I was talking with someone the other day at the gym. They had been training with us for just over a year, and they were beginning to feel a bit frustrated.
“You know Clark, I just can’t seem to lose this last bit of weight, and I feel like I’m not getting stronger.”
This is such a common pain point for people; the lack of perceived results (and I say perceived because they’ve made a TON of progress).
There are a few universal things across the board that can be holding back people’s perceived levels of progress. Let’s dive into it.
NOTE: Before you go scrolling the list, understand that when we chase 2 rabbits, we catch 0. Find the thing on the list that you think is most applicable to you, and focus on that one thing for a while. Don’t try to do it all at once.
Poor Sleep
Really? Sleep first? THAT’S what we’re going to talk about? Not some mystical training science or some other “hack” ?!?
Yep.
Most people are chronically underslept, and that lack of sleep is contributing to more of our woes than we tend to realize. Let me paint a little picture for you. We’ll use a random name I had google generate. It’s Padrig.
Padrig thinks that he’s “good” with 6 hours of sleep.
Padrig stays up too late each night watching TV or scrolling his phone.
In the mornings, Padrig instantly lurches for his first of 2-3 coffees that day.
Padrig hits a wall around lunch time and is really tired. Since he tried to squeeze in some extra sleep, he couldn’t pack his lunch. So now he goes out to eat with co-workers. Because he’s so tired, he orders something he knows is delicious, but something that isn’t in line with his goals.
Padrig gets back to the office and is… very lethargic.
Padrig gets another coffee.
Padrig goes to workout after work and gets ANOTHER caffeinated beverage (pre-workout).
Padrig gets home and is physically exhausted, but his mind can’t stop racing from all of the caffeine that day.
Padrig has a few night caps to help him wind down while he watches TV.
The combination of caffeine and alcohol in his system causes extremely poor sleep.
Padrig wakes up after 6 hours feeling utterly exhausted, and starts the cycle over.
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If that hits a little too close to home, your sleep hygiene needs some refining.
If you want to wake up feeling refreshed, ready for the day, and not zombie walking your way to the coffee maker, try this basic sleep routine.
- Figure out what time you need to go to sleep in order to get 8 hours of sleep.
- 1 hour before that, turn off all screens. Read a book or something!
- GET INTO BED. Don’t stay on the couch. Couch sleepiness never transfers to bed sleepiness once you get up.
- Make sure the room is cool and dark.
- Use a white noise or pink noise sound machine.
- Lay down, and start taking deep breaths.
This will work wonders for you, and you’ll be amazed at how much better you’ll feel after 2-3 nights of doing this.
Anyway, back to some other things.
Nutrition
I don’t ever like saying “good nutrition” or “bad nutrition” because one of our aims is to really, REALLY help take morality out of food for people. Instead, we like to look at our nutritional habits as goal-aligned. As in, are your nutritional habits aligned with your current goals? Padrig’s isn’t because of his poor sleep habits, but we’re working on that!
If you’re wanting to lose weight, we need to figure out where in that nutrition continuum and spectrum you’re falling into, and what you are truly willing to do to reach those goals. Best way to do that? Let’s set up a call to chat nutrition. Just email me. [email protected]
Overtraining or Undertraining
This is going to hurt some feelings, but I don’t think the average person (ahem, like you and me) is ever really overtraining. So instead of overtraining, let’s call it, under recovering (usually from Padrig’s woes like poor sleep and poor nutrition).
Most people are actually undertraining (not training at the appropriate intensity) because they are under recovered. Hard to push it whenever you’re fatigued all the time, ya know?
After you read this and you go to your next training session, I want you to think, “Could I be doing a bit more weight? Could I be pushing the pace a bit more? Am I doing the true intention of the workout?”
If you go to a gym like Yellow Rose where we always have the RPE scale for strength and conditioning (and amazing coaches to help guide you through it), then this should be an easy question to answer as long as you’re honest with yourself.
For instance: if the strength says RPE 8, but you finish and think, “I could have done 4-5 more reps,” you actually did an RPE 5 or 6. You can probably bump it up a bit.
If you are training at the appropriate intensity, could you add another day of training? That could do the trick too! And of course, if you aren’t getting in *any* movement, something is better than nothing. Schedule some appointments with yourself for a fitness investment, and you’ll be amazed at the results.
Setting Goals Based on Other’s Expectations Rather Than What YOU Want
“Well… I should be able to do X by now.”
“I just have to lose X pounds.”
“For my age I should be doing X, and I can only do Y.”
Ahh. If we were in person, I’d look you right in the eyes and say, “Hey Padrig, we can definitely achieve those… but what do you really want? What does *Padrig* really want to see results wise? What’s really important to YOU?”
And then there will be some uncomfortable shifting in the seat, some silence, some hesitated sentences, and then Padrig might say something like:
“Well, I’ve always heard that you should be able to do X, but to be honest I don’t really care about that. I really just want to feel good and capable.”
Bingo.
And feeling good and capable is pretty simple to accomplish. We strength train 3-4 days a week, get in some walks/rucks, eat protein and veggies each day, and get some good sleep.
If you’re doing those things, you’re doing amazing work for yourself. Period.
As my therapist would tell me, “Clark, don’t should on yourself. Your expectations of what you think you *should* be doing are keeping you from realizing that you’re doing an amazing job.”
Remember when I said “perceived progress” up at the beginning of this? This is what I’m talking about. We have a ton of members that think they just aren’t doing enough, or that they haven’t made enough progress, or that they aren’t progressing as fast as others.
I want you to know that I think you’re doing a great job. Truly. I mean, if you’re reading this you’re clearly aware of your health and wellness, and that is so huge for you.
I also want you to know that you do not have to be in a “chasing progress” season of your life right now. It is 100% OK to accept that right now you’re not working on weight loss, not working on PR-ing lifts, not working on new race paces.
You can simply train to feel good and capable. Seeing people accept that is just as amazing as a new PR.
Let’s set our goals and habits based on what we want and truly value, not what we think we *should* want.
Hydration
Drink more water. Boom.
Understanding Your Training Age
Padrig has only been training for 1 year. ONE. YEAR. At Yellow Rose, we say you’re brand new for one year. Then you reach your beginner phase in years 2-3, and then we say you’re seasoned.
It takes a long time to make the progress that you really want to make.
Remember that as long as you don’t quit, you’re still winning and making progress. Keep. It. Up.
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Not getting results and perplexed as to why? The above stuff can help, truly, but this best way to figure this out is to do a strategy session with us. A face to face (or virtual) meeting with an unbiased coach is one of the best ways to get to the root of your frustrations, and then take the next step forward.
If you’re interested in doing one of those strategy sessions, email me or Tiffany. We can get you all set up. [email protected] or [email protected].
Happy training,
-Clark
