There's a question I think everyone who does some form of strength training should occasionally ask themselves:

Am I actually getting stronger?

Not:

"Am I doing weights?"

Not:

"Did I go to the gym this week?"

But:

Am I stronger than I was three months ago?

Because they're not necessarily the same thing.

Our bodies are very good at adapting

Let's say you start doing some weights. Initially, they're challenging. But after a while, your body adapts. Those same exercises with the same weights become easier. That's a good thing. It means you've improved. But if nothing changes from there, eventually there's less reason for your body to keep adapting.

That's why good strength training needs progression. As you get stronger, the challenge needs to progress with you. That might mean increasing the weight. Changing the repetitions. Improving your technique. Increasing your range of movement. Or changing the exercise itself.

The goal isn't to make every workout harder just for the sake of it.

The goal is to keep giving your body an appropriate reason to adapt.

That's why we train FIRE in blocks

Today we begin another 10 Week FIRE block at Excite (and yes I am excited!). And there's a reason it's structured that way. We establish where you're starting. We follow a program. We record what you're lifting. We gradually progress the training. And over the 10 weeks, we look for improvement.

Sometimes it's obvious. You lift a weight you've never lifted before. You set a new PB. But progress isn't always about adding another plate to the bar. Better technique is progress. More control is progress. Completing more repetitions with a weight that used to be difficult is progress. And simply maintaining your strength as you get older is valuable too.

Compare that with "doing some weights"

There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing some resistance exercises at home or going into a gym and doing a workout.

Something is certainly better than nothing.

But without a plan, it's very easy to spend months—or years—doing roughly the same thing.

Same exercises. Same weights. Same repetitions. And perhaps getting roughly the same result. That's where structure makes a difference.

You know what you're trying to improve.

And you can actually see whether you're improving it.

Strength isn't a 10-week project

This is probably the most important point.

We use 10-week blocks to structure our training.

But strength training itself doesn't have a finishing line.

You don't complete a FIRE block and say:

"Great. I'm strong now. That's done."

Particularly as we get older, maintaining our strength needs to become part of how we look after ourselves.

Just like cardiovascular fitness.

Nutrition.

Sleep.

And staying active.

The 10 weeks simply gives us a period to focus, progress and see what we're capable of.

And then?

We keep building.

Yours in health and fitness,

Chris

P.S. Our new 10 Week FIRE strength program starts today.

If you've been thinking about adding structured strength training to your week, it's not too late to join us.

FIRE includes progressive programming, coaching and tracking throughout the 10 weeks, and you can train at Excite or online via the Excite App.

Just REPLY to this EMAIL with FIRE and I'll send you the information.