How Do You Know If You're Training Hard Enough?

I'm a big proponent of the minimum effective dose, doing less and doing it better, and prioritising slower paced strength training over high intensity interval training, metcons and circuits for most people.

But when you reduce your training volume, bring your heart rate down, and finish fewer sessions in a puddle of sweat and regret, how do you know if you're actually training hard enough?

Here's 5 ways to gauge your workouts to know for sure if you're training hard enough or not.

1) You NEED Your Rest Periods

The whole point of a slower paced, strength focussed workout is that by slowing things down, you can significantly increase the intensity.

So if you throw out your metcons and 15 minute AMRAPs and trade them in for 3 sets of 5 back squats with 3 minutes rest, and you're ready to go within 60 seconds, it's not because your metcons and AMRAPs made you really fit and a recovery machine.

It's because you haven't upped the intensity enough.

When you are genuinely lifting hard and heavy for multiple sets, you will NEED all of your prescribed rest periods.

You will NEED that full and complete recovery to be able to commit to another set of the same quality and intensity.

Be aware of your set, rep AND rest prescriptions, and make sure your absolute intensity (weight on the bar) matches up with them.

2) Your Form Sometimes Dips

If you never train close to the point of technique breakdown, you're likely not training hard enough.

Technique is super important, don't get me wrong, but not every rep is created equally.

The really potent, really stimulating hard reps at the end of a set will often come with a slight drop in quality and technique.

But that's exactly how you know you're pushing yourself. I'm not saying that you should go full shitting dog at the end of every deadlift set, but on occasion it is fine for your form to drop off at the back end of a genuinely hard set. As long as you're still meeting the goals of the exercise (target muscles, tension, safety), it'll make your sessions more intense and effective.

3) Your Bar Slows Down

Bar speed is a really good indicator of proximity to failure (how close you are to failing your next rep). You can even buy accelerometers as training aids to help you judge your proximity to failure for a variety of goals (further away for power, closer for strength and hypertrophy).

But as a general rule, when doing heavy strength focussed workouts you need to experience a decrease in your bar speed at the end of a set.

If your bar doesn't slow down, your bar isn't heavy enough, and you won't be recruiting enough of your muscle fibres to get the training effect you want.

Your last 1-2 reps in a set should be noticeably slower than your first 1-2 reps in a set, without you going into full grind mode every set of every workout.

4) You Occasionally Hit Failure

If muscle gain is a goal of yours, you need to be hitting failure on a few well chosen exercises each week. Not every exercise every session, but if you never do hit failure, you're definitely not training hard enough.

If strength is the main goal, you need to be close to failure, usually 1-2 reps in reserve on your hard working sets.

In both scenarios, it's really hard to judge where that line is (total failure or 1-2 reps in reserve), if you never get there, or get there very infrequently.

Think of hitting failure as the side or dressing that really pops a meal off. Your sets and reps of good intensity, with good form, 1-2 reps from failure are your meat and potatoes.

But hitting failure once per workout is the side of onions rings or hot sauce that really makes it great.

5) You Make Regular Progress

Training intensity will be the biggest difference maker between you making great and regular progress, and you making no progress at all.

The proof is in the pudding. If you've been training regularly over a long period of time and you've not made progress in your strength, performance or your physique, you probably haven't been doing enough productive training.

That could be by going too light, too far from failure, and generally not pushing yourself.

Or by going to fast, too frantic, and having fatigue create a false cap on your training intensity.

Either way, if it isn't working, it isn't working, and I'd check in on the previous 4 tips, and make sure your training is following these key guidelines.

Or if you want me to take control of your training and nutrition, and help you find your own personal sweet spot of training intensity, volume and frequency and drive life changing results that you've never experienced before.

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