An Easy 2-Minute Habit to Boost Your Strength and Muscle Gains

The 7th Jan edition of Manximize’s Shredded Sunday

An Easy 2-Minute Habit to Boost Your Strength and Muscle Gains
Wikimedia Commons

NEWSLETTER

An Easy 2-Minute Habit to Boost Your Strength and Muscle Gains

The Shredded Sunday newsletter shares one brutally honest fitness tip every Sunday.
I first sent this edition to Shredded Sunday’s subscribers a week ago. To receive these tips fresh in your inbox, subscribe here!

Myth has it that Milo of Croton carried a bull calf on his shoulders every day.

And as the calf grew, Milo’s strength and musculature grew as well.

This fable illustrates progressive overload — the only way to constantly gain muscle and strength.

If you curl the same 5lbs for 8 reps every workout, your tiny biceps will stay tiny.

Only if you “train harder than last time” will you induce progressive overload and steadily gain muscle.

As Peter Drucker famously said — “What isn’t measured can’t be improved”

That’s where tracking your workouts comes in.

Be it a tiny pocketbook or the iPhone’s default notes app, track every workout:

Screenshot of the author’s training log

Jot down the exercise name, number of sets, weights used, and number of reps performed.

Every workout, try to beat your last workout’s numbers:

  • Even one rep more on one set counts as a win — say you had done 4 x 12 with 80 kgs. Even 3 x 12 with 80 and then 13 reps on the last set is a win.
  • At the least, match your old workout’s numbers.

Like a snowball rolling downhill, these minor increases will compound to massive gains long-term.

May the altar of iron bless your gains, my friend!


Like What You Read? Click Here to Subscribe to Shredded Sunday.

Unlock 100% (early) access to all my articles - for only 1/5th of Medium's membership fee!