By Katy Loren
“In the world of fitness, everyone thinks doing more than the next person is better,” says Risa Sheppard, a Westwood, California-based Master Pilates trainer and creator of The Sheppard Method Pilates. “Heavier weights are better, tons of repetitions are better . . .”
However, there’s a fundamental problem with that mindset — one that can derail someone who otherwise has the best of intentions in their quest to improve themselves. “As a Pilates Instructor for almost 50 years,” Sheppard says, “I’ve seen more progress with clients who don’t try to compete with others, and who instead take their own time with progressing to the next level and who find their ‘personal best’ in whatever they are trying to perform.”
That means an inward focus on what you are trying to achieve. “Every move you make should be your personal best,” she points out. “Be as mindful as possible as you lift a weight, run a mile, or do a Pilates move or yoga pose. When you are fully engaged in what you’re doing, being mindful of each movement, you are performing your personal best at that time.”
Keeping Sheppard’s advice in mind, let’s explore five ways you can focus on your own improvements and achieve a new “personal best” mark in whatever target you choose to aim for.
1. Form is foremost
You may have your eye on the big prize, but getting there requires paying attention to all the details along the way. “One of the biggest problems that stands in the way of achieving a new personal best in an exercise is performing your reps with incorrect form,” Sheppard says. “By correct form, I mean, are your hips and shoulders stabilized? Are you moving from your core instead of flailing every which way? Are you using momentum as you move instead of controlling the movement?”
In fact, fudging a bit on form to push or pull just a touch more weight is common when chasing a personal best — in those cases, being a stickler for your form can protect you from injury. “Knowing how hard to push yourself is important to making progress while avoiding setbacks,” explains Tony Jacobsen, NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Adaptive Fitness Specialist. “In adaptive fitness, this means balancing effort with safety.”
Jacobsen suggests finding the line where you’re at the edge of your comfort zone — but not crossing it, stopping a set or an effort immediately if you feel acute pain or your form gets sloppy. “Listen to your body,” he says. “Taking an extra rest day or repeating a level of progression isn’t a failure — it’s part of the process. Recovery isn’t just about resting but also about actively managing your body’s needs, such as stretching or using mobility exercises to maintain and gradually expand your natural range of motion.”
Are you wondering how to do a particular exercise properly or looking for new ones to try? Be sure to check out our comprehensive “Exercise Index” video library—just click here to access it now!
2. Tailor your training
Once you have a goal in mind, you can’t just halfheartedly commit — you need to build your daily training regimen around it. “For instance, if you want to run fast, you must train fast,” says former Olympian Samantha Clayton, OLY, DBH, NBC-HWC, an L.A.-based personal trainer, behavioral health and board-certified health coach, and executive consultant for Sunny Health & Fitness. “Ditch the steady-state slow runs and focus on intervals, where you alternate between sprinting and recovery. This will encourage your cardiovascular and energy systems to get used to increased demands while building stamina and challenging your fast-twitch muscle fibers.”
For someone aiming for a new personal best time in anywhere from one mile to a 5K, Clayton — who competed in the 200-meter sprint and 100-meter relay for the UK’s 2000 Olympic team — suggests speed-centric interval sessions, such as:
Warm-up: 10-minute easy jog
Workout: 5 x 400m sprints at a 5k race pace
interspersed with 2 minutes of walking
Cooldown: 10-minute easy jog
3. Embrace variety, even when chasing a singular goal
Many people make the mistake of focusing solely on their target exercise when trying to achieve a new personal best. For example, someone aiming for a stronger bench press might only do presses, or a runner trying to increase speed might only run. This narrow focus can hinder progress and increase the risk of overuse injuries.
“To run faster on a track, you need to build strength in your glutes, hamstrings, and lower back,” Clayton says. “Hills are a great way to strengthen the muscles that drive your stride. Incorporating hill sprints into your routine, such as six 30-second uphill sprints with a recovery walk down, will improve your power and running efficiency, translating to faster times on flat ground.”
