5 Reasons Why You’re Not Seeing Results From Exercise

Whether you’re looking to build muscle, boost endurance or improve your body composition, these 5 things may be getting in the way of your training progress.

1. Under-Fuelling or Over-Eating

Eating a nutrient-dense and calorically adequate diet is crucial to reach your fitness goals. To build muscle and recover from exercise, our bodies require high-quality protein, complex carbohydrates and unsaturated fats.

If you’re just starting out on your fitness journey, it's easy to get overwhelmed with all the conflicting nutritional advice we’re frequently bombarded with on social media, however, a general rule of thumb is to focus on unprocessed whole foods such as cruciferous vegetables, legumes or lean meats and nuts or avocados.

For meal ideas and healthy recipes, you can check out my ebooks Shred & Build or get a Custom Meal Plan tailored to your goals.

2. Poor Recovery

Having solid recovery protocols are crucial to growth and endurance. The body needs adequate rest between training sessions, nutrient-dense foods and restful sleep. Aim to get at least 7 hours of good quality sleep per night. This means leaving your phone outside your bedroom and shutting off screens at least 30 minutes before bed.

3. Stress

High stress can eat away at our fitness progress. If we’re in constant fight or flight mode, all our energy is being utilised to combat the perceived stressor rather than to aid in recovery.

Stress is also associated with increased hunger and cravings for comfort foods. It’s essential to implement healthy coping strategies to combat stress, such as socialising with friends and family, time spent in nature and downtime to pursue things you enjoy.

4. Over-Exercising

Over-exercising goes hand-in-hand with poor recovery. It’s easy to get addicted to exercise and want to fill all your spare time with movement, however too much can lead to injury and chronic illness, resulting in less time in the gym long-term. If you’re experiencing dizziness, headaches, fatigue, abnormal muscle soreness, irritability, dehydration and insomnia, you are likely over-exercising. Scale it back or replace some intense workouts with active recovery.

5. Progress Tracking

It may be likely that you are progressing, however, when we see ourselves day-to-day it's easier to feel oblivious to the subtle changes that occur over time. Tracking your progress via before and after pictures and taking measurements of certain body parts month to month can be a great indicator of whether you are progressing or not.

If you’re doing everything right and still not making any progress, make an appointment. I’d love to help you! You could also check out my Custom Exercise Program.