Do you feel like your training is going well but you’re not seeing any progress?
You may be going to the gym everyday and eating a balanced diet but is that enough?
Plateauing in your journey within the gym from time to time is a normal thing to go through, even as a gym rat! But there could be more to what’s going on and creating little speed bumps within your fitness journey.
Here’s a couple of things to ask yourself:
Is my training plan consistent?
Any training is better than no training! Let’s just get that straight, but when training for goals whether that is to lose weight, build muscle or to just become a little bit healthier, consistency within a workout programme is essential! Without it, training becomes unorganised, the body finds it harder to adapt and habits become more challenging to form.
Studies have shown muscle groups require at least 2-3 times a week of training whilst progressing (heavier weight!) to promote Hypertrophy (build muscle💪🏽💪🏽). Meaning if your workouts change frequently with different exercises, tracking your progression is gonna become difficult and you could be stunting your full potential.
Am I eating the right amount of calories?
Through your fitness journey nutrition is a massive factor! Understanding whether you should be in a calorie deficit or surplus or even maintenance is highly important to aid your training for the best outcome.
Losing weight = calorie deficit
Staying the same = maintenance calories
Increasing body mass = calorie surplus
Relatively 70-80% of your appearance comes down to your nutrition (in most circumstances) and should never be pushed to the side. Under or over eating can stagger your progress and slow down the desired results you’re aiming for.
Activity outside of the gym?
Are you only being active for that one hour at the gym?
Going to the gym is great but if you are not doing anything outside of that and being sedentary for the other 11 hours of the day, there are a lot of minutes we’re missing out on to get them extra calories burned!
Little tips I recommend:
Morning or evening walks.
Schedule walks through workday breaks.
Standing up more often throughout the day than sitting down.
Parking further away from your destination.
Take the stairs.
Am I continuously stressed?
Stress can also be a massive factor in seeing results!
Being under a lot of consistent stress can have a tremendous affect directly on the muscle tissue itself and interfere with the biomechanics, therefore decreasing muscle strength over time as well as heightening the chances of injury and fatigue.
You may hear a lot of fitness trainers give you the advice of getting enough rest after working out, this is in fact true. Rest is just as important as the training itself, when put under pressure the specific muscle tissues slightly tear and rest gives your body the ability to naturally repair the damaged tissue, creating stronger muscles.
The biggest enemy can be stress through this process and disturb the rest you require, leaving your muscle’s at a higher risk of injury or further strain.
Take time to understand what outside factors create stress for you as an individual and either dispose of them or reduce how much contact you have with them.
Equally you can control stress through:
Creating daily routines
Getting fresh air/being around nature
Meditating
Yoga/stretching
Being around good company
Therapy
And loads more!!
If you do feel stuck within your training, I hope some of this has helped or given a little more guidance. The main things to focus on are consistency and discipline within your training and those goals will be achieved 💪🏽🔥
Any questions please feel free to message me!
Coach Lucy x
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