If you do what you have always done you get what you have always got.

If you have a goal or target weight that you want to get down to you need to PROGRESS towards it. You won’t suddenly achieve the goal by doing one thing, to achieve you fitness goal you need to make small incremental steps to progress you to where you want to be.

I see people in the gym everyday doing the same workout that they have been doing for the last two years and in those two years they haven’t lost a pound of weight.  Then you get those people at the gym that you may have seen yourself, the ones that the weight is just falling off, every time you see them they are slimmer and more toned.  The difference between them and you is that they workout using a progressive model of training, sometimes consciously, sometime unconsciously.

So what is progressive training I here you say? Progressive training is making each workout you have a little harder than the last one. Each time you are at the gym you are trying to improve or beat what you did last time. Run a little faster, a little further, pedal bit faster, more up to the next level etc…

Take for example the treadmill.  Nine times out of ten people are running on it for the same speed and the same amount of time they always do and getting nowhere.  To apply a progressive model of training to the treadmill try the following (you will need a pen and paper), it is so simple anyone can do it.  Say for example you normally run at 5mph (miles per hour) for 20mins. What you are going to do is the following:

Workout 1.  5.1mph for 20mins

Workout 2.  5.2mph for 20mins

Workout 3.  5.3mph for 20mins

Workout 4.  5.4mph for 20mins

You get the idea

Or you could try

Workout 1.  5mph for 21mins

Workout 2.  5mph for 22mins

Workout 3.  5mph for 23mins

Workout 4.  5mph for 24mins

You get the idea

Write down what you do each workout and then try and beat it on the next one, this must be used in combination with a healthy diet to get the greatest results.

One of the keys to using a Progressive model of training is to make each progression tiny and achievable.  Running at 0.1 faster isn’t going to make me lose weight I here you say. Well if you add 0.1 to the speed each time you have a workout after ten sessions you will be running at 6mph instead of the usual 5mph and by progressing like this you will burn more and more calories each time you visit the gym.

The secret to the progressive model of training is this.  Every session is going to be a tiny bit harder than the previous, so you will push yourself a tiny bit harder each session, you will also get a tiny bit fitter each session and the big one is you will INCREASE YOU METABOLISM A TINY BIT EACH SESSION.

When you metabolism increases the amount of calories you burn off going about your day to day activities increases too. You will lose the extra weight your carrying by increasing your metabolism and burning off more and more each time you workout. If you progress each time at the gym for a few months the difference will be staggering and just think of the possibilities if you applied the progressive model over a few years!  You be able to get your metabolism to what it was when you were in your twenties if you keep progressing and given enough time.

The beauty of this model is that it is so easy to apply, adding 0.1 to you speed on the treadmill is so small that you will barely notice it while you are running, but it will build up workout after workout, week by week.

Don’t try and jump ahead with increasing what you are doing with your workouts. For example running at 5mph straight to 6mph, it is too bigger jump for you body and lifestyle to adapt to.  Your next workout will suffer because you will be tired.  Small tiny increments make it easy for your body and metabolism to adapt to, they will build up over time, so be patient!

For those of you who aren’t able to run, and can only walk on the treadmill, try increasing the elevation by 0.5 or 1.0 each workout, this will have the same effect.

You can also apply the progressive model to the time you are running, add a minute to each workout and in ten sessions time you will be running 10mins longer, your metabolism will also increase just like it does when increasing the speed.

More articles of mines can be found at my personal training