I can't be the only one who sometimes thinks that the harder you try, suffer, and endure, the more guaranteed the result?

That's how it was for me with workouts. If I didn't crawl out of the gym on all fours after a workout, it meant I trained poorly.

— Why only three sets of squats? I'll never grow my glutes like this!!!

— Why are today's exercises so easy, I didn't even sweat? Coach, exhaust me completely, did I come to the gym for nothing?

— Oh no, let's not waste time on stretching, I'd rather do a couple more sets of presses! I'll stretch at home somehow later, but no promises. Right now, only hardcore!

It seemed to me that every workout had to be like the last. Because of the constantly high load, I sometimes felt like a steamroller had run over me. But no pain, no gain!

I did tear my a** in the literal sense. I strained my glute muscle because I didn't warm up properly and immediately loaded up heavy. I had to forget about training for a couple of months. Then it took many more months to get back to my previous performance.

That's the effect of overdoing it.
You exhaust yourself so much that you end up out of the game for weeks.
But results come not from how much you've worn yourself out, but from consistency.

Your body doesn't care how heroically you suffered and pushed yourself. For progress, it needs load, nutrition, and recovery.

Heavy workouts should be alternated with light ones. You need to get enough sleep, rest, and recover. Sometimes a week of rest gives more progress than several workouts.

Now I train less, and my physique is better than when I was preparing for competitions. My strength indicators have increased, and I look better too)

It turns out less doesn't mean ineffective.

🔜And you know what's the funniest part?

People do exactly the same thing with weight loss.
Endure hunger, deny yourself ice cream, eat tasteless but healthy food, etc. And God forbid you enjoy food. Only suffering, struggle, and overcoming.

But it works about the same as my overtraining. At first, it seems like you're trying hard and you're proud of yourself. But the day comes when you can't stand the sight of chicken with buckwheat anymore, you have no strength to hold on, and you binge on everything. Then comes the setback, and you're back to square one.

Why don't I forbid my clients from having donuts, burgers, and wine?

Because we're not working on them sticking to some diet at any cost.

We're working on them building their own nutrition system. One that works in their life circumstances.

If someone values barbecues with beer on Saturdays, we figure out how to incorporate them.

If someone isn't ready to give up their evening dessert, we don't try to remove it at any cost. Instead, we find a way for the dessert to stop interfering with the goal.

In other words, we adapt nutrition to life and gradually change habits so that it's easy to maintain every day.

That's why a person doesn't have to start over every Monday.

//I feel like mindsets like "if it's hard, it's effective" or "no pain, no gain" are among the most persistent and harmful.

They equally hinder weight loss, relationships, and work.

Where do you most often catch yourself thinking this way?