1. Intensity
One of the biggest excuses people use when it comes to working out is not having enough time, so don’t waste your time when you are there. Stop limiting yourself, your body is capable of doing much more than you think. When lifting, cut your rest period between sets shorter, do more super-sets, drop-sets etc. When doing cardio, incorporate more high intensity interval training.
2. Wrong Exercises
There is no such thing as spot reducing fat. When you burn fat off of your body, you lose fat in your entire body, not one particular area. Ab Crunches WILL NOT get you a six-pack, stop wasting your time doing them.
Your workouts should consist of both weight resistance and cardio. Adding muscle to your physique not only gives you a more sculpted body, it also allows your body to burn more calories while your body is at rest. Ladies, do not be scared to add muscle to your body, you won’t get “too big” or “bulky” I promise you. Cardio is a must no matter what your goals are. Increasing your cardiovascular endurance gives you more stamina for workouts, leading to better performance and more effective results. In sum, incorporate both cardio and weight resistance to your workouts accordingly based on your goals.
When building muscle, focus on compound exercises. Compound exercises like the barbell bench press, barbell row, barbell overhead press, squats, and deadlifts work multiple muscle groups at a time increasing your overall body composition. These types of exercises will allow you to add more muscle to your body faster and more effectively. Do not spend unnecessary time doing isolation exercises trying to sculpt a particular muscle. Isolation exercises like a bicep curl or a triceps extension that only work one small muscle group at a time are not efficient.
3. Adjusting Your Routine
Do not repeat the same workouts and over again, switch it up. Your body will eventually get used to doing these exercises, leading to slower results. As you progress week to week, you need to be adjusting your workouts as well. Add more weight to your weightlifting exercises, increase the volume, increase the repetition amount, try different exercises, do longer cardio, etc. One way to prevent this is by logging all of your workouts in a journal. Keep a record of what you did and make sure you try and do more the next time.
4. Diet
This problem is pretty simple, but still never gets addressed. Figure out the amount of calories you need to be consuming according to your goals and stay on track! Training your ass off in the gym won’t do you any good if you’re not making the sacrifices outside of the gym. Hold yourself accountable. When you cheat on a diet, you’re only cheating on yourself.
5. Unrealistic Goals
Be honest with yourself. The overall goal should be better body composition, not weight loss. Fitness is a long journey and it takes a lot of time to get the results you want. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was your body. Don’t be discouraged by the lack of results, stay consistent and it will eventually pay off. You can lie about the amount of work you’re putting in, but results do not lie. If you put the work in, the results will show.
Do not measure your results based on the scale. Ladies, be aware that muscle weights more than fat, so don’t always be discouraged by the scale. You could in fact be shredding more fat than you think by simply adding more muscle to your whole body. Fellas, just because you’re going up in weight, it doesn’t mean you’re adding muscle. On average, you can add up to about 10lbs of muscle a year if you are training effectively and optimally on a consistent basis.
The biggest mistake you can make is comparing yourself to someone else. The only person you’re competing with is the person in the mirror. Focus on becoming the best version of yourself.