How We Adapt Your Personal Training as You Get Stronger

The weight that challenges you when you first start training should not automatically remain your working weight forever.

As you become stronger, your training needs to progress with you. At Elite Fitness, that means watching your repetitions, the assistance you need, and—most importantly—the quality of your movement. We make small adjustments based on what you can handle.

The Merhi Method provides the approach. Your progress determines how we apply it.

Small increases. Consistent technique.

For many of my clients, I generally work around 12 to 15 repetitions, sometimes a little higher.

If someone comfortably completes more than that, I may increase the weight slightly. Their repetitions come down because the exercise becomes more challenging. As they get stronger with that weight, the repetitions gradually build back up. Then we consider another small increase.

That cycle continues throughout their training.

The increase should be small enough that the client can maintain controlled, consistent movement. If the heavier weight changes their technique, we have gone too heavy.

I want demanding repetitions. I do not want sloppy movement just to reach a bigger number.

We train the person who arrives that day.

Your working weight is not a number you must reach regardless of how you feel.

Sleep, eating, and recovery are things I ask about and consider alongside what I see during the session. Sometimes a client arrives feeling stronger. Sometimes their usual weight feels considerably harder.

I watch their response during the first and second sets and adjust accordingly. A good trainer needs to recognize when to increase the challenge and when to bring the weight down.

A lighter day does not mean starting over. It means adjusting that session while continuing to work toward the longer-term plan.

Assistance is a selective decision.

When I talk about reaching failure, I mean the point where a client cannot complete another controlled repetition independently.

In some circumstances, I may help with one or two additional repetitions. I provide assistance while the client continues working, with attention to keeping the movement controlled.

We do not use assisted repetitions all the time. That decision depends on the client’s recovery, how they feel, the weight selected, and how the set is progressing.

The goal is an appropriate training challenge. Assisted repetitions are one technique I may use—not a requirement for every client or every session.

Christian’s progress shows what those adjustments can look like.

Christian O. came to Elite Fitness approximately five months ago weighing around 218 pounds. He now weighs approximately 190 pounds—a reduction of about 28 pounds.

At the same time, his training has progressed substantially.

On our Hammer Strength leg-extension machine, Christian initially struggled to complete approximately 11 or 12 repetitions at 80 pounds. Recently, he has been working at roughly 220 to 240 pounds for a similar number of repetitions on that same machine.

Those are his reported working loads on one exercise. They give a concrete example of how the challenge has changed over time.

Christian trains four times within a seven-day cycle. His program divides those sessions into shoulders and abdominals; back and triceps; legs; and chest and biceps.

His appointment days can vary while the cycle provides structure. This is his individual program, developed around his training—not a split everyone needs to follow.

Nutrition changes alongside the training.

Christian also changed how he eats.

We initially reduced his overall calorie intake and introduced a more structured eating plan. His meals include protein sources such as chicken, beef, fish, and eggs; carbohydrate sources such as brown rice, quinoa, oatmeal, and sweet potatoes; vegetables; and foods such as avocado and nuts.

His meals have been adjusted several times during those five months, including increases in protein and food intake as his program progressed.

His story brings together several parts of the approach: consistent training, gradual adjustments, an eating plan, and time to recover. We will also be adding Christian’s own account of what that experience has meant to him.

Your progress carries forward with the team.

Working with another Elite Fitness trainer does not mean beginning again.

Our trainers report to me about the exercises, weights, repetitions, and assistance a client needed. I share that same information after my sessions.

That communication helps the next trainer understand where the client is in their program. Each trainer brings their coaching perspective while following the same Merhi Method and building on the work already completed.

Your training should keep responding to you: your strength, your technique, your recovery, and your goals.

Book your complimentary assessment to discuss your starting point and how we can build your training from there.