If you’ve been around the block enough, you’ll know that when it comes to seeing improvement, it’s the small changes that count.
That’s something former Navy SEAL Nik Hawks now knows well. Recently, he took to Instagram to share the simple training habit habit he wishes he’d adopted earlier, and it’s an easy way to make those small changes on a daily basis.
‘I wish I would have known about this one when I started,’ Hawks wrote in the caption. ‘I would have been both physically and mentally stronger.’
The change in question? The 10% method. The premise is simple: when you think you’re done, or you’ve reached the point when everyone else stops, do 10% more.
What is the 10% Method?
The 10% method can be applied to a range of situations.
For example, it might look like adding extra reps to a prescribed workout, pushing yourself to hold an extra 10 seconds in a plank or adding a little extra weight to your final reps: whatever you do, the aim is to make things 10% harder.
‘If everyone else is doing 20, you do 22,’ he explained. ‘If they’re doing 100, you do 110. No one will notice but you.’
It’s a small increase, but that’s the point. Rather than completely overhauling your workout or pushing every set to failure, you’re simply setting yourself a slightly higher target and following through on it.
For Hawks, there’s another important part of the method: to keep it to yourself. ‘Don’t brag about what you just did. Just do it,’ he added. ‘The best in the world don’t announce what they’re doing or tell everyone what they just did that’s so great. They just do the work.
‘Set the higher goal. Do the work.’
While adding extra reps might sound like a purely physical challenge, Hawks says the real benefit lies in goal setting. ‘While this tip seems like it’s physical only, it’s actually a clever use of goal setting,’ he explained.
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