I cannot overemphasize the importance of this simple statement. If you wish to tackle several challenging goals, start working on one at a time. If you set out to do everything at once, youll accomplish nothing. Instead, start working on one primary goal. It can serve as a supplement to your primary training plan.For example, suppose you set out to perform a standing rollout with an abdominal wheel. Begin working with the required progressions as an addition to your regular core (or strength) routine. Working towards this goal is a simple addition. There is no need to change your entire plan to accommodate a single goal. With a consistent effort, you will eventually conquer the exercise. Mark the goal from your list and prepare for a new challenge. Youll be amazed at how much more you can accomplish with this slow and steady approach to training.

Injury and Delayed ResultsInjury and delayed results are two close relatives to impatience. An impatient athlete looks for shortcuts that do not exist. Hell often bite off more than he can chew. Performance of a one-arm chin-up is a perfect example. If you rush into this exercise, you can almost guarantee elbow pain. Adaptation takes time, particularly when dealing with tendons and ligaments. This exercise isnt one that youll master in a week or two. Expect several months at minimum, and dont be surprised if it takes more than a year. Without patience, youll never accomplish the feat. Youll either become distracted due to the slow rate of improvement, or youll rush the process and be forced to opt out because of pain. The only way to accomplish the feat (any challenging feat) is with an equal dose of hard work and patience.Delayed results are also related to impatience. This problem often impedes highly motivated athletes. They are overambitious and dont believe in quality over quantity. More work is their solution to any problem or challenge. Unfortunately, impatience overrules ambition. Strength athletes often suffer from this problem. Rest days and restoration are considered wasted time. In the mind of the impatient, why waste time with rest or restoration when we could lift instead? The impatient has no time for recovery and restoration. It doesnt feel hard, so it cant be doing anything, right?Wrong!If you lift weights today, dont expect any major strength gains when you wake up tomorrow. Patience and time are both critical to tissue repair and growth. Active means of restoration and recovery must not be overlooked. No one is denying the importance of hard work, but hard work alone is not enough. Think of yourself lifting a maximal load. If you attempt subsequent sets without rest, you will not lift anywhere near your true max. Adequate rest is needed between sets when working with near maximal loads. If you are impatient and rush, your strength workout will suffer. The importance of rest also applies to the training plan as a whole. If adequate rest is not provided between maximal strength workouts, you can guarantee the eventual onset of delayed results.It should come as no surprise that restoration is an integral part of the popular conjugate sequence system. Restoration allows the body to supercompensate from past work. Exploitation of a delayed training effect is the basis of the system. If time is never invested in restorative work, supercompensation will never occur. Unfortunately, impatient athletes often underestimate the importance of restoration and proper cycling of loading (increased and decreased). These athletes often make gains early on, but then plateau, and are unable to work their way out of the rut. Their problem isnt related to work ethic. Impatience undermines their intensity.My Own StoryPersonally, I spend much less time training for pure strength than many, yet am far stronger than many of those who spend far more time training strength. Its a simple case of quality over quantity, but it wasnt always this way for me. I can tell you about patience and impatience, as Ive lived at both ends of the spectrum. For much of my life, I was everything but patient. As a youngster, I was ignorant. My work was sporadic and random. Now that Ive grown older and wiser, I consider patience to be my greatest attribute. Unfortunately for me, it took a long time to recognize the importance of patience. I am now in my 30s and far more capable than I ever was in my teens and early 20s. My genetics didnt change, but everything else did. In recent years, Ive accomplished exercise goals that were at one time considered impossible by me.My greatest change was learning to be patient when tackling a new challenge. At this stage in my life, if I set out to do something, I will get it done. Its only a matter of time. I always knew that patience was important, but knowing is only half the battle. Without action, knowledge is useless. Just think of the countless training books that are on the market today. The information is there for the public to read. It isnt classified. Anyone can read and learn. Unfortunately, knowing and doing are not the same. Many athletes simply do not have the patience to put their knowledge into practice. I made this mistake for many years. I didnt have time for patience, and struggled for years because of it.As a young fighter, I broke my hand inside the ring. I was impatient and never gave myself time to heal. I returned to action too soon. I broke the hand again, again, and again. It was an ongoing problem that could have been entirely avoided with patience. My impatience not only delayed my athletic development, but also led to repeated injury. Now that Im older, I cant think of any training related injuries that Ive endured in the last 10 years. I am far more capable physically, and live without pain or injury.If there is one thing that you can take from this article, I hope that you can learn from my mistakes. Continue training with intensity, but recognize the importance of patience. There will be times when it seems like progress is moving at a snails pace, but giving up on the goal entirely is not the solution. After all, who said that life was supposed to be easy? If you want something, be prepared to pay the price, which means preparing for a long and difficult journey. And when in doubt, remember that those who remain steadfast and diligent often exceed even their highest expectations.