Welcome to the first in a seven part series covering seven reasons you aren’t getting results in the gym.
We’ve all been at a point where we feel like we’re really making some good progress in the gym, then when it comes to hopping on the scales or taking that progress picture you get that crushing feeling of not seeing what you wanted to see. It can be really disheartening, especially when you feel like you’ve been putting in a lot of effort.
The problem is, even though you feel like you’re ticking all the boxes and you’re doing everything correctly, sometimes we just don’t always get the essentials right.
I’ve trained countless people over the years, people of different abilities, with different goals and of different shapes and sizes. When a new client comes to me for help, it’s usually because they’ve not been seeing the results they want.
After talking to them about what they’ve previously done in the gym I can usually figure out quite quickly where they’ve been going wrong.
Like yourself, these clients usually have the very best of intentions and want to see good results, but there are a few things holding them back. In this article, I will cover some of the most common problems I’ve encountered. Take a look and if you think any of these apply to you, go and fix them!
The first reason you aren’t getting results is because you’re not progressing your workouts
Let me give you one big golden rule. If you want your body to change then you have to give it a reason to. It’s a basic principle of how your body works.
First of all, let’s imagine your goal is to build muscle. You’re probably hitting the weights regularly, but can you honestly say you are regularly increasing your weights?
In order for your muscles to grow, they need to be constantly challenged. So the first time you bench pressed that 40kg barbell, your chest probably really felt it, and maybe again a second time. But after a while of pressing that same 40kg bar your muscles have grown and adapted enough to deal with the demand of lifting that weight. The 40kg barbell becomes easy to lift and your muscles have no reason to grow and adapt anymore.
Let’s look at the same principle for fat loss. First of all, weights are a great way to lose fat, but I’m going to give you a cardio based example. Let’s say you run 5 kilometres in 30 minutes. You might have really felt it the first time you did it, maybe a little less the second time, but by the fifth or sixth time guess what? It’s a piece of cake!
Your body has adapted to running 5k in 30 minutes and it no longer needs to change to be able to do that.
So what I’m getting at is in every single session, something should change. This doesn’t always have to be the weight. You could increase your reps, run an extra kilometre, reduce the time it took to cycle 10k, hold your plank a little longer, even improve your form – anything that means your body is being challenged each and every time you train. And each time you change something in your workout, you should be tracking and recording it so you know where to start from next time.
Need help with your nutrition and fitness? Then take a look at reason number number 2 of why you aren’t getting the results you want which you can read here!