Brutal Honesty About Results From Your Workouts, or Why You Are Not Seeing Results.
I have some tough love for you today. It’s about your workouts, and their results. Can we speak honestly? You go to the gym several times a week, sometimes twice in one day, you attend classes, you get your sweat on, and yet something is missing. You aren’t as fit as you should be, something isn’t working the way you think it should. Is it really supposed to be this hard? What is up?
I think a lot of us are unintentionally shortchanging ourselves. Workouts should be evolving and changing, adapting, and growing. Taking a step back and looking at your overall approach will help you work out smarter, and maybe harder. You’ll be glad you did. Here are a few things to think about and evaluate.
1. You Aren’t Paying Attention
Let’s face it, some instructors or coaches are better than others. But let’s assume you aren’t wasting your time with one of the bad ones. When you go to a workout or class, are you truly listening to what you are being told to do? Do you pay attention to alignment cues in yoga? Do you check your form in weight training? When your cycling instructor tells you to add resistance, do you? Basically, are you paying attention to what you are doing or thinking about what you need to do after your workout is over? Or worst of all, are you one of those individuals who know everything…or think they do?
Listen to what your coach is telling you. A professional coach/instructor are, or should be certified experts who take continuing education classes and spend countless hours outside of class creating a quality workout. They have taken on the burdens of exercise selection, interval timing, choreography, and sequencing from you. You just have to show up and do what they say. You wouldn’t ask an accountant to do your taxes and then scribble all over the return as she was filling it out would you? Don’t sabotage your instructor or coach!
Sometimes the key to success is recognizing that you can’t get there on your own, and allowing someone to help you. Trust us. We want to get you there as badly as you do. So pay attention to us and do what we say.
2. You Aren’t Working Hard Enough
Coaches know how hard you are working, and that you probably aren’t working hard enough.
Example: you are in an indoor cycling class and your instructor asks you to add resistance to simulate a hill climb. Everyone adds gear, except for you because you don’t want it to be “too hard.” When the music picks up tempo and the entire class is straining to keep up, there you are, pedaling like a demon with no effort – barely breaking a sweat – do you think the instructor can’t see that?
Another example: you are in a weight-training situation and even though you’ve been doing the same lifts for months now, you are using the same weights. You wonder why you aren’t getting stronger. Guess what? You aren’t challenging your muscles when you pick the same weights every time. Pick up something heavier. Try it. What is the worst thing that can happen? It’s too heavy and you have to switch back down to finish? Congratulations, you have achieved a higher level of muscular fitness. Do that every time.
Last example: you are in a HIIT class that is working in intervals. There are people that are going to go half-speed the entire time. And there are people that are going to stop working halfway through the interval. You know how coaches know? Because WE CAN SEE THEM! Don’t be self-conscious; no one is staring at you while you work out. But your instructor is scanning the room for safety reasons and can see how hard you are working. Chances are, you are saving a little. Stop doing that and you’ll see better results.
3. You Aren’t Competing With Yourself
The best way to gauge your fitness is not by watching what the person next to you is doing. Who knows what they had for breakfast that morning? How many workouts a week they do when you don’t see them? How much of their ability is biologically set before they even walk in the room? It’s not about them. It’s about you.
Don’t be afraid to be the hardest worker in the room and stand out because of that. You go to your classes to improve yourself, not to fade into the crowd. We all have strengths and weaknesses. You may struggle at push-ups but you can plank for two minutes without faltering. You may have spaghetti arms but can crush weighted squats all day long. Be you. Don’t worry about anyone else. Stay in your own space, mentally and physically.
4. You Don’t Accept What You Can’t Change
Be honest with yourself and set reasonable expectations. You can’t do 1,000 burpees in 10 minutes and you will never change the basic biology of your body. If you are bottom heavy, you will likely always trend that way when gaining weight. If all the women in your family get saggy underarms by the time they are 40, guess what? You probably will too. And no amount of treadmill work will change your DNA. However, you can tone and shape that bottom, heavy or not. You can strengthen and tighten your triceps to help that underarm sag. There are many ways you can improve the body you have. But no amount of exercise will completely transform you into someone else. You can be the best you possible. And that should be your goal.
5. You Reward Workouts With Food
We all do it – Now that I’ve worked out, I can go have that bin of pasta I’ve been craving. I can hit the drive-through for that burger and fries “because I’ve earned it.” You haven’t though. You’ve worked so hard to achieve a higher level of fitness, to lose weight, to feel good about yourself. And yet you sabotage it, sometimes daily, by rewarding your fitness work with food.
At some point, we were taught that we have to earn the right to eat through exercise. And that if we’ve earned it, we can have whatever we want, and we do, and then some more. Then we wonder why we aren’t achieving our goals. It’s time we stepped back from food. Instead of it becoming a reward system, it should be a means to an end. It should enable our recovery and power our efforts. The reward for the work is not a consumable. It’s an intangible, something you can’t measure. It’s called: Pride. Satisfaction. Self-confidence. Empowerment. You can’t get those things from a drive-through. If you want the burger, eat it. But don’t confuse yourself about why you are having it. You haven’t “earned” it. You’ve allowed it. And that’s OK, once in a while.
Best of luck! If you are stuck and dont know what to do next, contact us. Check out and fill out your information: https://lakecountrytraining.com/contact-us/
Thanks!!
