Top 5 Reasons For Workout Failure

     You've been working out like you're on a mission. Or, so you think. But the excess weight isn't "falling off" the way you like. It gets frustrating, and you don’t know what you are doing wrong. Most people will just throw in the towel and accept defeat. Give up. Quit. Cry and whine that they're not getting results from exercise.

But there is a solution. The effort you put forth is in direct relation to the results you get. A good effort WILL produce good results, as any fitness guru or fitness expert will attest to. If you aren't meeting your goals, it's time to check out these saboteurs (in and out of the gym) that could be the culprits.

1. What's Going On Inside You?

Getting a leaner, energized, fit body is more than just exercise and eating well. Look at your past exercise history - is it streaky? Do you go hard, stop, go hard, and stop? Is it sporadic? Work out for a week or two, stop, etc.? So many people write themselves off as failures, before even starting. Oh, they may try, but that's where the streakiness or sporadic workouts or eating habits happen. It has to do with your self-image. Your self-image dictates how your body moves. Self-defeat, poor body image, unrealistic expectations, lack of self acceptance and perfectionist tendencies will stop you dead in your tracks.

If you want to be consistent, dedicated, focused, energized, committed, leaner, psyched up, etc., you FIRST must WANT to be. In order to HAVE something, you must first BE something. That means changing your attitude, your self image. The results will come.

2. Wasted Sweat

Just because you jump up and down and lift a few weights here and there, even daily, doesn't mean you're going to get positive results. Diet and exercise is like a science. You experiment, record your results, analyze the results; see what you can do better for a more successful experiment. Do the experiment again. The process goes on and on. And all the while, you're learning what works best for you. You may start out with a generic program, but from day to day your program gets finely tuned and more focused according to how YOUR body works.

3. Getting Lazy - The Infamous "Comfort Zone"

If you've been doing the same routine for weeks on end, and you're pretty comfortable with it, you're not challenging that body enough. I'll go so far as to ask, "Why the heck are you even exercising, then?" If you want to get fit, you must move that body. Throw in some intervals with your aerobic training. Change your strength training routine every few weeks. Do a major overhaul - create an entirely different routine with exercises you haven't done in a long time. Bike for a couple of weeks, then walk for a couple. You can also use the ski machine or elliptical trainer for a few weeks to mix things up. You eliminate boredom, too.

4. Going Half-Speed

Small effort, small results. Give your training, nutrition, and your life all you've got. Your body and your life will give you back everything they have. No shortcuts, sorry. There is magic - and it's YOU. It's about how badly you want it, what you're willing to do, how you're going to live your life, to get it, overcoming obstacles. Keep firmly planted in your mind that you are greater than anything that can happen to you. If the program isn't working, neither are you. That doesn't mean you're not working out hard. It could mean that you're not eating properly, your self-image is lacking, you're not getting sleep, and a slew of other very important factors that affect positive results. You need to take a look at the whole picture. Then keep going after it with abandon.

5. You're In A Hurry For... What?

It took time for your body to get where it's at now. It's not going to come off tonight, tomorrow, or next week. You KNOW that. But yet we continue to think that you can just unzip your unfit body and out steps an incredible body immediately. The results will come. If they don't come at the speed you want, then it's time to rethink the timeline. It's important to stay focused on your goals. It's just that the methods and time to get there will change. And they will change often. This is a science; it has to work. And it does work.

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