| Why do so many fitness programs fail?Every year, millions of people make a decision to improve their health and fitness and begin a fitness program. However, after investing precious time and money on health club memberships, treadmills, exercise bikes, or the latest newfangled exercise gizmo, most people fail to achieve significant long-term weight loss and fitness results.
Thousands of conflicting messages from health clubs, exercise equipment retailers, diet books, and the media make weight loss and fitness more confusing than ever. An awareness of common mistakes may prevent wasted time, energy, and money. Here are 11 of the most crippling mistakes that lead to fitness failure.
Incomplete programs. To be successful, a program must be complete. A complete program includes a focus on supportive nutrition, resistance training, cardiovascular exercise, and flexibility — all leading to a ‘synergy’ effect for maximum results.
Failure to address supportive nutrition first. Often, ‘newbies’ make the mistake of beginning an exercise program before they’ve addressed their nutrition program. However, if you clean up your diet, your metabolism will increase, and your energy will skyrocket (and you’ll need that extra energy for your workouts). You’ll receive great results from your fitness program after building a solid nutrition base.
Incomplete nutrition. A nutrition plan is your foundation for health and fitness success. Eating ‘healthy’ is not enough. Complete, supportive nutrition goes way beyond cutting out processed food and sodas. Your meals must be balanced with healthy carbohydrates, proteins, and essential fats. Vitamin and mineral supplementation is also essential to ensure required amounts of essential micronutrients and anti-oxidants.
Avoiding weights. Don’t be afraid of resistance training. Too often, women run to the treadmill or aerobics class and avoid weight training completely. This is why fitness programs fail. Resistance training is the best-kept secret to burning fat. Not only do you boost metabolism while you’re working out, but you continue to elevate your body’s metabolism up to 48 hours after your finished working out. So don’t neglect weight training. Both women and men will benefit from including resistance training into their program.
Avoiding cardio equipment. Similarly, don’t be afraid of cardiovascular exercise. With cardio, it’s not the women who neglect it but the men. Men often run to the weights and avoid cardio equipment altogether. This is why their fitness program fails. Everyone can benefit by including moderate cardiovascular exercise in their program.
Pushing too hard, too soon. The body must be given adequate time to respond to a new exercise program. A gradual buildup in intensity and duration of exercise is essential to avoid unnecessary soreness, discomfort, and injury. Slowly progressing into a fitness program will not only protect the body, but will make the process much more enjoyable.
Neglecting warmup or cooldown. Lack of a warmup is a major cause of injury and why many fitness programs fail. Neglecting a proper warmup leads to an inefficient workout, pulled muscles, or even more serious injuries — all of which destroy enthusiasm for exercise. A proper cooldown is also essential to remove waste products from the blood and reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness. You’ll benefit from spending five to 10 minutes after a workout to help the body transfer to a recovery state.
Neglecting stretching. Few exercisers give attention to flexibility, a mistake that leads to poor recovery and injury. When joints and muscles are not stretched, their range of motion inevitably decreases over time. Eventually, stiff muscles and tendons will tear, pull, or break. Be sure to include stretching in your cooldown phase.
Not addressing proper post-workout nutrition. Many people begin a fitness program full of enthusiasm and motivation, until they wake up and can’t walk for a week. Proper post-workout nutrition will help to accelerate your body’s recovery process. Consuming a post-workout shake immediately following exercise shifts the body to a recovery and anabolic ‘muscle-building’ state.
Lack of professional guidance. Many begin a fitness program without defined goals or a proper plan of action to achieve them. To achieve significant, long-term fitness and weight loss results, the guidance of an expert puts one on the right track to success. Often, people will begin a fitness program with incomplete knowledge that leads in a negative direction, causing further frustration, little or no progress, and even injury.
No accountability. Successful achievers know that accountability is critical to move from intention to results. Without regular support and checkups, life’s distractions quickly can lead many off course. Use accountability to stay on track with fitness goals to avoid plateaus or backsliding.
Knowing these crippling mistakes and pitfalls beforehand may help prevent frustration, injury, and loss of motivation. Taking steps to prevent them from occurring will guarantee a more successful and rewarding fitness program.v
Coach Holly Leonard, owner of BeFit Health and Wellness Solutions, is the latest contributor to The Healthcare News, whose monthly column on Fitness and Nutrition will begin in January. She is a body transformation specialist who has helped more than 300 Pioneer Valley men and women reclaim their health and vitality through proper fitness and nutrition. For more expert fitness advice and information about her coaching programs, visit www.befittraining.com. |
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