Recently you’ve picked up a new workout routine, sure to have you reaching your fitness goals in no time. But in reality, you still feel like you’re in the same position you were when you started. You’re not reaping the benefits of the work you’ve been putting in, or at least that’s what the mirror is telling you. Before you flip a table and give up on yourself, here are a few things you might be doing wrong:
1. You don’t believe in HIIT
Now you may have seen this acronym before in relation to working out. HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training in which you alternate periods of intense exercise with periods of a lower intensity. For example, jogging at a steady pace for 2 minutes and then sprinting for 1 minute repeatedly.
You can do HIIT during any kind of cardio and it actually helps you burn more calories than staying at a steady pace for 30 mins. You will actually continue to burn calories after you’ve finished your workout…. yeah, I said it.
2. You stay away from lifting weights
Did you actually know you that you can burn more calories and shed more body fat if you just picked up a pair of dumbbells? Weight training is one of the best ways to ensure your reach your body goals, and there are a TON of workouts online to give you ideas. And no…. using weights will not make you bulky or make your butt hard.
3. You are what you eat
Let’s be clear, you cannot work off a poor diet. Most people assume I can eat whatever I want and workout at the same time. This isn’t true. If you’re goal is to lose fat, you have to stay away from the pizza and fries… it’s as simple as that. Don’t expect to go to the gym daily and see results if you’re midnight snack habit turns into a full meal at 3 am.
One way to get on the road towards better eating is to try to tone down the salty/sugary foods. Put down the white bread, and go for whole wheat next time. Instead of a burger, go for a salad. Eating is the most important part of any fitness journey, you have to get serious about it.
4. You’re doing the same workout
So you have this workout you like, and it’s the only one you do when it’s time to bust a sweat. It may be something like:
- Cardio 10-20mins
- 25 crunches
- 50 squats
- 10 pushups
- 10 lunges
This is a great total body workout! But at this point if this or something similar is all you’ve tried, your muscles have adapted to this work and your results will halt. You have to be explorative in your workout routine. Do something different as often as you can! Maybe instead of running on the treadmill for cardio, try the bicycle or a combination of high knees and jump squats. You have to challenge your body every time you workout!
5. You give up on yourself
Yes working out is hard, there’s no part about it that should feel easy. If your goal is to do 50 squats but at 25 you start to feel tired, DON’T STOP! Don’t go soft because you’re only letting yourself down. You can’t expect results if you didn’t do the work.
But this doesn’t mean to go overboard either. Start small with a number of reps or weight amount that make sense for where you are in your fitness journey. You just have to stay committed so that you can actually progress towards a more challenging workout.
Are you ready to get down to business?