Every Workout You Do Like This Is a Workout Wasted

If you've gone to the same gym for a long time, odds are you see the same people. You may not speak to them, but you certainly recognize them. And if they've been there for that long, odds are they know their way around the gym. You might say they look like they work out.

But if I were to ask you, how many of them have made significant progress during the last few years? I'm talking about a noticeable difference. Could you count it on one hand? Maybe two?

Progress in the gym is not linear. There's a reason beginners go through the newbie gain phase and get addicted. You're a blank slate and it's easy to put on muscle at that time. Inevitably, that phase ends and the gains come much more slowly.

But for many, it almost seems as if the gains stop completely.

One reason for this is that people do the same thing at the gym that they always did. If it got them to this point, then why stop? There's a comfort level to doing the same exercises, with the same sets and reps, all the time. Sure maybe you eke out an extra rep every now and then, but for the most part it's the same.

The problem is, you have to force your body to build muscle. You don't just get points for showing up anymore. Muscle needs to be stimulated in a way that elicits growth. The three sets of ten with the same weight that you saw in some cookie cutter program just isn't going to cut it anymore. You must add weight, or reps, or both. This is the principle of progressive overload which is the foundation of building muscle.

Another reason is a lack of structure to training programs. In fact, for many people, you can't even call it a training program because it's just random exercises each time. Sure, you may have a push/pull/legs split or bro split, but within those workouts there is no structure.

A program should be 4-8 weeks, with the same exercises, in the same order. It's supposed to be repetitive. That's how you get better at something.

The last reason, and maybe the most uncomfortable one to hear, is that most people are not training hard enough. Not even close. They come in, do their sets, never really push to failure or anywhere near it, and head home feeling like they put in the work. But there's a difference between going through the motions and actually training.

Be honest with yourself. Are you really pushing it, or are you scrolling your phone between sets, stopping short when you had more to give, and being lax with your diet. Do a little soul searching; it could really be beneficial.

None of this is meant to be discouraging. The good news is that these are all fixable problems. Pick a program and follow it. Add weight to the bar when you can. And when you think you have one more rep left in the tank, do two. The people who break past the intermediate plateau aren't necessarily more gifted or more disciplined; they just stopped doing what was comfortable and started doing what was necessary.

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This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 5:21 PM.