You train regularly and eat fairly well, but your results feel slow. Review your training, nutrition, recovery and measurements together before deciding what to change.
In my coaching at St Paul's, I often see clients managing late meetings, travel and irregular meals. These experiences help me ask useful questions. They do not tell us that everyone in a particular profession has the same problem.
1. Check whether the training dose is progressing
Muscle growth is influenced by resistance-training volume, but more work is not automatically better for every person. A Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger, Journal of Sports Sciences (2017), systematic review and meta-analysis analysed 34 treatment groups from 15 studies and found a graded relationship between weekly set volume and changes in muscle size.
That analysis compares study groups; it does not establish four to six sets—or any single number—as the correct prescription for an individual. Exercise selection, effort, technique, progression, training history and recovery still affect what a set contributes. The useful review is whether the intended muscles receive a repeatable, progressive stimulus and whether performance and body measurements support the plan over time.
2. Check nutrition from records, not assumptions
A changing schedule can make regular meals harder. Record a typical period that includes workdays, restaurant meals and weekends. Compare this with your appetite, measurements, training and goal.
A Morton et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine (2018), systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression found that protein supplementation can improve resistance-training changes in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. It does not mean that one generic protein or calorie target guarantees muscle gain, nor that the body stops building because intake varies from day to day.
The practical plan may include reliable meals, portable options and a framework for client dinners. Quantities should follow the individual's baseline, preferences, total intake and observed response rather than a made-up City-specific macro rule.
3. Match exercise execution to the intended outcome
Getting stronger can happen alongside muscle growth, but a lifting record alone does not show what changed in your body. Review your technique, weights, repetitions and progress. How an exercise feels is only one part of the picture.
Choose exercises that fit the muscles you want to train and track your performance. Review your technique and response individually before deciding whether an exercise needs to change.
4. Build an agreed response to disruption
Late work and travel can reduce training time. Plan a normal week and a shorter week around the same priorities. Adjust the sessions, exercises and weights to your goals and recent progress.
The programme-adaptability guide explains what reduced training research can—and cannot—tell us. The important point is to decide the fallback before the disruption, then review what was actually completed rather than treating one changed week as failure.
5. Review recovery without diagnosing from cortisol
Sleep, work stress, illness, alcohol, travel and family demands can change readiness and performance. They should be considered alongside the training record, not converted into a claim that cortisol remains elevated for a fixed number of hours or reduces an individual's anabolic response by a stated percentage. The sleep and training article sets out a more proportionate review.
Ongoing fatigue, unexplained loss of performance, pain or other concerning symptoms may need an appropriate healthcare professional. Coaching can adjust training and nutrition within its scope. It does not diagnose hormone, sleep or medical conditions.
The bottom line
If your measurements are not changing, review before adding more exercise. Check your starting point, training progress, nutrition and recovery. Change one relevant part at a time and review its effect.
If you want that review built around your actual calendar, the free starter guide explains the framework, or you can apply for coaching.