results from working out

Are you getting little to no results from working out?

There is nothing more frustrating in the fitness game than experiencing a lack of progress.

Many lifters feel as if they are training hard, but they are just not seeing the fruits of their labor.  This lousy feeling of going nowhere fast can absolutely demoralize a lifter.

Despite that feeling, it’s not time to start feeling sorry for yourself.  Doing that will make you feel even worse.

The only way to make progress is to look in the mirror and be completely honest with yourself.  You have to ask the person looking back at you, “Are you doing everything you can to make progress?”

If the answer is no, it’s time for you to reevaluate your current plan of action.

The whole point of training is to get great results in terms of your physical and mental health.  If you have not been seeing any progress, you must know that there are 4 reasons why your results from working out have been limited at best.

1) Your Training Program Is Fake Hustle

The great Mark Jackson said it best.  “Ain’t nothing worse than fake hustle!”

What is fake hustle?  There are a couple ways to define it.

• Fake hustle is not giving your best effort.  For example, you give up in the 200m dash with 50 meters left in the race because you think you might lose.

• Fake hustle is looking to take the easy way out.  For example, you choose to do partial rep squats with a lot of weight loaded on the barbell instead of using less weight and squatting all the way down to the bucket.

• Fake hustle is trying to appear as if you are working hard, but in reality you are not.  For example, to try to impress people on social media, you post a picture of a heavy barbell, but you know you cannot lift it.

What does fake hustle look like in the iron game?  There are a couple scenarios that reek of it.

• Avoiding the difficult compound movements.

• Performing half/quarter reps or using poor form with too much weight.

• Taking selfies instead of actually working hard during the workout.

• Training with no intensity and no purpose.

• Only doing comfortable workouts that do not make you work hard.

• Charlatan trainers and coaches who cannot teach clients how to properly lift.  They instead opt to train clients with flashy moves or exercises that have NO VALUE.

When your training is fake hustle, you should not be surprised when you have a fake hustle body.

How can you expect to earn real results from working out when you train with no intensity, purpose, or passion?

The great thing is that there is a cure for fake hustle.  When you put your focus on making progressive gains in strength, reps, or training density, you will eliminate the fake hustle.

By focusing on progression, your physique will change accordingly with the constant challenges.

Remember, without a challenge, there is no reason for your body to change.  You have to get comfortable being uncomfortable if you want to build a phenomenal physique.

Reason 2) The Majority Of What You Eat Is Garbage

Working out is important, but the second reason why many lifters are seeing no results is largely ignored: most people have poor dietary habits.

Frank Zane said it best:  “Junk food builds a junk body.”

If you are constantly filling your body up with junk the majority of the time, your physique, and your performance will never be maximized.

In order to get and stay lean, 80-90 percent of your food intake should come from whole, nutritious foods.

This means you should eat carbs like rice, potatoes, and vegetables.

This means you should eat proteins like lean ground turkey, chicken breasts, or lentils.

This means you should eat fats like olive or coconut oil.

When whole foods are the majority of what you eat, you will carry less body fat.

Now, for the other 10-20 percent of the time, you can have your chocolate chip cookies.  You can have your cake.

If you are training hard and eating correctly the majority of the time, these treats will not have a huge effect on your physique unless you spend the whole dang day in Sugartown.

I tell trainees new to the Fit Life that the first thing they should begin to do is to track their foods.

Tracking your caloric and macronutrient intake makes it easy to see exactly where your food is coming from.

Many people don’t want or like to count calories, but it is the easiest way to know what’s going into your body.

Counting calories is not something that you have to do forever.  But if you have a distinct goal that you want to hit, knowing what and how much food you are eating makes reaching your goal significantly easier.

On the other hand, if you have no idea as to what is coming in, it will be much harder to make adjustments and get to your end goal.

During my first natural bodybuilding run I used to track all of my macros by writing them into a notebook.  I eventually switched over to My Fitness Pal as it is a much easier process.

All you need to begin to track your foods are some measuring cups and a food scale.

Reason 3) Your Recovery Stinks

Studies show that the average American sleeps about 6.8 hours per night.

But how many folks do you know who sleep even less than that?  I could name you three folks right now without even thinking about it!

Now, nobody is perfect, and unfortunately sometimes I’ve been that low sleep guy.

It hurts me real bad when I’m missing sleep.  I’m a natural vampire, but it is still not good to skimp on your sleep.

If you are only sleeping 3-5 hours a night, there is no way that you can maximize your performance, muscle growth, or fat loss.  And if your performance is weak, your physique will be weak as well.

We all lead hectic lives at times with our family and work demands, but making time to get quality sleep is critical to your daily function.

If you are unable to get the full 7-8 hours of sleep per night, taking a power nap at some point throughout the day can boost your energy levels tremendously.

You could think of your body like it is a cell phone.

When your cell phone is charged all the way up, it works very smoothly.  The apps open quickly, you have no issues using it, and the performance is spectacular!

But when your cell phone is constantly at 30 or 40 percent power, it does not work as effectively.  The performance decreases noticeably and the quality fades like a boxer who is fighting past his prime.

The same rules apply for your body.  A low battery leads to a performance that leaves much to be desired.

Many men complain of low testosterone affecting their sexual health.

Yes, it is true that testosterone drops as we age, but you really cannot know how you truly are operating if your sleep quality is not optimal.

Cancel the appointments to the doctor and put the LibidoMax 2000 pills down for a second.  Try getting some consistent, proper sleep for a few weeks to recharge your battery before you resort to other means.

Now, stress can also drain your battery.

The more negative energy you give to the little things in life that do not matter (somebody takes a closer parking spot at the mall etc) the less energy you have for the things that actually do matter like your health.

If you are stressed out all the time, then you will also struggle with seeing progress in the gym.

Stress has a snowball effect on everything you do in life.  When we are stressed out we tend to make poor decisions.

By reducing the number of stressors in your life, you will lead a better overall life and be much more effective with your training.

Reason 4) Your Mindset Needs An Adjustment

The above 3 reasons are important, but having the right mindset about what you need to do is paramount.

A lousy attitude is one of the most common reasons why many lifters get no results from working out.  Let’s say we have 2 lifters.

It starts with YOU...
It starts with you.

Bonnie Basic has a basic training program, a basic coach, and a basic nutrition plan.

There is nothing remarkable about what she is doing, except that Bonnie has the attitude of a pure winner.  She is 100 percent committed to attaining her goals.

On the other hand, we have Sabrina Showtime.

She has the most advanced training program on the planet.

Her nutrition plan is tailored to her body type and her training schedule.

Her coach is world-renowned for getting results.

But her attitude stinks.  She constantly complains of being tired, the weight on the bar being too heavy, not seeing results, or just flat-out not wanting to train.

Out of these two women who will see better results?  The answer is Bonnie without a doubt.

Why will Bonnie see better results?  HER MINDSET.

When you have a winning mindset, and you focus on making progress, you can make gains with any training program.  But it all comes down to your approach.

If you approach changing your physique with passion and pride, it will happen.

If you approach changing your physique as if it is a chore that you really do not want to do, you have already lost the battle, even if you have the advantages of Sabrina Showtime.

Conclusion

The 4 reasons as to why you are not seeing results from working out does not have to be your reality.

Train harder, eat better, sleep more, reduce your stress, and adopt a winning attitude.  These changes will make all of the difference in the world.

I’ll holla at you next time.
The People’s Trainer
Fitman

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