Today, I'm going to talk about a problem that affects you guys regularly: some of you aren't making progress in the gym. I won't lie to you; you won't see changes right away. Since our bodies aren't machines, it's only natural that it takes us some time before we begin to notice any significant results.
However, more factors can prevent you from achieving the success you're striving for. Many of you tell me that you are performing all the exercises that I share (which, by the way, is AMAZING!!! ), but you are not noticing much difference.
I've put together this short list of reasons why you might not be obtaining the results you deserve and working your tail off to achieve.
Not exercising frequently
I understand if you want to get out of bed early on certain days and dash to the gym, but if you just do this once a week and skip the other days, you won't notice any improvement.
I know it's tempting to skip the gym and sleep in, so believe me, I get it. Everybody, including me, has days when we aren't motivated to go. But if you're serious about improving, you must go to the gym regularly and persevere through the tough days.
In my previous blogs, you can find motivational tips that will help you stay consistent!
Being impatient
You must realize that it doesn't happen that quickly if you want to see results from your exercises and watch your physique change before your eyes. Your body needs time to lose fat and build muscle, and it also needs time for you to see those improvements.
You might not be making progress in the gym because your expectations for the result are unrealistic. My body has been developing for years! I'll repeat it: I worked hard to get this body. I first felt the same way, but as soon as I became realistic about what I might expect to see, I began to notice those little changes that accumulated with each trip to the gym.
You simply cannot see it.
How often do you stare at your entire body in the mirror, hoping that your abs will pop out or that your butt will suddenly transform into a bubble butt? You cannot physically see the progress you have made when you look at yourself daily! It's the same with our hair; we can't see how much it has grown overnight.
If you took a "before" image each week and compared it to an "after" picture the following week, I'm willing to bet that you would notice progress there that you couldn't see in the mirror. Then, when you compare that image to another taken a few weeks later, you'll be surprised by what you see! Perhaps the problem isn't that you're not making progress but that you just can't perceive it.
I know how discouraging it is to work so hard and not see any results! We all occasionally have this issue. Thus this is very normal. You can check out this blog about how to stay consistent. I bet that at least one of the tricks I shared will help you stay motivated even when the results are slow.
You don't rest enough.
It's fantastic to have a positive attitude toward exercise and want to do it daily. I want each of you to have this mentality. Overly enthusiastic people often work too hard and don't give their bodies enough time to rest and recover, which is a problem.
Your muscles need time to heal, grow and develop. With each exercise, you induce tiny breaks in your muscle fibers, which is excellent since that is how more muscle is produced. However, if you don't take a break, those tears won't have time to heal, and the next time you exercise, you'll just tear them again, which slows your progress.
You should give your muscles at least two days of rest per week. During those two days, you can still exercise, but no lifting! Allocate time for your muscles to heal!
Bad Nutrition
No matter how frequently you work out, if you immediately follow up with junk food, it won't matter. Consuming frequently fried, greasy, fatty, and sweet foods can prevent you from making any significant advancements.
You won't notice any effects if you don't give your muscles the protein they need to expand. You should consume about one gram of protein per pound of body weight. Therefore, you require 134 grams of protein per day if you weigh 134 pounds.
Real food will help you stay full, provide your body with all the nutrients it needs to function and make you feel better. Keep in mind to FUEL your body rather than merely feeding it.
I know that finding a good diet that satisfies you is hard. That's why I made it easier for you. I have a meal plan for each calorie group and each type of diet (vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, etc.).
You can find all of them here!
And you can use the calorie calculator to calculate how many calories you need to take each day so that your body is full and shows you results faster!