3 Reasons You Are Not Getting Results From Your Workouts
I don’t only look at myself as a personal trainer, I also see myself as an educator and a student. I’m constantly in learning and research mode so that I can provide you with the BEST and most ACCURATE information regarding your health and wellness. I take courses, attend workshops and seminars, invest in my library of books and read blogs. Man, there are a ton of blogs about fitness and I probably subscribe to a fraction cause I don’t have enough time in a day to read them all! I read reputable blogs from quality resources and I also read a lot of crap. There is a lot of crap and sadly, many of us trust these people for our information. Many of them have TV shows and huge followings online.
Sometimes it’s an injury or with most moms, diastasis recti, pelvic floor issues or both. In these 3 cases, it’s important to exercise at a light intensity and progressively build. Taking care of these lingering issues takes priority in my book. Going into a high intensity program may do more harm than good in the long run. Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you may not be seeing results even with all of that work you have put in.
!) Sleep. Seeing that you may not be sleeping well, there are a few things that happen. You may not feel like being active because you have little to no energy to do so. Also, your hormones become out of whack. When you’re running on lack of sleep, your cortisol becomes elevated leaving you craving foods that are high in sugar to give you that burst of energy only to crash a short while later and your Leptin (starvation hormone) no longer registers properly. So, if we’re not sleeping properly, do you see how it can affect your fat-loss goals as well?
2) Stress. Cortisol is our survival hormone. We have it to protect ourselves from harm, like getting chased by a bear. The problem with this is that we are always getting chased by bears. We are always STRESSED! We overwork ourselves, we overschedule, we don’t prioritize sleep and we are chronically stressed, making ourselves sick.
3) Your current exercise program. There are several factors that go into this one but the biggest is that you’re doing too much. More is not better but we are still taking the “beast mode” approach when it comes to fitness and our bodies are suffering. We’re running, jumping, lifting weights and trying to work at this intensity every single day. Your body needs a chance to recover and it may not be getting that opportunity. Throw lack of sleep and stress on top of that and you’re going nowhere fast.
This pretty much affects everything! How we sleep, how we eat, how we think. Your body doesn’t know the difference between running from a bear and your favourite spinning class. To your body, it’s the exact same thing. Sure, exercise is excellent at reducing stress, but if you’re chronically in fight or flight, it’s doing the exact opposite and it may be a factor in what’s preventing you from seeing any significant changes.
Yes, we can control our stress levels but that’s a process in itself that just takes time. However, stressful events do happen in our lives that are not within our control and sometimes, no matter what we do, we can’t do anything about it. We have to deal the best we can, talk about it and ride it out. Just knowing that if the results slow during that time may happen and it’s just temporary and once thing pass, you may start seeing results again. If, you find yourself in a period like this, take some pressure off and reduce your workouts if you need. Reducing the intensity may just be what your body needs.
These are just a few reasons and as you can see, they have nothing to do with not being consistent, not switching up your routine enough or not practicing mindful thinking. There is a lot more that goes on within our bodies and it’s important that there may be an underlying issue. Dealing with this issues will be your key to long term success.
Love your baby body,
Terrell
This Friday (June 10th) I will be at Cheeky Monkey Discussing this very thing in a little more detail. In this workshop, you will learn so much more about how your body functions after pregnancy and how you can reach your goals with the Minimum Effective Dose (MED). This is is the same formula that I use with all of my clients and they have had tremendous success! Click here to reserve your spot before it's gone
