I have been doing some reflecting and thinking the past couple days about the American Open and the preparation leading up to it. One of the comments made to me as I consider what the next 6 months of training looks like is consistency in some areas that I was a bit inconsistent this past cycle.
I have always been a big promoter for consistency, especially in the lifts and training.
However there are three specific areas where consistency counts that are easily neglected if we allow it.
1. Training Location. It’s important to train at the same place on a regular basis. Whether that means you train in your garage in the morning and your gym in the evening that’s fine it just needs to be the same place on a daily basis. As I looked back on my training I could name 4 different places that I trained during the week and then every weekend I was in a different gym. Consistency in this area of my training matters.
2. Eyes On. What goes hand in hand with training at the same location regularly are the sets of eyes that are watching you. This took its toll over time as I had different eyes on me daily and different training partners weekly. I need to have the same set of eyes seeing the same problems on a regular basis so that my technical issues can be consistently corrected. Having four different coaches and 9 different training partners over 4 different locations only hurts that benefit.
3. Training Day. Near the end of the cycle in prep for the American Open my training days got all out of order. I usually training doubles on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday and singles on Thursday and Saturday and rest on Sunday. The last 6 weeks leading into American Open that schedule was super inconsistent. Some days I was just trying to get it all in rather than splitting it as it best fits my body and giving those training sessions precedent over other things in my life.
These three areas are places that consistency matters for my training. There likely are other areas of your training where inconsistency hurts you. Evaluate those inconsistencies and see where you can make changes to create a more consistent training regimen.
Glory 
I’m going to throw some of your own words at you here, so hopefully this is viewed constructively:
“First it should be stated that I generally eat terribly. In fact, I would NEVER recommend my diet to anyone in the world except those that want to have heart problems, inflated blood pressure, stiff joints, and a much higher body fat percentage. I am one of those weird individuals that “normal” people love to hate on for our “high metabolism.” That being said, my less than controlled diet does lend me a bit of a benefit when it comes to weight cutting. I never have a shortage of calories AND it makes a massive difference when I do eat well.
4 weeks out I eat a “paleo-ish” diet consisting of no processed grains (i.e. bread, pasta), no dairy (i.e. milk, cheese) and no sugar (i.e. everything that tastes good). Then two weeks out I eliminate excess fats (avocado, nuts, seeds) except for bacon because I want to keep my sanity…
I also increase my water intake massively… Thus, when I do increase my water intake my body reacts in a really positive manner and helps with recovery in a big way.”
Looking back over your words above, what do you think about the need for consistency in the diet? You mention that you normally eat terribly, and then when you clean up to start preparing for a meet that your recovery improves and your cleansing of processed junk makes a massive difference. What would it look like if you were to actively take a role in your nutrition the way you do your lifting? If you ate the paleo-ish diet with lots of water routinely? Take your paleo diet and add lots of rice/white potatoes/gluten-free pasta to help keep the calories up and the easily digestible carbs available. You keep the sugary and processed stuff out and replace it with quality ingredients (believe me, I love Chick-fil-a, but have you looked at the ingredients label for their sandwiches lately? YIKES!). What if running a massive calorie excess with little regard from where it’s coming from is actually hindering your progress and predictability? Food for thought, yes, pun intended. As someone with a lighting fast metabolism myself, I’ve been a huge fan of eating whatever I want because it doesn’t result in me stacking on extra weight in places I don’t want it. However, I’ve recently finally been paying a lot more attention to my nutrition and am taking the Precision Nutrition Certification course and it’s changing my perspective. I’ve cleaned up a lot and am now gaining lean mass much easier than when I was shoving high calorie junk in regularly.
You probably are correct. Not going argue with anything that you said. And in addition to what you said I would agree that the best weightlifters in the world likely avoid processed grains and sugars. And they probably drink a lot of water and less coffee and sweet tea. The problem is I love all of that stuff and in order to eat a diet like you insinuate and that I would agree is beneficial, takes preparation, commitment, and some availability of spare time. Trust me if I could eat with prepared meals and eat in the proper fashion that you write about here I would. Honestly I’m just busy enough that this becomes an impossibility. You going to call that an excuse I’m going to call that a dedication to other things above my diet first.
Great comments and I would pass your recommendation on to anyone who cares to be an elite athlete.
So what your saying is you want to come to Atlanta and be permanent training partners with this +105 lone ranger?
Spencer, we were so heart broken for you as we watched. I agree with TJ. I think you should train here, meaning CHS. It is great that you are looking back and figuring out ways to improve and learn from your past, sometimes that is a very hard lesson in growing up. We love you and miss you both very much. Can’t wait to see you all soon.