In a world obsessed with instant results, the idea of holding back in your training might seem counterintuitive. Society glorifies hustle, grind, and giving “110%” every single time. But when it comes to strength and conditioning, that mindset can backfire. The truth is long-term progress isn’t built on maxing out every session; it’s built on consistent, progressive effort and the concept known as ‘progressive overload’.
This article is designed to explain why percentage-based training, varied perceived exertions, and the discipline to leave some effort in the tank are essential for building real, lasting strength and performance. It will give you an insight into maximising your results over the longest period of time and avoiding injury, stagnation, and plateaus in reaching your maximum potential.
1. Building Your Potential Slowly
When we exercise, whether with weights, in intervals or long runs, our muscles, bones, and connective tissues (like tendons and ligaments) adapt to the stresses we place on them. However, you must know these parts of our body don’t adapt at the same rate. Muscles grow stronger and more resilient relatively quickly, but ligaments and tendons—the structures that stabilise and connect everything—take much longer to catch up.
If you push too hard, too fast, your muscles might be ready, but your connective tissues won’t be. This imbalance increases the risk of injury, which can set you back months or even years.
At the beginning of a fitness journey, people often become disheartened because of how far they are behind others. By working with percentages—lifting 70-85% of your max instead of going all-out—you allow all body parts to strengthen at a sustainable rate. This patience is the difference between building strength for a lifetime and burning out early. Expecting you to be at the same level as somebody exercising longer is a surefire way to achieve this burnout or injure yourself.
The key to success is in the first 12 weeks of your fitness journey, focus on building a strong foundation with patience and consistency—prioritise mastering technique, develop habits of discipline, and celebrate small wins over comparing yourself to others. As you progress, gradually increase the intensity of your training through controlled progressive overload (not trying to keep up with others!) while also challenging your mindset by setting realistic goals, maintaining discipline, and embracing the journey of continual improvement.
2. Protect the “Weaker Links”
Another way to look at this is to imagine your body as a chain. The strongest links—your muscles—might feel ready to lift the heaviest weight in the gym. But the weaker links—your joints, tendons, and ligaments—might not. Chasing PRs (personal records) without proper progression puts the weaker links under immense stress.
If you aren’t careful and try to rush progress very quickly, this can lead to nagging injuries like tendinitis or even more severe damage. Percentage-based training is like adding strength to every link in the chain, ensuring that nothing gets left behind. This approach doesn’t just prevent injuries; it helps you unlock your full potential in the long run.
I hope I am making this clear, progressive overload is the cornerstone of strength and conditioning. It’s the idea that you gradually increase the demands on your body to stimulate adaptation. But I need you to understand that progress doesn’t mean going all out all the time.
When you train with percentages or rates of perceived exertion, you’re embracing the principle of “controlled stress.” You’re lifting heavy enough to challenge your body but not so heavy that you risk injury, fatigue or burnout. This allows you to consistently build strength over weeks, months, and years—without the setbacks from impatience and overreaching.
Think of it like planting a tree. You don’t dump all the water and fertiliser on it in one day and expect it to grow overnight! You nourish it consistently, and over time, it grows taller and stronger than you ever thought possible.
3. This is important to know! It is only the World That Teaches Us to Rush.
Here is the gut check you didn’t ask for but will get anyway! Society teaches us to chase quick wins—to lose weight fast, hit PRs yesterday, and always be doing more, more, more. However, true strength and conditioning require a different mindset. It’s about playing the long game, trusting the process, and understanding that progress is built brick by brick, just one step at a time.
It isn’t weak or bad to leave some effort on the table when it comes to building your body. It is wisdom. Knowing that today’s discipline sets you up for tomorrow’s success. It’s about resisting the temptation to burn out in the short term so you can thrive in the long term. Sure, some days, as a coach, we want to see you execute. However, we mean it when we write 90%, pace or practise. It is our job to keep you in the game, but if you are choosing to go above and beyond, max out anyway and/or keep failing when we have told you to move on, we can’t do our job, and you are setting yourself up for long term failure for a short term internal cheer.
If you get nothing else from this article, it should be this: It is okay to hold back and wait for the right time to execute. Because that time is not every day! Your body keeps the score, and like a car, if you keep hitting the wall, you are going to end up, no matter what you are driving, riding around in a heap of junk!
5. It’s about teaching Sustained Effort. That is the Secret Sauce
At Vasse Strength and Conditioning, we believe that extraordinary results come from sustained, deliberate effort—not from chasing the hype of max effort every session. I have been in the fitness game for 20 years and can tell you about 5 times I have exceeded my efforts, which has led to an injury. Percentage-based training allows us to balance intensity and recovery, ensuring our members become stronger, fitter, and more resilient without unnecessary risks. Remember, our goal is to help you hit your goals and keep hitting them for years to come. It is to make you feel confident, competent, and comfortable, making fitness a part of your everyday life, and not to cheer you on for an effort we didn’t prescribe because you felt good and wanted to max out. Wait, and we will all cheer for you together. Community first!
My Final Thoughts
I cannot say this enough. If you want to succeed in strength and conditioning, you must shift your mindset. Forget the rush that society glorifies. True strength is built patiently, progressively, and intelligently. By embracing percentage-based training and leaving some effort in the tank, you’re not holding back—you’re building something extraordinary.
It’s time to let go of the “all-or-nothing” mentality and embrace the power of consistency. Your future self will thank you. BECOME EXTRAORDINARY.