Physically Fits 10 reasons you’re not making progress.
1.Being inconsistent.
Number one has to be inconsistency, the biggest reason I see for people not making progress in the gym is the inability to be consistent in every aspect of training, be it missing workouts, missing meals, or poor recovery practices.
All successful athletes have one thing in common and that’s their undying devotion to their chosen sport, the do the same thing day in and day out, they don’t miss workouts, they don’t skip meals and they make sure all aspects of their lives are geared towards success.
Coaches tip. Keep a training log that allows you to log your workouts, your food and your rest, there are a million apps out there to aid in this process or simply keep a diary and look back on your weeks and be accountable to yourself.
2.Not sticking to a program.
Countless times I’ve had heard “I don’t think this is working for me” after being on a program for 4 weeks or less, a program is purely a template to follow and give you the exact reps, sets, exercises and weights you need to fulfil your goals, but if you think this will happen over night then your mistaken, a program is part of a much bigger picture over a prolonged period of time, not every 4 week program will bring you the results your looking for because fitness is not a linear curve, there will be ups and downs, there will be injuries that push you back, external factors out of your control but the worse thing you can do is start making up your own narrative and deviating from the plan. Stick with your plan and give it 100% and progress will be yours, but it won’t happen overnight.
Coaches tip. Aim to complete every program without deviation or distraction and if then your still not happy with your progress, then and only then take a look at the program, all programs work but nothing works forever.
3.Making big jumps in weight.
I call this the beginners curse, when we start training our jumps in weight are quite big and give us a great sense of achievement and we think this is going to be a linear curve of progress but unfortunately this isn’t the case, as we get more experienced and skilled the progress slows dramatically, especially in 1 rep maxes where we are already working at 95% of our maximal effort.
The temptation when something moves well is to stick more weight on the bar but this isn’t always the best way forward, too big a jump and we fail or get injured, and it’s never a good idea to finish a workout on a negative, stick to the programmed weights and the strength increases will come and the bigger weights will move easier without fear of failure or injury.
Coaches tip. If a weight moves easy on a top set don’t feel the need to put more weight on the bar unless its programmed, take the win and move on, always finish a workout or main movement on a win. Loses equal negative mindset, always leave the gym in a positive mindset.
4.Always seeking motivation.
This one always reminds me of the expression made popular by Jim Wendler, creator of the 5,3,1 training system, discipline over motivation, what does he mean by this? Well its quite simple really, if you’re constantly looking for something to motivate you to do what your supposed to be doing then you need to look at your own dedication to that task, training should be the thing that your dedicated too and what to succeed in no matter what, so why are you looking for motivation? Look within yourself and ask yourself why you’re doing this and how much you want it, that should be motivation enough.
Now I’m not saying that motivation isn’t a powerful tool when it comes to competition or breaking personal bests but if you need it just to get through a standard workout then you need to look at your own dedication.
Coaches tip. Use your own goals and aspirations as your motivation to be better, don’t try to be better than anyone else, be a better version of yourself, you don’t have to prove anything to anyone but you’re sure as hell have to prove it to yourself.
5.Looking for easy answers
There are no short cuts period!! Unless you’re a genetic freak where everything comes easy to you then your looking at a long painful road to success, there will be massive highs and even lower lows but ultimately you need to remember one thing, nothing that comes easy is worth having, the things that we work hard for are usually the most rewarding. There will be a million influencers telling you that they can get you what you want in a short period of time, but this only leads to disappointment and failure, also a lighter wallet. Work hard, work long and the results will come, and more importantly It will be the most rewarding experience ever.
Coaches tip. If it looks too good to be true then chances are it is, there are no short cuts to achieving worthwhile goals, keep a detailed record of your progress and be accountable and you will get to where you want to be.
- Training through injury.
If you want to kiss goodbye to progress and success in your goals then this is a guaranteed way to do it, pain is the body’s ways of telling you that something is wrong and ignoring it will only make it worst, what starts as a little niggle can end up being a career ending injury, the old saying of no pain no gain is the most moronic thing I’ve ever heard, there needs to be a distinction between discomfort from a massive pump or pushing a heavy weight, from the pain you feel from an injury, listen to your body and know the difference, training is never supposed to be painful.
Coaches tip. Fix the little things before they become big problems, sticking a cuff or sleeve over an injury will not make it go away, masking pain with drugs also doesn’t make the problem go away, focus on recovery, injury prevention and make sure you get treated by a professional.
- Unnecessary routines.
Don’t waste your time following the latest fad on Instagram or adding in unnecessary exercises to your program, your program is already designed to get the most out of the workout using the maximum amount of effort and energy reserves that your body is capable of, adding extra will just end up in over training and possible injury, focus on the work you have already have in front of you and giving that 100%, fads are fads for a reason, they come and go, and most things written on Instagram are done purely for engagement and content, 90% can be dismissed by applying simple logic and common sense.
Coaches tip. Stick to your program and you can’t go wrong, and you’ll give yourself the best possible chance of success, deviate from that path and your chances of getting lost down a rabbit hole of useless information will only increase, success comes from doing the same over and over again until it becomes easy.
8.Resting too long
How many times have you got stuck in the rabbit hole of Instagram or Facebook and before you know it you’ve lost all momentum in your workout, we’ve all done it and its not the end of the world but there are a few things you need to remember, cooling down between sets can lead to injuries if the muscles become cold and tight, your central nervous system can “switch off” meaning you could miss a weight that you could of done comfortably if you kept switched on and also you can become very unpopular in the gym if you get reputation of hogging equipment due to prolonged rest periods.
The most important reason to keep your rest periods short is so you can stay in the right mindset, and keep the momentum of your workouts moving forward, always remember intensity is the key in any workout.
Coaches tip. Download a timer on your phone and set a reasonable time limit on your rest periods, this will be determined by the movements your doing, for bigger multi joint movements you may need longer rest than isolation movements, for example 3-5mins on heavy squats, or 1-2mins on biceps curls.
9.Too many external noises.
Now I don’t mean slipknot blaring on the stereo because that should be standard, I mean getting involved in mindless gossip, scrolling through social media on your phone, and chatting to your training partner about his/her domestic troubles, the best way to lose momentum and intensity in your workouts is too get distracted by outside influences, focus on your workout and yours alone, unless your training with someone then use the fact that your motivating and spotting them to motivate your own workout.
“Nothing comes from dreamers except dreams, nothing comes from talkers except sounds” – Prince.
Coaches tip. Invest in a good set on noise cancelling headphones, and only look at your phone to change the music, or check your timer, switch off social media notifications, switch your WhatsApp to busy, it’s a short period in time, so unless you’re a brain surgeon on call, switch it off.
10.Not training hard enough.
It’s a question that people ask a lot, how do I know if I’m training hard enough, and my response is usually, probably not, now I don’t say that to be horrible its just a fact, 99% of us including the most advanced never train too hard, so chances are we are probably under training quite a lot of the time, and this isn’t a bad thing because training hard all the time will lead to burn out and injury, but we should at least be aiming to train hard at least 80% of the time for training to be effective.
An expression that is fashionable these days is training optimally, whatever that means, but the majority of these people usually don’t train very hard at all, and they certainly don’t push the limits of human performance, seems more of an excuse to be lazy from what I’ve observed.
If you have to ask yourself if you’re training hard enough then chances are you are not, because if you were, trust me you would know it.
Coaches tip. Ask yourself at the end of every workout if you could of done more or did you leave it all in the gym, don’t leave the gym negative if the answer is “I could of done more”, use it as fuel to want to get back in the gym and make up the short full.
Train hard or go home is a stupid expression, instead train hard and go home happy.