Have You Stopped Making Progress toward Your Goals?
Have you ever begun a new month committed to making a change in your overall fitness, only to realize when the next month arrives that you haven’t seen any improvements? Have you ever wondered why personal training is a solution for some and whether or not it’s something you could benefit from? We’ve all been there. Whether we have specific aspirations or a vague desire to improve our wellbeing, accomplishing the level of progress we aspire to can feel out of reach at times.
Maybe you’re a dedicated gym-goer who’s hit a stubborn plateau. Maybe you’re new to your wellness journey and trying your best, but your weight simply won’t budge. This article breaks down some common reasons why people don’t see the results they expect and provide solutions to help you reach your goals. Here are some common culprits that might be holding you back: inadequate diet choices, poor workout patterns, and insufficient goal setting. Let’s take a closer look at how your habits in each of these areas might keep you from seeing the results you want.
Common Reasons Why You Aren’t Seeing the Fitness Results You Want
Although there are several causes of stagnation in an individual’s fitness journey, one of the most obvious problems is poor nutrition. Try as you might to eat well on a regular basis, it can be difficult to track your food consumption consistently and judge whether your dietary choices are helping or hindering your progress. There are some important considerations when determining whether your nutrition is responsible for a lack of results:
Are you eating enough to fuel your workout?
Do you really know how many calories you eat per day?
Are you eating the proper balance of carbs, fat, and protein to reach your specific goals?
One major obstacle to answering these questions is knowing where to look for reliable nutrition information which is why personal training could help. There are countless diet options and pre-made plans available, which contributes to information overload. Influencers try to sell us their one-size-fits-all programs; our friends and family offer endless personal anecdotes; and there are hundreds of articles about intermittent fasting, vegetarian, carnivore, Paleo, or Keto. Getting your information from a dependable source is key to nourishing your body and seeing results. If you’re working with a personal trainer, they can provide you with direction on where to go for nutritional information. While personal trainers aren’t nutrition experts themselves, they understand and respect industry certifications, education, credible information, they have an understanding of your fitness goals, and they can point you in the right direction to a credible, reliable nutrition coach.
Are you eating enough to fuel your workout?
There’s a lot of advice floating around, telling you where and how to cut calories: don’t eat carbs, only eat egg whites, don’t eat between 8pm and 8am, and other suggestions. However, it’s important that you’re eating enough of each macronutrient to fuel your workout. When you have poor nutrition, you’re more prone to injury and fatigue. If you want to build up the endurance to run a marathon, you must nourish your muscles appropriately while training. If you aren’t consuming the correct amount of carbs before your workout or providing your muscles enough protein to rebuild after, you won’t glean all the benefits you’re expecting from your exercise regimen.
Do you really know how many calories you eat per day?
Being in a caloric deficit is the secret sauce to losing weight. Establishing an adequate balance of nutritious versus delicious food is essential to achieving long-term results that are sustainable. Also, learning how to be honest with yourself, understanding what a healthy diet means for you, and developing a plan to moderate your intake of delicious foods are crucial steps on your way to success.
Are you getting the proper balance of carbs, fat, and protein to reach your goals?
At the end of the day, your body is unique. Even when you are educated about how to eat well in general, it’s important to determine the appropriate balance of nutrition needed for your body to reach your fitness goals. Following a nutrition plan tailored to who you are – including where you are now and where you want to be – is an invaluable tool on the path to wellness.
Another challenge to our progress can lie in the workouts we do. While any amount of exercise is a positive addition to our lives, it doesn’t always impact our bodies the way we want or expect it to. Here are some important questions to ask yourself:
Are you exercising on an appropriate schedule?
Are your workouts varied enough?
Are you using the correct form while exercising?
Are you exercising on an appropriate schedule?
The CDC recommends being active for at least 30-minutes a day, 5 days a week. While that advice is an excellent jumping-off point for beginners, you still need to consider the type and intensity of those exercises, as well as the rest days in between. Learning how to adjust the intensity of your workouts throughout the week (and when to give your body the break it needs to rebuild muscle) will make all the difference in your progress and is another reason why personal training can benefit you.
Are your workouts varied enough?
Almost everyone has a favorite form of exercise, such as lifting, cardio, balance, or flexibility workouts. However, your training needs to be consistently intense and varied. If you do the same workout routine every day, your body is going to adapt. You have to keep creating a challenging stimulus so your body can’t get too accustomed to what you’re giving it. It’s important to choose a workout regimen that will cross-train your body and lead you to total fitness.
