Most people believe that any physical activity at all is good for you—that’s not necessarily true. Sometimes certain work out routines can have the opposite effect of what you are trying to accomplish, but you keep doing it anyway. Here are 3 ways to KNOW your fitness routine isn’t working.
One of the benefits of exercise is MORE energy. After you work out, you might feel a bit drained, but overall you should feel more energized in your daily life. If you’re not, you’re doing something wrong. This could be a number of things. Your diet could consist of too much sugar, so no matter how you work out, you’re still on the sugar high and low roller coaster. Sugar has a drastic effect on your energy and can cause you to feel tired more often than you should. However, another factor could be that your workouts are TOO intense.
Yes, this is a THING! Some classes such as CrossFit and HIIT, are not for everyone. They are classes that should be for more advanced level students, but because every gym has a liability clause you sign when you join, they don’t HAVE TO care about whether you’re at the right fitness level to take those classes. This is why you hear about many injuries as a result of doing CrossFit, but I digress. If you’re taking classes or doing some sort of workout routine, like a lot of running and you feel tired all the time, then your chosen physical activity may be too strenuous for your fitness level. I would try dialing back the frequency or time period or both and seeing if that helps your energy level.
This is not an issue about what you see on the scale. If you own a scale, throw it out the window! Wait, don’t do that, you might hit someone. Ok, scratch that. But please, do yourself a favor and hide it or donate it to charity (we still wanna avoid adding more to landfills, of course!). Seriously though. The measure for a good fitness plan, if you work out consistently, should be how you feel in your clothes! My Ladies, use a pair of jeans as a measure; my guys, use notches on your belt. And then ask yourself, “Are you happy with your results?” I remember a client I had in my earlier training days who was a long distance runner, which meant she ran about 10miles 3-4 times a week and was seeing me for strength training twice a week and couldn’t understand why she could NOT get “toned.” You would think with a workout routine like that she’d be in the best shape possible. She was doing TOO MUCH cardio! Read my 3 Myths About Losing Weight that are WRONG blog. Too much cardio is bad for muscle building, which in turn does not provide a “toned” look. If you’re not looking the way you want in your clothes, your workout routine needs to change. I had my client cut her running to 3 miles 3 days a week, continue the 2 days of strength training with me and within 2 weeks, she saw a major difference in her body.
You don’t have to necessarily be drenched in sweat, but when you work out you should feel your heart rate go up and feel like you’re pushing yourself a bit. The way to do this is by switching your routine up every couple of work outs. If you’re one of the many who go to the gym and do the exact same thing every time, you’re probably not seeing the results you want. The reason is that your body quickly gets used to the activity you’re doing and once it does, it uses less energy each time. Why is this bad? Well, because if you’re not burning calories and/or strengthening muscle during your work outs, then you’re just maintaining what you have. If you’re at a maintenance stage of your fitness, meaning you have the results you want, you just want to maintain them, then this is ok! But if you’re trying to IMPROVE your fitness, you need to consistently be shocking your body in order to burn more calories each time you work out. I suggest going a little heavier with weights once you feel you don’t get the muscle burn you used to. Stressing the muscle is the only way to build it in order to get toned and bring down body fat.
Disclaimer
Although my blog topics can be very beneficial to your overall health, they are not intended for the purpose of providing medical advice. All content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of published information on or through my website, blog, e-mails, programs and services. However, the information may inadvertently contain inaccuracies or typographical errors. Every effort has been made to present you with the most accurate, up-to-date information, but because the nature of diet, fitness and health research is constantly evolving, we cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of our content.
