Why Am I Not Seeing Results?
Why Am I Not Seeing Results?
Not everyone who tries to get results see’s results, they go to the gym and train relatively hard, they try make healthier food choices yet non or minimal results happen. Why could this be?
I have had times where my progress has been very minimal to non existent, its not a nice feeling and you feel like quitting and giving up. If this sounds like you, I feel your pain, but don’t throw in the towel here are a list of reasons and explanations of where you might be going wrong and how to fix them.
1. Calorie Intake
This will be THE main reason of where you are going wrong, wether you want to add muscle size or drop body fat, you need to monitor your calorie intake if you aren’t seeing results. If you are looking to gain size aim for a 500 calories surplus, if you are looking to drop body fat aim for a 500 calorie deficit. Guessing your intake will more than likely be wrong over right, Studies have shown the average person to underestimate their calorie intake by 30%. For the average woman thats 600 calories more than they thought, for the average man thats 750 calories. Make sure you know whats going into your body, if you don’t track your calories you will not know if you are over or under eating. Download a calories counter app to keep a record of your food.
2. Optimal Training Routine
Are you exercising correctly? If not this will massively impact your results. If you are trying to lose weight, are you spending to much time on cardio and not enough on resistance training? Are you taking to long of a rest in-between your sets on the weights? Or are you even focussing on the wrong exercise when lifting weights? All of these will reduce your chances of losing weight if you get it right, performing these correctly will make a huge difference in your results. Focus on more resistance training, take less rest in-between sets and make sure you are doing the main compound lifts such as deadlifts, squats, bench press and pull ups. Don’t focus on arm toning exercises like bicep curls or tricep extensions these burn very little calories compared to the big lifts. If you are looking to add size are you also spending to much time on cardio burning too many calories? Are you tracking your workouts by making sure you are increasing the volume each session? Are you focusing on the right exercises to add size? Making sure you are doing these things will give you optimal results, focus on weights more than cardio, you are looking to pack on muscle not burn extra calories. If you aren’t tracking your workouts how do you know you are pushing harder than before? if you have been squatting the same weight for the same amount of reps for 4 weeks you aren’t overloading your muscles to stimulate growth. You need to make sure you also focus on compound exercises as these build the most muscle, for instance if you do a tricep kick back thats only working your tricep. Performing a bench press will include your chest, shoulders and triceps. Which exercise will add more size over all? These tips wont work unless you are consuming the correct calories so make sure you track them.
3. Correct Technique
I am very big on executing exercise's with the correct form, the correct form will keep correct tension on the muscles you are trying to work. Too many times have I seen people perform exercises with poor technique, not only will this sacrifice your results but it will also put yourself at greater risk of injury. If you are unsure of something ask a trainer to watch you and make sure its correct. Heck even if you think you know it. still ask someone to observe just to make sure. Why can this play an impact on your results? Lets take the lat pull down for example I see many people performing this movement wrong. A lat pull down is designed to primarily work your Latissimus Dorsi, a large muscle that makes up part of your back. Your biceps and forearms also assist with this lift, these are smaller muscles that are part of you arm. Majority of people perform this exercise from over engaging their bicep and not enough of their lats, due to this you aren’t getting maximum muscle growth. This will be a problem if you are looking to lose weight as the less muscle you have the less calories you burn. If you are trying to gain size on your back and you are over using your arms, your back will take a very long time to grow. Perfect your technique first before increasing the weight to get optimal results.
4. Training Intensity
I hate the quote something is better than nothing, okay to a point this is true, however if you are going to do something, do it properly. If you are going to the gym and putting in minimal work you cant expect to get maximum results, it just wont happen. The people who are in good shape train hard and intensely, you don’t have to train 6 times per week at a crazy intensity, but you need to put the work in. Make sure you are always pushing the intensity, just because something was hard 4 weeks ago doesn’t mean it is now. Continually making your sessions harder will give you continual results, our bodies are amazing and adapt to change very quickly. In return your body no longer has to work as hard to keep up the demand, therefor your results will slow. Try changing your routine every few weeks and keep pushing for heavier weights or more reps.
Make sure you are following these 4 steps if your progress is slow or at a halt, they will be a game changer for you and have you seeing amazing results again in no time. So make sure you are:
Tracking your calories and monitoring your workouts.
Training correctly for you and your results.
Performing exercises with the correct technique.
Pushing your training intensity harder than you ever have before.
This can be achieved very easily with simple planning and some conscious effort, the changes wont happen over night but they will come if you stay consistent with them all. Following them on and off will not help you reach results, following them continuously will.
Thanks for reading guys
Train and eat smart :)