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"HELP! Why aren't I getting results from my
exercise?"
by Lauren Muney
Many people ask me, "If I am exercising regularly, why
aren't I getting the results that I want?" It's a simple request:
'exercise = instantaneous fitness'.
I'd buy that for a dollar ;)
 However, bribes aside, the prescription for fitness
isn't based on simple calories burned. There's a mistaken impression
that this is the true fact, but there so much more biochemistry which
goes into your fitness than moving limbs. If you are one of the millions
of people wanting to know how to get better results, faster, stick with
me for this article and you'll be all the healthier (and better-lookin')
for it later.
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Tip #1:
Food (nutrition) is 80% of your
fitness results.
Whomever said "You can eat
whatever you want, as long as you exercise" was so far off-base that
he couldn't see the ballpark! It's important that you realize that
all food is not alike - and what each nutrient and ingredient does
in your body will impact you in some way.
Here's the basic idea: "garbage
in, garbage out". That's an often-used phrase which is quite
easy to remember if you realize what it is actually saying: if
you eat crud, you will look like crud (and probably feel like crud).
The whole idea of 'food' is to nourish the body so it operates us
well: providing us with the ability to think and move easily.
That's all digestion truly is: making sure that all the organs work
well.
However, if you give the
digestion, the organs, and all the body systems crud, you
will get the following results: slow-moving and depressed brain,
broken-down intestines, congested heart, and very little lean muscle
to metabolize and burn the fat -- the fat that came from the
other crud you ate.
 However, if you feed the body the
nutrients it needs, in quantities that it doesn't stockpile, it runs
like a well-oiled machine. In fact, it becomes such a well-oiled
machine, that machine works WONDERS
for you and looks FANTASTIC
doing it. It builds the muscle and burns the fat and makes you feel
good... but the SAME machine, trying to crank over and over on
low-quality fuel (or better yet, someone's replaced its gas with
sugar), won't start very much at all.
In fact, if you feed your body
the WRONG "food" (and I use that term loosely, seeing what some
companies try to get you to buy), you will actually
SABOTAGE
your fitness and your body. So you'd be spending hours in a gym
for [almost] nuttin'.
Do you live on diet sodas
or iced tea? Snack on chips and candy, planning on "working it off
later?" Your body is being filled up by junk 'bulk', sometimes full
of chemicals doing awful things in the body.
For extra details on what
foods work well in your body, the primer
Food 101
will begin your journey. However, please note that this is an
'overview' process, and more education is needed.
Tip #2:
Too much cardiovascular exercise will scuttle your results
Okay, that's not fair... I assumed
that you want a lean, trim body with enough muscle to look
wonderful in whatever situation arises. Quite possibly you simply
like running, or using the elliptical-machine, or walking; but
you don't want "toned" or large muscles.
Truth is, if you do too much
cardiovascular exercise and not enough resistance (or weight)
training, you can SCUTTLE
your hopes for that "toned" and/or muscular look. (There is actually
no such thing as "toned" - you either have more lean muscle tissue,
or you don't. The more lean muscle tissue you have -- ie: the less
fat -- the more "toned" you will be).
Here's the real information:
cardio exercise, while it keeps your metabolism burning 20 minutes
after you end the session, can also burn muscle if the
body needs fuel during the cardio session and the body isn't
properly fueled. Even if it is fueled well for that session,
the intense focus on 'burning' (breaking-down, or "catabolism")
calories in cardio is the opposite of increasing lean muscle
tissue, which is the lean (or even muscular) look.
 Muscles need to be nourished
and built, for them to last - and the process of building muscle
("anabolism") creates a process which burns fat for FOUR
TIMES LONGER than cardio. (That's right: you
can burn calories from one session for 4 hours). And, lean muscle
tissue burns calories -- while fat, or even lack of fat (cardio
does burn fat), does not burn any calories. So to burn calories
beyond the exercise-session, add some muscle to your body -
you'll lose fat! To learn more about exercise
principle and how they can work for you, go to the
basic exercise
article.
