Everyone who joins a gym or begins a new training regime has an idea of what they want to get from their efforts. More often than not, people come up short in achieving their goals and the foundational reason is usually very simple……they aren’t training hard enough.
Commitment and Determination is Important
Most people feel that by simply ticking the box and going to gym they will suddenly have the body of their dreams or the strength of an ox within a few weeks. It goes without saying that without consistently stepping out of your comfort zone in a controlled manner, you will find it near impossible to see any changes.
Some People Don’t Want To Change
As a personal trainer, I have seen dozens of examples of people in gyms putting in a half-hearted effort and then wonder why they aren’t improving. In the past I’ve seen people with the goal of losing body fat sat around on recumbent bikes reading a newspaper; and they expect to see changes?! It’s just not going to happen. The best example I recently saw was an individual on a mobile phone whilst performing dumbbell rows. Literally unbelievable, but for him he’s ticking the box……. but he isn’t going to change.
Adapt To The Right Training Regime
When approaching training it’s important to remember that your body can only change and adapt in relation to the stimulus you give it. If you want to train for a marathon, some steady moderate pace walking on a treadmill each session is probably not going to set you up for success.
On a similar note, if you have the most common goal of all and are in search of the ‘beautiful body’, is lifting a couple of 2kg dumbbells going to give your muscles enough stimulus to change? Unless you have an underlying medical condition preventing you from lifting heavy weights the answer is, simply, no.
The average person spends all day lifting objects of a relative weight such as briefcases whilst at work, children whilst at home or if you’re a woman a handbag everywhere you go! This means you have to lift more when at the gym for you to see physical changes in your body shape.
Step Outside Your Comfort Zone
This doesn’t mean, however, that everyone should be coming into the gym performing drop sets on every set or undertaking giant sets in every session. It simply means that you need to step outside of your own comfort zone. Whether you are a semi-pro footballer in your mid-twenties or an obese woman in your mid-fifties, you will have your own threshold. So, unless you push these boundaries your body will have no reason to adapt.
