Reasons Why Your Workout Just Isn't Cutting It

You workout on a regular basis...you are at the gym 3-4 days per week....you attend group exercise classes and sweat away your stress...you show up for all of your personal training appointments as scheduled.  So why aren't you seeing the results?  Weight loss shouldn't be this hard...should it?  Let's look at some reasons why you may not be seeing the results you expected.

You aren't working hard enough.

Is going to the gym a social event for you?  Is it time to catch up with your buddies and talk about the game last night?  Maybe you come in and have been doing the same exercises and are feeling "comfortable" with the routine.  Now is the time to kick it up a notch.  While it's OK to chat with your buddies at the gym, try to limit it to before or after your workout.  Keep your mind focused on the activity at hand.  Many times we fail to push ourselves to do exercises to failure.  Whether it's the fear of working that hard or just not knowing how your body will respond, you should attempt to push yourself with each workout.  Therefore, it's not how much weight you lift but how hard you push yourself.  Once you catch your breath, it's time to move on to the next exercise.

You are working out too hard.

What??  Didn't I just say you had to push yourself during your workouts?  Well it is possible to work too hard or "overtrain".  Are you in the gym 5-7 days a week?  Do you go "all-out" in every workout?  Do you take all the group exercise classes plus workout on your own?  You actually are doing your body more harm than good.  The body needs time to rest and repair itself and if you are always working out and not allowing the body any "down time", your body will rebel.  You may experience headaches, insomnia, exhaustion, even weight gain.  Although we love to see your faces in the gym, it is important to take a day or two off so you can get adequate rest.

You aren't eating enough.

OK, so now you think I've totally lost my mind.  If you haven't read our previous blog, "Are You Eating Enough", then take a moment to go back and read it.  Remember, you have to consume enough calories to meet the needs of basic body functions like breathing, standing, and moving, PLUS you need to have enough energy to do your workouts.  There's a fine line there and if you don't consume enough to meet those needs, where is your body going to get the energy from??  You guessed it, your muscle tissue.  You will actually break down muscle tissue so the body can use it for energy.  Ultimately resulting in weight loss but the WRONG kind of weight loss.  Remember, weight loss is 20% exercise and 80% nutrition.

You are spending too much time at the gym.

Stay with me folks...I have a good point to make!  Are you spending 1-2 hours in the gym?  Do you perform your strength routine, then hit the cardio machines?  Do you think longer workouts will help lose the fat and build the muscle you are looking for?  Probably not.  In a study published by the School of Kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario, researchers compared effects of short, intense strength/cardio training with those of longer bouts of moderate exercise. In this study, both groups ran three times per week for six weeks. One group ran as hard as they could for 30 seconds and then rested for four minutes and repeated this three to five times for a total workout time of 18 to 27 minutes. The second group jogged for up to 60 minutes at a moderate pace.  Those in the sprint group saw their total body fat decrease by 12.4 percent, while the other runners lost less than half that much!  

So where do you go from here?  First, try doing more intense workouts for shorter durations.  For example, get your workout done in 30 minutes.  You'll tend to push yourself harder if you know you only have 30 minutes to get it done!  Next, take a look at your nutritional habits.  There are lots of great programs on the internet to track your food intake and calorie consumption/burn.  Check these out.  Remember, I've said it before and I'll say it again, we have a nutritional specialist on staff here at PROMATx Health Club.  We can help you with the dietary part of weight loss.  Don't try to fight it on your own!!  Finally, it's not quantity at the gym but more about quality.  I'm sure your significant other and family members would love to see you a little more often.  You don't have to live at the gym to lose weight and be healthy.  Just be smart and follow our advice.  It is possible to un-do what you have done to your body throughout the past years.

Come in and see us.  We'll guide you, we'll push you, we'll help you!!