Suffice to say, if you aren't
building some muscle in some way, you may be decreasing the results
you truly want. I know that I would rather have [muscle] tissue that
burns calories while I sleep, than work harder and not have any...
Tip #3:
Work hard when you do lift weights; the muscle-building activity will
create the fat-burning lean muscle tissue. If you aren't working the
muscle, it can't help you.
It's common for most people to
work half-heartedly in the gym. After all, most likely you are a
busy professional who is fatigued from work, from stress of daily
activities, and most likely you may have family and/or peer group
which need your attention. How can you put your "all" into a
training session when you are thinking about everything else?
 The fact remains that to build
muscle, you must work the muscle so it 'rebuilds' and gains more
fibers. By working too gently, you aren't working your muscle - and
you won't get the results. why not make the most of the gym-time?
Set a schedule; perhaps 45 minutes
in the gym. When you are in the gym, work hard: that means, select
weights which make you exert yourself for approximately 8-10
repetitions, and at the end of that set, that muscle is tired. Do
that set again, maybe even a tad higher in weight, and once again (3
sets). 3 sets is not a hard-and-fast rule, but this example is
making a point: do your sets with weights which make you strain at
the last rep, and do several sets of them.
No more 'just blowing through'
routines - you are making a commitment enough of your time and
attention to train, why not use the correct weight amounts?
Tip #4:
Train the specific muscle(s) you want to work.
Most beginning (and even
intermediate) exercisers don't realize that to grow a muscle, they
have to use that muscle. What is a normal mistake is using other
muscles (especially the arms) to do the work.
 For example, to have a strong,
good-looking back, they use a lat-pulldown exercise or a row
exercise.
However, in the pictures or in watching other people, it
looks as though the arms are doing the work - when in
reality, the arms are holding the handles and the BACK muscles are
doing the pulling.
If you don't use the correct muscles in the
correct ways, you will continue gaining the results you've been
gaining - very few results at all!
How can you discover HOW to
exercise correctly? If you cannot get a description from books, ask
a professional trainer or someone who has the body you are looking
for (especially someone with good natural muscle development). Most
likely, that person can show you the technique to use your muscles
correctly.
However, this may be a longer
process than you anticipated, learning the proper technique for
each muscle group. However, the results are always worth
the time (and money) you spend learning the correct ways!
Tip#5:
Don't over-train: you'll wind up ruining the success you've already
created.
If you go 'great-guns' in your
fitness routines, spending hours a day and only thinking (and doing)
training, your body may burn out before your enthusiasm does. Here's
a little test to ask yourself to see how you are doing:
- Am I feeling overly tired?
- Do I feel anger more
frequently than before this increased fitness regimen?
- Am I feeling depressed and
discouraged, not only about training but about life itself?
- Am I having trouble sleeping
and/or other typical body needs, including sexual interest?
- Am I feeling loss of
appetite?
- Women: am I having any
changes in my menstrual period, most notably lessened (or
stopped) periods (amenorrhea)?
- Do I feel like I am going in
the opposite direction with my fitness results: that I am
exercising quite frequently, reducing my food drastically, and
living only to gain my new body, yet I am gaining weight and
looking a little more fat?
You could be "overtrainining", a
condition by which your body cannot keep up with the intense demands
of your new fitness regime, and starts to swell its tissues
(inflame/inflammation), and changing the brain chemistry. Here's a
very good scientific explanation of the overtraining process:
Overtraining.
 The solution is simple enough:
rest, eat carefully, drink water, and renew. Don't let your quest
for fitness (or a certain body size) break you down instead - that
next dress size isn't worth it: take everything slowly and steadily.
If you are having difficulties transitioning to a safe, effective
program, make sure you
consult a professional to help you re-tune your regimen to a
more suitable degree.
There are probably many more tips to share, but I just
wanted to start you thinking in the correct direction. Who knows what
you'll discover as you mend the problem areas and move towards the
correct directions in your fitness!
Best to you . . and if you want to more specifically
fine-tune your fitness, please feel free to contact me.
For more ideas on fitness, health,
or "alternative" methods for your lifestyle,
contact Lauren for coaching solutions!
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