You have been doing regular exercises for a while and don’t get anywhere? You feel like you are really giving it a go and do all the necessary but don’t seem to achieve your goals? Then read on below and find out some possible causes of WHY you might not get any results at the moment:
First of I have to say that the following recommendations are broad statements and not individually tailored around your individual goals, as they might be very different from reader to reader. Your goal might be weight loss, back strengthening or training for a fun run or something else, so please do not regard the information as specifc solutions to your case.
In any training scenario where you are not reaching your goals there are two main questions to ask:
1. Am I not training regularly enough and is the training intensity sufficient in regards to my training status and goal? (You might not be training enough and your resting periods are too long)
2. Am I training too regularly and is the training intensity sufficient in regards to my training status and goal? (You might be in an overtraining scenario in which you do more than your body can cope with and you lack essential resting phases in your training routine)
And how can I find out which of those 2 scenarios might apply to my training routine?
Whenever you feel you hit a training plateau your first step is to look at your training routine, intensity and variety. If you are an experienced exercise professional you can do this step yourself, otherwise you should consult and exercise professional to assist you with this. If you feel exhausted before you even started your next exercise routine and/or feel run down and you tend to catch colds and infections more easily, your immune system might be under strain from overtraining and you need to change your routine.
If you are a serious athlete you might want to consider getting your lactid acid levels checked and a comprehensive blood test taken to check for any possible deficiencies.
In terms of different training goals here a few examples of what you might experience in an overtraining scenario and what you could do to avoid it:
Strength: Prolongued muscle fatigue and muscle soreness, heavy feeling in the muscles, decrease in strength, decrease in stamina within sets and repetitions, decrease in intra- & inter- muscular coordination. How to avoid it: Increase revovery time, apply split training routines, post-workout flexibility training, post-workout aerobic cardiovascular activity, varying training paramaters and principles.
Cardio: Prolongued muscle fatigue and muscle soreness, heavy feeling in the muscles, decrease in strength and cardiovascular endurance, quick shortness in breath, decrease in intra- & inter- muscular coordination, decrease in stamina, lack of energy, increased tiredness, more prone to colds and infections. How to avoid it: Enough recovery phases especially after HIIT and anerobic capacity training, check training variety and ensure a good mix of HIIT – aerobic and anaerobic endurance in the training program.
Flexibility/Mobility: Prolongued muscle soreness, increase in muscle stiffness, decrease of ROM, decrease of muscle strength, constant muscle tension. How to avoid it: Decrease training intensity, check your stretching form in terms of functionality and correctly applied stretching technique, ensure that you use the correct stretching technique, remember – NEVER stretch cold – always ensure you are warmed up beforehand, avoid any uncontrolled stretching.