The Top 5 Reasons People Fail to Change Their Physiques

I have given personal training to hundreds of different clients in the Gloucestershire area, some of them are athletic and committed, others have been overweight and de-motivated. I always manage to get through to them, whatever the required message - but sometimes it takes a while!

I have seen a pattern of some of the main fundamentals that people get wrong. Ok, none of this is "easy" as such, and it all involves a level of time and commitment - but if you are going to do something, do it right!

1. They train their butts off, but keep their nutrition virtually the same.

Ok, so it's a typical assumption that exercise will solve everything. Hell it can even be FUN or SOCIABLE. (The gym I work at in Cheltenham is known for its "good atmosphere"). For some people, they can exercise their fat off, or they can exercise their biceps larger. For most - a good look at what we put into our mouths 5 times a day is AS IMPORTANT if not more so to reach that goal.

So, you are going to have to endure the extra effort of thinking about and planning your food, and possibly the slight pain of denial (this wanes don't worry) if you want to achieve extraordinary results. Or in some cases, just a simple bit of weight loss.

2. They aren't consistent, or they get complacent.

Almost every client I have trained has done this at some point. I have done it myself. In fact, I am doing it as I write this! It sounds overly simple and obvious, but being CONSISTENT is crucial for success with your fitness and physique goals. Basically, when we are given an inch we'll often take a mile. ("I'll just have the one slice of cake........ oh well the damage is done, I'll eat the rest" Or " I wont train today because I'm tired and Mondays are too busy at the gym...... so yeah I didn't get to train at all this week because on Wednesday night...blah blah")

Often when we get close to achieving our goals, or see some progress we take this as an easy excuse to slow it down. In some cases it's a sensible, few days off training. For others it means regression and backpedalling after. This can also set in if progress is slow or stagnant. (see Reason 1)

You are far better off taking this lifestyle on permanently rather than seeing it only as a short-term fix. Like I said in other posts - your body hates you, it doesn't want to be lean and toned. Society definitely doesn't want you to be lean and toned! The food industry, the computer games industry and others all want you to take a long-term approach to eating as much as possible, and moving as little as possible. To battle this, you need to be consistent, or you'll always look just like the next person.

3. They simply don't/can't train with enough INTENSITY!

This is especially true of women in my experience (sorry!). They still have a fear factor that lifting hard and heavy will make them into muscle-bound hulks. Sorry, not likely in most cases for physiological reasons I won't bore you with. Also, some people are just no good at tolerating exhaustion, burning muscles, and nausea. Extreme examples of discomfort in the gym maybe, but I can see why this might not appeal. Sad thing is, so many people go to the gym and waste their time by just not pushing hard and progressing with their training.

Again, you need to coerce your body to change, it's not gonna just do it for you.

4. Work or family gets in the way of training and eating right

This is hard. It's easy for Mr Personal Trainer to say "Get down the gym, stop making excuses". I virtually live in a gym so I can train without interruption and I'm lucky that currently I have no family commitments. For the average busy and overworked parent (or single professional) other things always seem to get in the way. Work pressure is the number one excuse I hear. It's understandable most peoples TOP priority.

Well ACCEPT these obstacles and figure out a way around them. Learn to diarise things and manage your time in advance. Don't tell me you can't find 3 x 45mins a week to train. Don't tell me it's not possible to eat healthy when you have to buy "family friendly" foods. There is always a way!

5. They just don't want it bad enough.

This is something that as a motivator, teacher and fitness icon (to some!) I cannot instill into people. It comes from within and can't be forced. But it's so hard to get past if it's not there.

If something is SO challenging and requires SO MUCH investment of time and hard work, and if we don't WANT that thing bad enough, it's just always going to be a dream for some.