Heather Farmer
is an Olympic
weightlifting
national
competitor,
CrossFit
instructor and
personal trainer
bdiNbased inNewe
York,.FLEXONLINE.COM.AU | FLEX 91LUDWIG ARAUJO
on everything from your body’s
own genetic make-up — down to
your natural composition of fast-
twitch versus slow-twitch muscle
fibres — to just how long you’ve
been consistently training.
“A lot hinges on what level you
are as a strength athlete,” says
Heather Farmer, a US–based
personal trainer, fitness coach,
CrossFit group class instructor
and Olympic weightlifting national
competitor currently ranked in the
top five in the USA Weightlifting
63kg women’s class. “Someone
who is new should progress
very quickly and consistently for
a while. A more advanced strength
athlete is going to see a smaller
percentage of increase over
longer periods of time.”
Still, she says, a fair rule of
thumb is to analyse progress
every three months, and if your
advancement has been minimal,
it’s a signal to shake up your
routine. “You can look at data
beyond your one-rep max,” she
explains. “For example, if 90–95%
weights are beginning to feel like
normal work weight, if mobility is
increasing where it was limited,
if a technical error is improved
by strengthening a weak portion
of the lift, one can consider this
as work that will eventually yield
a PR [personal record], even
if it feels as if you are
at a plateau right now.”
If the numbers point
to stagnation, you’ll want
to consider small tweaks
and larger-scale changes,
depending on just how
off-track you seem to
be. The following five
steps range from minor
alterations all the way up
to a program revamp — you
can try one or two to start,
or go all the way to red
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