Why We Fail at Fitness Goals

When we start a fitness program we are full of vigor and ready to do it to the max. The problem here is most people fail at getting to their goals because jumping into something head first is not always the best plan.

Here in this article I will explain how important goals are to a successful fitness plan and how to plan out the best way possible for you to achieve your fitness goal.

Most people just don’t set goals. Plain and simple. They just start doing something but find out later on they are spinning their wheels. Not changing , not losing weight, not gaining muscle, not getting strong or whatever they are looking for. They just don’t set a goal and strive to meet those goals.

“Yes, failures will be along the way,
but they learn from them and move on.”

Some people set the bar way too high for themselves and this goes along with not setting fitness goals at all. They think they can go in after 6 months or a year of easy training, taking some time off or a couple of years, and do the same things they used to do. This isn’t going to happen. Setting the bar too high is a major flaw in any program. Set small goals. One big mistake is not seeing results fast enough and then all goals are put down. This is why it is important to set small goals and achieve them first.

Setting small fitness goals is the way to go.

Don’t shoot too far and not reach them. Also don’t be afraid to fail.

Failure at something teaches us what we did wrong and how we need to change it to get what we were trying to do. Failure is not necessarily a bad thing only when it is repeated over and over again. Learn from your mistakes, set small goals and overcome them. This is what every champion has learned and the reason they are champions at what they do. They set small goals and visualize what they want and go get it. Yes, failures will be along the way but they learn from them and move on.

Right along with not setting goals, and setting the bar to high, is not having a
plan. I can go on and on about this and it still will not
sink in to some individuals. If you don’t have a plan how do you expect to accomplish anything? Not setting a plan is like trying to build a house with tongue depressors. It just isn’t going to happen; no matter how hard you try you need a plan.

If you have a plan and don’t stick to it, this is just as bad.

Not sticking to a plan is like steering a car off the road all the time or turning down different avenues and never coming to your goal.

You can’t just go in the gym and start lifting without knowing what you are doing or what you want to accomplish. I see people all the time doing several exercises all the time, no rhyme or reason, and when you ask them they have no idea what they are doing. The biggest excuse is, “it looked like what I wanted to do”. Not having a plan will also slow you down on progress. How can you know where you are at unless you know where you have been? This is where keeping some type of log helps. Now, I’m not saying you need to carry around a notebook everywhere you go but at least have down on paper what you want to do way ahead of time so there is no question as to what you want to train. Even running logs or running plans have structure with so much this day so much that day, one day long running, one day short runs with faster times. The same applies in the gym with having a solid plan in place as to what body part you will train that day what type of split you want to do either it be a 3 day split, 4 or even a 5 day split. All of this comes into your plan as being prepared.

When you have those plans, follow it.

Don’t stray from it for at least 8 to 10 weeks

If you have not achieved your small fitness goals start tweaking your plan and see where you have been going wrong. One of the biggest mistakes in any plan is not staying consistent with that plan. Constantly changing up your program week in and week out will not net any results. It is okay to do heavy training one week then back off a little the next but stick to it. Don’t do something totally different every 2 or 3 weeks because you did not see results in the first week. You have to give things time to form and work. This is especially important in nutrition. You can’t eat one way one week and then start switching it up the next. The body is very adaptable and this will really mess up your progress. Stick to a program, no matter what it is, and see if it works. Most diets work. It is just finding that way of eating that preserves as much muscle as possible that I consider the best diet. If one diet does not work for you look for what does. One thing is certain super low calorie restrictive diets do not work. As I said before the human body is so adaptive to the stresses we put it through that super low calorie diets will make your body hold on to a lot of fat. The only thing you’re going to lose on any diet like this is muscle. This is why I’m a big fan of Low carb diets. It allows you to preserve hard earned muscle.

Final thought on this is to set small fitness goals.

Don’t be afraid of failure.

Learn from mistakes and keep pushing forward. Setting goals and having a good plan will make things easier to see your accomplishments. It will lead you to the road you want to go to, and in the end will help you reach those goals, so you can hold your head up high and be proud of what you have done.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *