3 Ways to Train Smarter, Not Harder

After coaching a lot of women over the years, one of the biggest things I try to get across is this:

Most women don’t need to train harder. They need to train smarter.

You can put an incredible amount of effort into your training, but effort by itself doesn’t guarantee results.

Think about it this way. If you’re going full speed in the wrong direction, going faster isn’t going to help you get where you want to be.

Training is the same. Hard work matters. Effort matters. Pushing yourself matters. But that effort needs to be pointed in the right direction.

Here are 3 things I try to teach the women I coach:

Stop Treating Every Workout Like a Test.

You don’t need to train to failure or destroy yourself every time you walk into the gym.

Your workout isn’t a test of how exhausted you can make yourself. It’s training.

Focus on quality reps, good technique and consistent effort. There are times to push hard, but you don’t have to prove how strong you are every workout.

Get Stronger at the Basics.

Squats. Hinges. Presses. Pulls. Carries.

You can build a tremendous amount of strength around these basic movement patterns.

You don’t need a completely different workout every week or an endless list of exercises.

Pick good movements. Learn them. Practice them. Get stronger at them.

Exercise variety has its place, but don’t confuse constantly doing something different with progressing.

Respect Recovery.

More training isn’t automatically better training.

Training gives your body a reason to adapt. Recovery gives it the opportunity to actually do it.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t train hard. You absolutely should.

But training smarter isn’t about seeing how much work you can survive.

It’s about doing quality work, recovering from it, adapting to it and coming back ready to do a little more.

So yes, work hard.

But make sure all that hard work is actually taking you in the direction you want to go.

Want to put these principles into practice?

Check out our WWLW programs and training below.