Feel like your fitness routine isn’t delivering results? Here are 5 reasons why.
1. You sit all day
Sure, you hit the gym five days a week, but it may still not be enough to offset the benefits of exercise if you’re chained to your desk all day, then lounge in a recliner watching TV at night.
Numerous studies say too much sitting can be bad for our health and our waistlines — even if you put in a solid 60 minute session at the gym.
Remedy: You’ve heard it before. Increase your incidental activity, which is the movement you get during daily activities that can be done in little bite-size chunks throughout the day. At work, choose to stand whenever possible; take frequent breaks (ideally every 30-minutes), walk over to your co-worker’s office instead of using the phone or e-mail, or walk up and down a couple of flights of stairs to go the bathroom. At home: go for a walk after dinner or do squats while you wait for the kettle to boil. In other words, think of movement as an opportunity, not a time-wasting inconvenience.
2. Post-workout splurge
You may have sweated off hundreds of calories during a Zumbo class, so it’s totally okay to allow yourself that extra few slices of pizza, right? Many people are under the delusion they can eat more if they are active or reward themselves with too many “cheat days”. If this sounds like you, you may be suffering post-workout compensation: eating more calories than you actually burn during your workout.
Remedy. Get the timing right. Since your muscles are carbohydrate sponges following a workout, aim to eat within 30 minutes of finishing. If you wait too long the intense hunger could trigger overeating or mean that you end up making the wrong food choices. Fluids matter, too. There are way too many calories in energy or sports drinks, especially when consumed if you’ve exercised less than 90-minutes. Water is the best thirst quencher and can also help quell hunger pangs later on.
3. You skimp on sleep
Many of us know that regular exercise helps us sleep better, but it’s also a two-way street: regular sleep helps us exercise better. Sleep deprivation tends to suppress our growth hormones, making it harder to repair and build lean muscle. Studies also show that sleep deprivation can alter glucose metabolism (main source of fuel for exercise), which can impact energy levels, making it harder to bring out your greatest effort to your workouts.
Remedy. Establish a consistent sleeping schedule. Remove all distractions that keep you from sleeping, like tablets, smart phones, or TV, and avoid vigorous exercise too close to bedtime as it stimulates the body and makes it more difficult to get to sleep.
4. You’re only doing cardio
Yes, cardio is important for weight management, heart health and muscular endurance, but that doesn’t mean it’s all you do to stay in tiptop shape. A 30-minute jog on a treadmill won’t really alter your body composition (fat vs. muscle), but incorporating strength training will. Adding resistance will help build lean muscle which will significantly help you burn more calories, increase your metabolism and burn fat faster.
Remedy. There is not one single activity that can give you everything you need. Create a weekly program that rotates through different modalities of fitness (cardio, strength training, flexibility, core) in order to keep your mind, and body engaged and challenged. For best results, aim for at least two strength training sessions a week. Even if that means lifting your own body weight. Think push ups, planks, bench dips, squats. Better still, try a circuit-training class, which is like getting a strength and cardio workout at the same time!
5. Same old, same old
Many of us are creatures of habit: we eat the same food for breakfast, order familiar things off a restaurant menu, or shop at the same stores. A routine can be comforting, but when it comes to the same exercise week after week, your body will have no choice but to adapt. Pretty soon, the challenge is gone and that workout is no longer as effective.
Remedy. Our bodies only change when they are forced to adapt, so it’s time you shake things up a little. If you are using weight machines for a particular routine, try free weights instead. Only cycling for cardio? Try cross training by doing a number machines, like treadmill, stair master and rower. Even better, try an activity you’ve never done before, like long bush walks or indoor rock climbing. The key is to challenge and shock the body with a different stimulus. To deal with this shock, the body then will need much more energy than what it’s been currently burning. A perfect solution to bust out of a weight loss plateau. Consider trying a new workout at least every 3 to 4 weeks.
