Progression is the name of the game, if you aren't progressing you need to evaluate your training and see whats not up to par. This is the time to be brutally honest with yourself, have you actually got stronger, leaner or fitter in the last year ? Or have you just been spinning your wheels.

If like many, you haven't actually made any notable gains in a while, the reason is most likely up to two factors :

1. You have no focus. You flip flop from program to program and don't really know what your purpose is when you go to the gym. For once stick to a program for the whole duration, or set a goal - any goal that will focus you. You don't have to compete, just setting a goal will answer all your questions in the gym about what you need to do. It could be to run a mile in under 5min, bench 50 pounds more, drop 3 inches on your waist or complete an ironman - just make a plan - and stick to it!

2. You don't train hard enough. Even if you think you train super hard, you most likely don't. Fact is it takes a lot of hard work to reach your goals, you will have to be out of your comfort zone most of the time. Comparing yourself to others isn't an indication either, 95% of people in commercial gyms dont train anywhere near hard enough to get real results, so you better be the hardest worker in your gym at the very least! Go to a 'hardcore' gym, or a place where lots of serious athletes train and watch how hard they work, now aim to match that. The US Navy Seals have a saying - when your mind thinks you are done, your body is really only 40% there. Keep going. You can always push harder.

Let's get something straight - there is nothing new in the fitness world. Every 'new' trend is an old method or several combined together and sold as the next best thing. Everything you do in the gym is as old as the gym itself.

People love trends and people love to feel part of something. People want to be part of a group - 'us vs them' so when a 'new' training trend appears (for example kettlebell training) people become obsessed and jump on the bandwagon, they become cult like followers disregarding all other methods of training and preaching their newfound 'wisdom' as the be all and end all.

Fact is, this mindset only limits you. Every training style and method has merit. All the methods developed since the dawn of fitness are simply tools in your toolbox to help you achieve your goals. Blindly adhering to one way of doing things because it makes you feel superior or like you have the 'secret' is just plain dumb.

Don't be a cult follower. Don't be a 'functional' guy who bashes bodybuilders for just pumping muscles - fact is they could teach you how to build some muscle and dial in a diet. Don't be a bodybuilder who bashes crossfitters because they do 'random' movements all together - they could teach you how to push yourself in a new way and to get in great shape. Don't be a crossfitter who bashes powerlifters because they may not be in great shape - they could teach you how to get brutally strong. Don't be a powerlifter who bashes yoga practioners because they aren't lifting big weights - they could teach you how to become more mobile and fix all those nagging injuries.

Open your mind. We have more information at our fingertips than ever before. Use it. All of it!