The Best Mindset for Your Training: Macro, Meso, and Micro Progress

One of the most frustrating things in training is having clear goals and realizing that time passes and you're still not reaching them.

Whether it’s mastering a specific skill, hitting a certain number of reps, or gaining muscle mass, these are common goals we work toward. But sometimes, life throws situations at us that make it hard to achieve them, leaving us feeling discouraged.

The truth is, over time, personal circumstances change. What you originally planned might not go the way you expected. You might get injured, feel some discomfort, fall ill, have a demanding work schedule, or need to focus on other areas of your life and set training aside for a while.

These kinds of “unexpected events” can cause your progress to stall, backtrack, or require you to start over.

That’s why I want to share a perspective that can help you see these situations differently, cope with them more constructively, and—over the long run—actually improve your chances of reaching your goals.

Macro, Meso, and Micro Progress

When you set a goal like achieving a muscle-up, doing 20 pull-ups, or gaining 5 kg of muscle, you're aiming for a macro goal—a long-term objective.

If everything goes perfectly and you face no setbacks, you might reach that goal in under a year. But, as we mentioned earlier, that’s rarely the case. Usually, something unexpected happens.

That’s why these macro, long-term goals often extend over a year or more.

Macro goals can be broken down into smaller, medium-term achievements—what we call meso progress. For example, learning to do explosive pull-ups before tackling the muscle-up, or reaching 15 pull-ups on your way to 20. You might also hit an advanced tucked planche on the way to a straddle planche, or gain a couple of kilograms before hitting your muscle-gain goal.

Then, meso progress itself can be divided into short-term micro goals, typically on a week-by-week basis. That could mean getting one more rep in a given exercise, holding a progression a few seconds longer, completing a set you couldn’t before, or sticking to all your planned workouts for the week.

Analyze Your Progress from This Perspective

When one of those setbacks happens—like having to stop training for a couple of weeks due to discomfort or being too busy—getting back to training will feel like a step back. This is where the new perspective comes in.

From a macro point of view, yes, you’ve lost progress and might need months to return to your previous level. But if you look at it from a micro perspective, your first week is about recovery, and by the second week, you’re already improving compared to the first. That means you're making progress again—micro progress—just two weeks in. This is far more encouraging than only focusing on your long-term macro goal.

At the meso level, which we can usually measure in spans of about three weeks, the first three might be about regaining what you lost. But from week four onward, you can already start progressing again at the meso level compared to the previous block. Again, a much more positive way of seeing things.

So, when a problem or unexpected situation threatens your long-term progress, you can quickly shift your focus to short- and medium-term gains. This mindset keeps you motivated, more consistent, and confident in your training.

Time Takes Its Toll—But Also Makes You Wiser

Another important point is that as time goes on, your general knowledge about training—and especially about your own body—will improve. You'll also gain more experience dealing with different situations and bouncing back from them.

So every time you face a setback, you’ll be better equipped to handle it and recover more quickly.

Each injury teaches you how to manage and heal from it. Every time you’re overwhelmed with work or short on time, you’ll learn how to make the most of whatever time you do have.

That means every time you take a step back, you’ll know how to manage it so the impact is minimal and you can quickly get back on track with progress across all timeframes.

Irreversible Situations

That said, some of the “setbacks” or circumstances affecting your training are permanent. Aging, for example—it’s not the same trying to make gains at 20 as it is at 45. Having a family and kids, or dealing with chronic injuries or health conditions that won’t go away, are long-term changes you’ll have to approach differently.

In these cases, you have a couple of options:

You can accept that your long-term goal may still be achievable (if it is), but that it’ll take much longer. Progress at the meso level will also come more slowly. So focus solely on short-term micro progress, within the new conditions you're living with.

Or, you can completely reevaluate your goals in light of your new situation—especially if a chronic injury means your previous goal is no longer realistic. In that case, just shift your focus to a new, attainable goal and start building toward it.

Conclusion

Even when adversity gets in the way of your training, you can choose to face it in the most productive, positive, and effective way possible. That way, you won’t lose motivation, you’ll keep moving forward, and ultimately, you’ll be able to reach your short-, medium-, and long-term goals.

By Yerai Alonso