Whether you’re a newbie or training vet, not hitting your goals can be frustrating. It’s easy to blame other factors for this but chances are it’s things you’re doing that are holding you back. Below are 5 ways you’re sabotaging yourself.
You’re Not Following A Progressive Programme
This one should make sense. A Programme should be designed to progressively overload you in certain movements and exercises over the course of x weeks/months. When done correctly, each week and phase should build on the previous. It should be designed with your goal in mind meaning every session is designed to bring you closer to your ultimate goal. Obviously, if you have a coach this should be done for you but if you’re a member of a commercial gym this mightn’t be a luxury you have.
One of the biggest complaints I get with people coming to us first is “I’ve been a member of this big gym for x years, but I’ve never progressed or lost fat or gained strength.” Or something along those lines. There’s a couple of reasons people struggle to progress in these gyms. Not having a programme and not knowing how to progress are the main reasons. That’s not faulting the gyms themselves, because that’s not what they specialize in. But you need to know what your goals are and what gym will best suit you and help you reach your targets. So, reason number one for not progressing, you’re not following a programme.
You’re Not Leaving Your Comfort Zone
This holds people back every single day, not only when it comes to fitness but in their professional and personal life too. One of my favorite sayings came from Keir Wenham-Flatt, former S&C coach to the Argentina Rugby team and current Head S&C at William and Mary University in the States, he said “Boats are always safe docked at the harbor, but that’s not what boats are for.” Pretty sure he got it from someone else, but I got it from him, so thanks Keir.
Being able to take the step to go out and do something different is where the major change happens in life. Sometimes these things don’t work out but having the courage to take those steps and challenge your current way of life can lead to amazing results and lifelong lessons, I’ve taken quite a few of these plunges in the last 9 months, some worked, others crashed and burned but I’m still here writing this blog with lessons learned.
When it comes to fitness, the body only knows stress and comfort. Your body needs stress to adapt. This means you need to push yourself to your physical limits when training, otherwise you’re not applying true stress. You can easily go through the motions and feel you’re working hard without applying real stress and that’s fine if you’re comfortable with where you are in your fitness life and don’t want to improve. To figure out truly how much you’re capable of you need to push past those barriers. This is where having a coach and training partners can come in handy, having that extra push when you don’t want it can help you leave your comfort zone and find true adaption. You’re either applying stress or you’re not, simple as.
Patience and Consistency Are Letting You Down
You’re not going to hit your goals in 4 weeks. Depending on your own situation and goal, it could take months or even years to reach your ultimate goal. So, when you don’t get a new PR or improved muscle to fat ratio in 4 weeks don’t be surprised or let down. In a world of convenience and quick fixes for everything, there is still no quick fix for fitness and health, despite what some companies want you to think.
Being able to have patience and keep the endgame in sight is a very important skill on your fitness journey. Olympic athlete’s wait and train for 4 years to get a chance to compete for gold. 4 years they keep focused on their nutrition and training. I’m not saying it’s easy, because if it was, we’d all be Olympians, but that’s my point. How many of you start ‘eating healthy’ on Monday and binge the following weekend because you’ve not made any progress in 5 days? Sounds ridiculous that somebody would throw the toys out of the pram and pack it in because they’ve not hit a goal in 5 days, but it happens. Learning to have some patience and stay consistent in the gym and with your training is a huge deal for reaching ultimate targets.
Another point here is that you may have a new goal every month because you’re fed up of not reaching the original one, this is a great way to keep getting annoyed with yourself and let down. Just relax, talk to your coach, set a reachable goal and get that goal.
Your Eating Habits Don’t Compliment Your Set Goal
This one is pretty self-explanatory but can go both ways. If you want to drop fat you need to eat like you want to drop fat. Also, if you want to build muscle and put on size it’s not just going to happen from the gym and strength training alone, you need to eat for the body you want, not the body you have.
You can’t out-train a bad diet, we’ve talked about that before. So, if you think you can train like a demon and eat like an idiot, you’re not going to hit your fat-loss goals.
For those of you trying to put on size it’s not going to happen magically. You need to put as much thought and effort into your nutrition as those people who are trying for fat loss. Sometimes, when trying to put on size you need to be eating 3500-4000 calories. That doesn’t happen by accident, being able to hit that number of calories consistently for a couple of months while also keeping your health in check is seriously hard.
You’re Not Adapting the Programme
If you do chest every Monday, legs Wednesday, back on Thursday and arms on Friday every week for the last year without adapting, maybe things are getting stale. We’ve said you need to stay consistent and have patience but if you haven’t made progress in 4-6 months maybe it’s time to switch things up.
If you’re completely stale and burnt out with your training, it might be a good idea to just switch it up completely. Try a different gym or a different type of training. Get a personal trainer or a nutrition consultant to help you out.
If your training has hit a bump and you’ve found yourself not getting the results you feel you deserve, I recommend you look at these 5 areas of your lifestyle and training and see if you’re missing something. As a coach, I understand the value of having one and I will always recommend that to people who are in the position to be able to get their own coach. If you don’t have that opportunity available to you there’s still plenty, you can do.
Rory.