, if you are serious about building muscle and making progress related to fitness goals, being consistent should be one of your main goals. Take into account your training, nutrition and lifestyle and you will be putting yourself in the best possible position to hit your fitness goals.
