I've been lifting consistently for most of the last 12 years of my life, and been through many ups and downs. I've made progress, plateaued, lost progress, stopped for months at a time due to injuries, you name it. Here are the top 5 tips I have learned over that span that can help you get the most out of your time and effort in the gym.

1)  Train With Intensity

Intensity is not absolute, it is relative to your current strength and conditioning. It is crucial that you train with intensity so that your muscles are exposed to a stimulus that puts them in a situation where they have to grow and get stronger to adapt. If you are just beginning, make sure you get the basic movement patterns down and then start progressing. You do not need to be training to failure every set, but you should push yourself to a point where you get close to or achieve failure without completely compromising your form so that you can really push yourself. Remember you get the most progress when you get to a point in your set where you feel tired and want to give up! Learn to push past that fatigue and you will see results. 

2) Utilize Progressive Overload

What is progressive overload? It is gradually increasing the difficulty of your exercises, and it is achieved by placing your muscles under a new stressor that they are not used to.

Here are some ways to achieve progressive overload

- Increase Weight

- Increase Reps

- Decrease Rest Time Between Sets

- Increase Volume (# Of Sets)

- Increase Range Of Motion (i.e Deficit Deadlifts, Deeper Dquats)

- Slow Down The Eccentric (Lowering/Stretching) Portion Of Your Lift

- Speed Up The Concentric (Raising/Contracting) Portion Of Your Lift

It is very helpful to log your lifts and have notes to ensure you are making progress. You might not be increasing your weight or reps every session and in fact some days you may be tired and weaker than usual, but that's ok, just give it your best effort and you will progress.

Here is how I like to utilize progressive overload. My goal is maximizing muscle mass and strength, so for major compound lifts like the squat and bench press, I like to do sets of 3-4 and rep ranges of 6-8 for my working sets (after my warmup sets). Once I reach the upper limit of the rep range with solid form I add weight. Currently my goal is to get to a 315 bench, and I am currently benching around 245 for 7 reps. Once I progress to 8 reps, I can stick to 245 until I can do 3-44 full sets of 8 reps with 245, or I can do 250 and see if I can get 6+ next session. If I can, I stick with that weight until I hit the upper range, rinse and repeat.

3) Follow A Schedule And Don't Reinvent The Wheel

A lot of people and trainers are obsessed with constantly mixing up their workout routines and doing innovative and specialized exercises. Some of these can be great for specific sports and athletics, but if you are trying to get stronger, build more lean muscle and look better, they will not benefit you as much as sticking to a solid workout split that focuses on compound movements, allows you to utilize progressive overload and to get adequate rest and recovery without overworking muscle groups.

My favorite is Push/Pull/Legs, which I do 6-7 days a week. I recommend starting at 2-3 days a week, then gradually moving up to 4-6 days a week after you become acclimated.

Every workout starts with a major compound exercise with the goal being gradual progression, followed by accessory lifts that are complementary to the compound exercise and then more isolation exercises in that order. Here's a quick run down of my split

Push: 

- Bench Press (Barbell or Dumbbell) 4 sets, 6-8 reps

- Incline Bench Press or Weighted Dips 3 sets, 8-12 reps

- Chest Fly 4 sets, 12-15 reps

- Skull Crushers 3 sets, 10-12 reps

- Triceps Pushdown (rope or v bar) 3 sets 8-12 reps

Pull:

- Lat Pulldown or Weighted Pull Ups 4 sets, 6-8 reps

- Chest Supported row 3 sets, 8-12 reps

- Reverse Fly 4 sets, 12-15 reps

- Face Pulls 3 sets, 12-15 reps

- Preacher Curl 3 sets, 8-12 reps

- Seated Dumbbell Bicep Curl 3 sets, 8-12 reps

Legs: 

- Squat, Hack Squat or Leg Press 4 sets, 6-8 reps

- Bulgarian Split Squats 3 sets, 6-8 reps per side

- Glute Bridges (weighted) 4 sets, 12-15 reps

- Hamstring Curls 3 sets, 10-12 reps

- Calf Raises 4 sets, 8-12 reps

 4) Get Enough Calories And Enough Protein

I am not a big proponent of pure bulking. I think it just adds on unnecessary fat on top of the muscle you would gain anyway from a slight caloric surplus. The best way to put on lean muscle and not get fat is to track calories with an app and food scale, track your progress and aim for about a 200 calorie surplus and make sure you get enough protein. .7g/lb body weight is enough, however I like to get 1g/lb of bodyweight as I personally like protein a lot. As for supplementation, supplements are not needed, but they help. They are meant to supplement your diet, as in you get a majority of your nutrition from your diet and then use supplements to help you hit your goals. That being said, almost everyone stands to benefit from creatine supplementation, since it is almost impossible to get your muscles to an optimal creatine saturation level without supplementing it, even more so for vegans and vegetarians, since a majority of dietary creatine comes from meats. Now of course I am biased since I have a protein and creatine company, but the only supplements you need happen to be what is sold at Nutrition On The Go (crazy right?) that's why I formed this company, it's a lot easier and ethical to sell supplements that are unequivocally proven to work as claimed than peddling all that other BS on the market. 

5) Get Good Quality Sleep

Sleep is possibly the most important component of building muscle. It's when your muscles are repaired, growth hormones and testosterone spike and you get to recover for the next time you lift. Have you ever had a great day in the gym off of 3 hours of sleep? Probably not, but kudos to you if yes! Not getting solid sleep after lifting/exercising is like trying to bake a cake, mixing all the ingredients, putting it in the oven and not turning the oven on. Get your sleep and you will see progress! 7-9 hours a night, some people can operate on less, but should for 7+