Daniel I've often stated that the best athletes all have coaches
They are the genetically gifted, not plebe like us, yet they still seek out coaches
I don't have magic tricks, just ridicule and sarcasm
I simply make sure they train hard on the right movements
Too many focus on minor issues in my opinion
If Markos and his 60+ people who've pulled 200+kg, and what must be 20+ women who've pulled 100+kg, if that's not enough, I can back this up.
At my gyms there are people who've been working out for 6 or more months, they struggle to squat just the bar properly. Many trainers don't focus on strength, so much so that at one of the gyms when there was a big guy front squatting 100kg, another trainer said - and I'm not kidding - "he must be on steroids." Well, so then must a few of my clients.
Let's take AD as an example. He started August 21st with weekly hour-long sessions, he's had to miss a few for work but makes up for it with the sessions he does by himself. When he started he was shallow-squatting 80kg, I took him back to 60kg and got him squatting properly, same thing with deadlifts, bench, etc. He is a 75kg male in his 20s and the other night he did the following,
Front squat 40kg - 50kg - 60kg - 70kg - 80kg all 1x10
Chins 5x5
Pushups 5x20
supersetted, in 20'00"
The last couple of sets he had to break it up, doing 80kg x6, then 80kg x4. Still, he did it. Then he had another 35'00" of session to use up. After a rest he then front squatted 90kg x3, 100kg x1, and then 105kg x5. And he has a desk job. Must be steroids.
Another guy in his 20s, DC, started 59kg. He's had 10 sessions since October 7th. He had never squatted with a barbell before, and his only physical activity was skateboarding. He is now 64kg and has achieved SQ 65kg, OHP 30kg, DL 80kg, all for 5 reps.
During one session he did single dumbbell sumo deadlifts, 25kg 1x33, 30kg 1x33, 35kg 1x34 in 3'00". Then during stretches he had to go and throw up. He said that vomiting had made him more motivated, since he knew he needed to get fitter. He's a smoker. Another guy with a desk job.
Still, both had some kind of physical activity in their background. That helps, if only because they have the bodily awareness. So let's look at someone with a worse background.
I have a client SB who is a 49yo woman around 5'0" and 50kg with low-grade MS, her last physical activity was hockey when she was 20 or something. On Oct 12th in her first session she did 3 knee pushups and struggled to do 2 inverted rows with her knees bent, yesterday in her 10th session and a month on she did 15 full pushups and 15 inverted rows with legs extended. Far from what the young lads did, but still I think a good result.
I have nowhere near the experience of Markos, yet still I can get people who have some kind of physical activity in their background to squat with their bodyweight on the bar - or more - inside a month. And people without a physically active background are at least doing some pushups, maybe a chinup.
Why? How? Regular training sessions focusing on the basic compound lifts, pushing people and not fucking around with bicep curls or ab crunches or playing on the mobile phone. Having someone watching your technique and pushing you, having alternate exercises when you're fatigued or injured, etc - this makes a big difference.
As well, we love what we do, and this enthusiasm passes to our clients and makes them lift heavier. Atmosphere helps a lot, anyone can see that with PTC or other successful gyms. Part of the atmosphere is the competition. If you squat 60kg as a woman or 100kg as a man in a commercial or community gym, you are one of the strongest people there. If you squat that at PTC you're a beginner. If my clients went back to lifting on their own most of them wouldn't get stronger, what would their motivation be?
Anyway Daniel, don't sweat it, progress is progress. Be patient.