Consistency, said Oscar Wilde, is the last refuge of the unimaginative. Slow and steady, said Aesop, wins the race.

Milo of Croton was the strongest and greatest wrestler of his day, which was the 6th century, BC. The story of how he gained his legendary strength was, for a long time, told to illustrate both linear progression, and the principle of Specific Adaptation of Imposed Demand.

As a young man walking to work in fields each day, Milo hoisted a calf on his shoulders. He did this every day. The calf grew, and Milo did, too. Eventually, the calf became a full grown cow, and Milo became a full grown man. A really strong full grown man.

It’s a great story, but it is untrue. It cannot be true, for physiological reasons. If it was possible to get stronger in a strictly linear fashion, then every power lifter would go from bench pressing just the bar non-stop to loading the bar with a ton. Every body builder would easily progress from 98 pound weakling to a giant. Their muscles would have muscles. The human body simply cannot take constant overloads. In order to grow strongr in a linear fashion, it must reach a peak, the de-load, then peak again. Then again. Then…

The message that Milo really sends us is that consistency is not the hobgoblin of small minds. It is the key to gaining and maintaining strength. To make progress, you must train regularly. Punch the clock, as Dan John says. It is those punch the clock sessions, which occur far more often than those where records are set, where progress is made.

You get better at playing the piano by playing the piano, but you don’t get better by playing every now and then. You practice regularly, and you practice music that is hard for you to play, until you become skilled at that music. That is how you grow as a pianist. You can’t, however, practice Monday, and then again Saturday, and expect to become a better player. If you started Monday and practiced everyday, with the proper focus, it’s quite possible that by Saturday, you’ll be a better player.

The same is true in strength training. To get stronger overall, you practice exercises that are hard for you to do, until they become easy. Then, you either increase the load, until you master either the load, or the movement. However, unlike the piano, it’s unlikely that you’ll increase your pull-up maximum repetition from one on Monday to ten on Saturday, even if you practice everyday. With a good plan, and consistent effort, though, you will eventually reach your goal. The most necessary element is consistent effort. Even a poor plan regularly executed will produce results.

The gym is perhaps the only arena outside of the music studio where simply showing up regularly, and making an effort, is always rewarded. A training split of two days weekly will produce results, but only if you show up both days. So will training three, four, five, six, or seven days per week. Few things in life offer such a guarantee.

Be consistent. Slow and steady. Embrace your inner hobgoblin.