We live in a world driven by seeing numbers and getting results. It is obvious that exercise and a healthy diet is going to make you a better person and will increase your quality of life, but what happens when you are putting in the work at the gym and you are not physically seeing the changes. You may feel discouraged, disappointed, and are usually ready to throw in the towel. If you are really putting in the work, you will get the results you want. If you are not currently seeing the results you want, you may be guilty of a few of these common mistakes. Don't worry, they are all easy fixes; take a step back and read on to see what could potentially be dragging you down.
1. You are not working hard enough -
If you have been exercising consistently for several weeks, months, or even longer, it's time to increase the intensity and start pushing yourself. As you work out, your body starts to adapt to the physical stress it endures and becomes more efficient at what activity it is doing. This means that over time, the 30 minute workout that used to challenge you, may start to feel easy and will not get you to the same results. If you continue doing the same old thing, you are going to see the same old results.
What to do?
To get the results you want from exercise, you must regularly push yourself beyond your comfort zone. This is called the "Principle of Overload" where a greater than normal stress or load on the body is required for training adaption to take place. You must either increase your frequency, intensity, or duration of your workouts... but just switch it up!
2. You are working too hard -
If you always go all out in every workout, or rarely ever take that day off, you may be hindering your progress more than anything. During exercise, tiny tears are created in the muscle, if you do not give yourself time to recover, you will never start to build those muscle tears back up. Watch for common signs of over training such as: always feeling tired or sore, unexplained headaches, insomnia, or lack of motivation.
What to do?
Take 3-5 days off from training altogether. Your body needs that time to rest and recover. Get plenty of sleep each night, fill up on protein and nutritious foods and then slowly ease back into your routine. Incorporate shorter and less intense workouts into your weekly routine and remember always have at least one day of rest a week!
3. You are only doing cardio -
Cardio is an essential component in calorie burning but a proper exercise routine will integrate cardio, strength, and flexibility. A proper strength training routine will allow you to change your body composition by building more muscle, decreasing body fat, and strengthening your bone density. You're a women and are worried about getting big and bulky? Not going to happen; read my previous article here:
Big & Bulky | Women Lifting Weights.
What to do?
Start with body weight exercises such as squats, lunges, push-ups, planks, and tricep dips at least twice a week. If you are still a hardcore cardio fan, try kettlebell traning or circuit training that incorporates strength and cardio in one workout. If you are still stuck? Reach out to a personal training at your gym for ideas.
4. You reward yourself with food -
Do you often find yourself having that extra piece of pizza or order a dessert when dining out just because "you went to the gym"? Guess what? You are actually undoing your good calorie-burning with too many treats.
What to do?
Check out the calorie content of some of your favorite foods and treats and then do the math to find out how many calories you are actually burning through exercise. Does it add up? Try using an app or website that tracks calories for you such as Sparkpeople or Loseit! Remember, food should be consumed to fuel your body, NOT for comfort and love. We can find those emotions from other things. Yes you should enjoy your food, but find healthy and clean ways to fuel your body. You want the results? Then put in the effort.
5. You sit all day -
Even though you may workout regularly, if you spend the rest of the day on your butt, you are in trouble! If you sit at a desk all day and lounge on the couch all night, that 1 hour of hard work at the gym can almost be erased. Recent studies have actually shown that sitting too much is actually bad for our health and waistlines... despite what you are doing at the gym!
What to do?
Try to work more activity into all areas of your life. Go for a walk after dinner, choose to stand when possible, take the stairs, park at the back of the lot, do crunches and abs in front of the TV, and actually play with the dog! If you are forced to sit at a desk all day, try setting an alarm for every half to one hour as a reminder to get up, do a lap around the office, and stretch out. All that computer time is also not good for our back or brains!
There may be many more reasons you may not be seeing the results you want, but here are some simple rules to start with. In fact, I think I could do another 5 at another time. But for now, look at the obvious, and if you do fall into some of these traps, fix it! I promise a little hard work is worth the results you will see in the end!
oxox, Em
