You’re doing everything right, you go to the gym, you stay away from unhealthy food, you prioritize your sleep, but somehow it’s just not working for you. You still don’t have the body you want, and it’s not like you’re slacking off, so what’s going wrong?
It’s demotivating you because all you’re thinking is “why am I not ripped yet?” or “why am I working so hard for no results?”
You’re probably rethinking your diet, blaming genetics, but did you think that maybe it’s your workout that’s holding you back?
Not because you hit the gym 6 days a week, it’s what you’re doing when you get there. Here’s what you could be doing wrong:
We love hearing false facts when it comes to training, but the thing is a lot of people actually believe these “false facts.” This is a huge misconception that lifting weights will get you bigger, and cardio will make you leaner. So most people who are looking to get “toned” or “defined” will head straight to the cardio section of the gym, and lifting weights ends up on the back burner.
The defined cardio session probably consists of about 45 minutes on the treadmill and about 15 minutes of actual weightlifting, which will do nothing to get your body ripped, if anything it’ll only help you lose weight (given you’re eating right).
Truth be told, weight training is what helps you to get a leaner looking physique, whereas cardio creates a muscle eating environment in your body, eventually slowing your metabolism down and slowing your progress.
If you’re looking to get leaner, defined, toned, or whatever you want to call it, you’ll need to up your weight lifting time in the gym. We’re not saying quit cardio, switch it up instead, try interval training which will help you burn fat and keep those hard-earned muscles you’ve been working on.
If you’re not a cardio fanatic and you’re spending plenty of time in the weight room, and you’re still not seeing changes, then take a look at your workout. On Monday (international chest day) are you spending time or cable flyes and cable crossovers rather than the old and trusted presses?
If that’s the case, then you’re falling for fancy looking exercises that just won’t help you get the results you’re looking for. If you really want to see improvement and change, ditch the exercise moves that look all fancy and go back to what’s been tried and tested for years.
Think about leg day, how many people do you see actually doing deadlifts? Probably not many, they’re focused on machines helping them which is what’s holding their leg development way back. Just because an exercise is hard to master doesn't give you a good reason not to do it.
We just love debunking myths, and here’s another one: to get shredded you need to light light-weights with high reps. No, what actually happens is that high low-weight reps help you gain muscle endurance, but it’s not helping you burn fat and get more shredded.
Give it a shot, increase your weights but decrease your reps to an 8 - 12 range, and watch how your body develops and changes. But, the key is to keep your form, so build up to higher weights, don’t just jump into the deep end. Get yourself a training partner as well, heavy-weights = required spotting.
