Why You’re Not Seeing Progress

6 reasons why you’re seeing little to no progress, and what changes you may need to make.

Time

“I don’t have enough time” is not a valid reason- its an excuse. When you yearn deeply for something, you will do whatever is necessary to get it, because you are passionate and obsessive about obtaining it.

We are all given 24 hours a day, however, how you spend it is up to you. Being a full-time student or working a 9-5 isn’t an excuse, it’s reality; you just have to be determined and make the necessary adaptations.

For example, I had a semester in college where my first class would start at 8 am everyday. Because of my schedule, I had to go to the gym either really early (5 am) or really late (10 pm) if I was working that afternoon/night. Yeah, it sucked at times. I was tired, I was mentally drained- but fitness was and is something I love, so I had to make the required adaptations to continue doing what I love, and thus, getting closer to my goals.

Don’t put yourself in a box. If you really want it, you’ll find and make a way.

 

Spending Too Much Time On the Wrong Things

On the flip side, a common mistake can be spending too much time or emphasis away from your main goal(s).

For awhile, one of my main goals has been to grow my glutes. While building an overall physique is super important, to see more effectiveness and results towards my glute development goal, I should have changed my workout split years ago to reflect it.

When I first began lifting, I would follow the bandwagon routines of ‘back & bi’s’ and “chest & tri’s’, without putting much thought into them. While there is nothing wrong with these splits, what was wrong, was that I was spending too much time every week on other muscles that were not of my main goals, and not enough time on my focus points; in other words, my goals did not reflect my actions, which lead to slow progress.

Now, I devote 2-3 days of my week to specifically target the glutes and surrounding muscles, instead of just having a generic ‘leg day.’

Craft a workout split/routine around your goals.

 

Mindset

Your mindset is a key player. Remain optimistic and don’t make decisions based on momentary emotions, rather, make decisions based on your aspirations and then execute them.

With social media, it’s really easy to fall into the thought process of “OMG she’s gorgeous and has the perfect body” and then begin to feel highly discontent and wanting to give up because you feel like you’re not getting anywhere. Listen, (real) fitness models didn’t get to where they are in a short period of time; women like Michelle Lewin have been building their physique, with true discipline for years.

Having a mental obsession with your goals, will lead to physical results.

 

 

No Plan

Having an idea or mental plan of your goals and the necessary tasks to reach them is great; but there is something to be said about writing down your goals– having a tangible plan which also acts as a form of accountability with yourself. If you’re a visual person, this approach may benefit you greatly. Write and plan things out, both short-term and long-term, then stick it in plain view to keep yourself on track, and also write out more thorough daily/weekly plans. You got this.

 

Inconsistency

Not being consistent can be a large contributor of why you’re not seeing progress. You do a few “good” things here and there (like eating a salad or running on the treadmill) and expect it to just completely override everything. Nope, that’s not how it works with fitness. You have to be dedicated- consistent and disciplined with both exercise and nutrition, all while remaining patient. Our bodies don’t display immediate gratification with results; they take time to show us the hard work we’ve put in.

 

Nutrition

The saying, “you can’t outrun a bad diet” is true- unless you’re Usain Bolt, blessed with an extremely high metabolism/genetics, or are on ‘roids;” but for 95% of us, this is the cold hard truth.

Calculate out the amount of macros you need, then eat accordingly, building your meals
on the foundation of natural whole foods.

 

Figure out what it is you need to change or start doing, then attack it with everything you’ve got. YOU GOT THIS, DON’T GIVE UP!!

 

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