Sarah Mackay Shares 4 Strength Training Lessons After 5 Years, Says They Could Double Progress
Updated
Updated · Women's Health · Jun 6
Sarah Mackay Shares 4 Strength Training Lessons After 5 Years, Says They Could Double Progress
3 articles · Updated · Women's Health · Jun 6
Summary
Sarah Mackay said four changes she learned over 5 years could have delivered twice the gym progress if she had known them from day one.
Her first lesson was to slow down: aggressive calorie cuts and high exercise volume produced short-term gains but proved physically and mentally unsustainable.
For training, Mackay now favors rep ranges such as 6-8 or 6-10, adding reps before weight so progressive overload matches adaptation instead of forcing weekly jumps.
She also shifted nutrition toward single-ingredient foods over macro-friendly snacks and raised sleep from 4-6 to 7-9 hours, saying both improved energy, appetite control and gym performance.