Are you using the correct form while exercising?
Perhaps you are confident in your routine, but struggle with pulled muscles, which delay future workouts while you recover. You’ll undoubtedly benefit from learning or reviewing the correct body mechanics for your exercise of choice: how to position your hips and shoulders, developing an appropriate pace, and which muscle groups to engage. Ensuring you’re well-versed in correct technique is the best safeguard to avoid injury.
Lastly, one of the most likely reasons you aren’t seeing progress is that you don’t know where to start or where you want to go. You’re ready to make a change and know that proper nutrition and exercise is your key to a new life! But… where do you even begin? How do you assess your current level of fitness and decide what you want to achieve? The following questions can help you determine if poor goal setting is responsible for your lack of progress and why personal training can help you set the proper goals:
Are your goals SuPeRSMART?
Are you being held accountable to your goals?
Are your goals challenging enough?
Are your goals SuPeRSMART?
Setting a goal is easy – setting a good goal is more difficult. How many times have you decided you’ll “workout more,” “lose weight,” or “get stronger?” It’s common to pick a target area but fail to define exactly what and how you want to accomplish it. Choosing a vague goal sets you on a path to failure because it doesn’t provide you with a tangible benchmark of success. Similarly, it’s important for you to choose a realistic goal. For example, deciding you want to run a half marathon next month, but have never ran more than 1 mile in your life. It is critical to set goals that are easily measured and suitable for your current level of fitness which is why personal training can help you make progress to seeing your desired results.
Are you being held accountable to your goals?
Do you have a support system that will motivate you and hold you accountable when you want to skip a workout? It can be daunting to share what you want for yourself and your body. However, it’s essential for you to have a strong support system that you can rely on and trust who will help you get through the days you struggle with the most.
Are your goals challenging enough?
Lastly, it’s crucial for you to set goals that truly challenge you. It’s easy to underestimate what you are capable of or let yourself off the hook before you’ve pushed yourself as far as you can go. We’ve talked about how important goal setting is but adjusting those goals regularly to account for the progress you make is highly beneficial.
With so many factors at play, how can the average person best navigate what changes are needed to see results? Wherever you are in your fitness journey, setting, pursuing, and achieving fitness goals with a personal trainer is a powerful reason why personal training can benefit you.
Benefits of Having a Personal Trainer
Where you might have a biased opinion about your eating habits, fitness level, or wonder why personal training is an effective strategy, understand that a Personal Trainer can provide an objective eye and expert advice. It’s their job to evaluate where you are right now and help build a personalized approach to help you reach your goals.
Let’s go back and look at each of the challenges to success and how a personal trainer can help you overcome those obstacles.
It can be easy to let your eating habits slip or overlook poor diet choices you make. However, nutrition and exercising go hand-in-hand with one another. A Personal Trainer will help you find a healthy balance and identify opportunities for you to make choices that align with your goals.
As mentioned before, there’s a minefield of advice on diet out there, ranging from good to damaging. However, a Personal Trainer will cut through all the hype and provide you with credible information. They’ll consider what your daily intake currently consists of and what your fitness goals are, and then tailor their advice to fit your individual needs.
Once you understand how to optimize your workouts, learning which workouts you need and how to execute them correctly is the next step to success. Let’s face it: sometimes exercise feels like more of a chore than a luxury. It’s easy to skimp on a workout when you’re short on time or stick to the same handful of familiar exercises. A Personal Trainer will assess your current level of fitness and work with you to determine an appropriate training regimen. They can guide you through learning new forms or perfecting ones you already utilize. Perhaps most importantly, they can show you how to add variety to your routine to keep pushing your body further. At the end of the day, allowing a professional to create a tailored workout plan is the best way to ensure you’re on track to accomplishing what you’re capable of.
Ultimately, no matter what you eat or how hard you workout, you won’t see the progress you want without the right tools, a clear goal, and someone to keep you accountable. A Personal Trainer is equipped with knowledge, experience, and a passion for giving you quality nutrition and fitness advice. Moreover, they help you to identify what you want to achieve next and provide continuous support to help you reach those goals.
When you find yourself slipping back into poor eating habits, your Personal Trainer can guide you back on track, give you tips to make healthier choices, or adjust your nutrition plan to accommodate a change in your routine. When you’re struggling to find direction or decide what will work best for you, your Personal Trainer is there to develop a plan for success, keep you on track, and celebrate with you as you achieve all your nutrition and fitness goals.