Or let’s say you’re trying to increase the number of push-ups or pull-ups you can do in one set. “While practicing the push-up itself is key, ancillary movements like seated presses, resistance band chest presses, and core stabilization exercises play a major role,” says Jacobsen. “These exercises strengthen supporting muscles and improve overall stability, which can be extremely helpful if you work around specific physical limitations.”
A systematic progression is also vital. “You can start with wall push-ups or countertop push-ups and gradually move to knee or floor push-ups, which ensures steady improvement without unnecessary strain,” Jacobsen adds.
Related: How to Master the Push-Up
4. Temper your timeline
“A common mistake in chasing a goal is focusing too much on speed, strength, or reps rather than quality and progression,” Jacobsen says. “Skipping steps — like moving too quickly from modified push-ups to full push-ups if that’s the exercise goal you’re focused on — can lead to frustration or injury.”
Instead, he suggests giving yourself an ample timeline. “For someone rehabbing, or with a disability or other limitation, reaching a personal best could take 6 to 8 weeks of consistent, tailored effort, depending on your starting point,” Jacobsen says. “Patience and adaptability are your allies; celebrate every small win along the way because each one brings you closer to achieving your goal in a way that honors your body and its unique needs.”
5. Discover the right pace
“It’s tempting to push yourself hard right out of the gate, but starting too fast can lead to disappointment . . . or injury,” Clayton says. “If running, you should begin with shorter, more manageable intervals, then gradually increase the intensity over weeks. Progressing slowly each week, adding more sprint intervals as you go, and keeping recovery times longer at the beginning is a great way to build up your confidence and get your body ready for speed.”
In addition, a key part of pacing your journey is a written journal, logging your workouts, sets, reps, weights, distances, times, etc. — all that information will aid in keeping you on track while also giving you a way to review at a glance how far you’ve come.
And if you’re pursuing an aesthetically-based aim — adding an inch to your arms, or reducing your waist circumference, taking photos regularly can help to motivate — or recalculate if you veer off track.
Master the “Big 3”
Bench press, deadlift, and squat. If you’re one of the many men and women who want to set a new personal best in one (or all) of those mythic powerlifting staples, Los Angeles personal trainer and former Mr. America, Jason Kozma has some time-tested advice to share.
“Powerlifters increase their one-rep max (1RM) by focusing on heavy lifting, accessory work, and structured programming,” says the former Mr. America champion. “Training twice per week per lift is ideal for balancing progress, intensity, and recovery.”
Here are Kozma’s five steps to a bigger bench press, squat, or deadlift:
1. Practice each lift with high and low reps.
• Heavy sets (1-5 reps at 80–95% of 1RM) build strength.
• Lighter volume sets (5–8 reps at 65% to 80% of 1RM) help refine your technique.
• Using “paused reps” can overcome sticking points in the range of motion.
2. Follow a periodization plan.
• Hypertrophy (muscle-building) phase: 8–12 reps, moderate weights.
• Strength phase: 3–6 reps, heavier weights.
• Peaking phase: Train near-maximal loads (1–3 reps).
• You can follow each phase anywhere from four weeks to three months.
3. Add accessory work.
• Target weak points with exercises like front squats, Romanian deadlifts, and overhead presses.
• Improve strength and stamina in your core and grip with planks and carries.
4. Focus on technique.
• Perfect your form for efficiency and injury prevention.
• Practice competition standards (e.g., squat depth, bench pauses).
5. Prioritize your recovery.
• Don’t skip rest days
• Include complete proteins at every meal.
• Incorporate stretching and mobility movements.
“As a note, if you are doing these lifts twice per week, it’s best to put the squats and the deadlifts on the same day to avoid overtraining,” Kozma adds. “With consistent effort, beginners can see progress in a few months, while advanced lifters require longer, more precise programming.”
