Rachel Roth

I think there is a common misperception among athletes, that unless you are making huge gains, and big PR’s, you aren’t progressing. When we all first start out, the jumps we make in weights, and learning new skills are always big, and then as we get stronger, and our skills more refined, the progress slows and the jumps get smaller.

It’s easy to get frustrated, and think you aren’t making progress anymore; I know I for one am guilty of doing this from time to time. But it’s important to remember that progress doesn’t necessarily mean 30 pound pr’s. Progress can be much smaller than that, but it’s still progress and it’s important.

Last week I finally hit a 5lb pr on my snatch, and matched my pr on my clean. But before that, and probably more significant, is the fact that I didn’t miss a lift up until those pr’s. Just a few weeks ago, those lighter weights were very inconsistent and I would probably miss 5 for every 1 successful lift. But for two weeks in a row, I hit every weight, which to me is significant progress; I may not be hitting 30 pound pr’s but I am getting stronger, and more comfortable with the lifts. And with that consistency, comes faster progress.

It’s easy to become frustrated, and feel defeated sometimes when you’re training, especially if you are only looking at the big picture. The key sometimes, is to find those small things you’ve done better each week, like not missing a lift at a certain weight, or doing 10 pullups in a row instead of 5, or just learning how to pull under the bar quicker for the snatch. Big or small, progress is progress, and it should serve as motivation to keep your head up and keep pushing.