8 Reasons Why Your Workout Isn't Working
Sneaky Reasons Why You're Not Getting Results-- By Jennipher Walters, Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor
We all know how fantastic working out is for your health. But what happens when your workouts aren't delivering the results you want? Or you're not getting the results you think you should be getting? While any kind of physical activity is good, some workout plans are better than others and—as you might suspect—a lot of other factors come into play when trying to lose weight and tone up. So if your workout isn't working for you, one of the following eight reasons could be to blame. Find out how to turn that around and get the results you deserve!
1. You're not working hard enough.
If you have been exercising consistently for several weeks, months or years, it's definitely time to increase the intensity and start pushing yourself. As you work out more and more, your body adapts and becomes more efficient at doing that certain activity. This means that over time, the 30-minute workout that was challenging for you three months ago doesn't provide the same results. In fact, you're actually burning fewer calories and your body is no longer changing if you're still doing the same old thing.
Get-Results Remedy: In order to get results from exercise, you have to regularly push yourself beyond your fitness comfort zone. Whether you increase the frequency, intensity, or duration of your workouts, you have to switch it up. Not sure where to start? Try adding an extra day of cardio onto your routine, testing out a new group exercise class at the gym, adding another loop around your walking track, or bumping up the incline and speed on the treadmill. Remember, when it comes to exercise, change is good—and that change should be challenging!2. You're working too hard.
Yes, you can actually work out too hard and too much. If you're someone who goes all out in every workout, or rarely to never takes a day off to rest, you could actually be breaking your muscles down instead of building them. If you always feel tired and sore, have unexplained headaches, insomnia or just a general lack of motivation and an inability to complete your workouts, you may be overtraining.
Get-Results Remedy: Take three to five days off of exercise altogether. It may be hard for you to do this, but know that you must allow your body the time it needs to rest and recover. Get plenty of sleep each night and fill up on nutritious foods. Then slowly ease back into your routine, making shorter, less intense workouts part of your workout plan. And remember to always take one to two rest or easy active recovery days a week!3. You haven't changed your diet.
Exercise is awesome, but if you're not eating a nutritious diet with the appropriate number of calories for weight management, you could be shooting yourself in the foot. Proper nutrition fuels your workouts, but eat too much and you could gain weight (or hurt your weight-loss efforts), and eat too little, and you won't have enough energy to exercise.
Get-Results Remedy: If you can't seem to see those muscles you're trying to build, startlogging your foods to see how many calories you're eating a day. If you're regularly eating more than you should (it just takes an extra 100 calories a day to gain an extra pound a month), then try choosing lower-calorie versions of your favorite foods and slowly decreasing your caloric intake until you're at the right level! On the flip side of that, if you find that you're eating too few calories, that can also slow your metabolism and leave you drained at the gym. Find out how many calories you need to manage your weight by visiting your SparkPeople Nutrition Tracker.4. You're only doing cardio. Yes, cardio is important for calorie burning, but a proper exercise plan includes cardio, strength training and flexibility. If you're just doing cardio, then you will be burning calories and strengthening your cardiovascular system, but you won't be really changing your body composition by building more muscle. For that you need strength training!
Get-Results Remedy: Lift weights or do body-weight exercises, such as lunges and push-ups, at least twice a week to reap the amazing benefits of resistance training; including decreased body fat, increased muscle mass and stronger bone density. For hardcore cardio fans, you can also try kettlebell training or circuit training, which is like getting a strength and cardio workout at the same time!5. You reward yourself with food.
Do you allow yourself to have that extra piece of pizza or order that dessert when dining out because you "went to the gym" earlier? If so, you may be undoing all of that good calorie-burning with too many treats.
Get-Results Remedy: Familiarize yourself with the calorie contents of your favorite foods—and find out how many calories you're really burning through exercise. (SparkPeople's Nutrition Tracker and Fitness Tracker will help you learn!) Remember that while you may have run 3 miles at the gym, that only burned 300 calories, which isn't nearly equivalent to the calorie count in that brownie sundae you ate later. Focus on how good exercise makes you feel rather than what it allows you to eat after; and choosefoods that fuel your workouts, rather than the other way around.6. You're doing too much too soon.
Unfortunately, results don't happen overnight. It takes time and consistency to get in shape over the long haul. But how many of us decide that we're going to get in shape and then get totally gung-ho, spending hours at the gym only to find ourselves tired, sore and no thinner after a week or two?
Get-Results Remedy: Be patient. Remember that you're creating a lifestyle change that you can sustain for the rest of your life. While there's temptation to start off doing extra long and hard workouts, don't. Build up to doing those tough workouts gradually as the weeks go by. Not only will this prevent injury and give your body more time to adapt and change, it will also give your life and habits time to change—permanently!7. You're trading sleep for workouts.
We're all so busy these days, and sometimes the only time to work out seems to be early in the morning—even if you were up late the night before working or with a child that couldn't sleep. But regularly swapping sleep for workouts can seriously hinder your weight-loss, as sleep triggers a number of hormones that influence cravings and a tendency for weight gain. In addition, too many sleepless nights will leave you tired and unfocused for your workouts, which means that you won't get much from your efforts. And did you know that sleep is a much needed part of a fitness plan, since a lot of recovery and repair happens while you rest each night? Skimp on the shut-eye, and it could also lead to symptoms of overtraining.
Get-Results Remedy: Start scheduling both your sleep and your workouts—and treat both as unbreakable appointments. Then follow SparkPeople's 4-week Better Sleep Challenge to make the most of those Z's! Exercising after an occasional sleepless night shouldn't pose too many problems. But if you're regularly swapping sleep for a sweat session, you could be doing more long-term harm than good. Sleep should come first—even before working out.8. You sit all day.
Sure, you work out regularly, but what you do the rest of the day matters, too! If you put in a solid exercise session only to sit at a desk all day and lounge in a recliner watching TV at night, you may be undoing all of your hard work at the gym. Plus, there are a number of new studies that say too much sitting can be bad for our health and our waistlines—even if you exercise during the day.
Get-Results Remedy: Try to work more activity into all areas of your life by going for a walk after dinner, choosing to stand whenever possible, taking the stairs, parking your car further away and replacing your TV time for more active relaxation (like playing with your dog). Also, if your job requires you to sit in front of a computer all day, set a timer to beep every half hour or hour to remind you to stand up, stretch and do a quick lap around the office.
If you're not seeing the results you want, you may be guilty of more than one of the mistakes above. Follow these tips to feel better, have more energy and get the workout results you want and deserve!
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運動塑身無效的八個原因
1, 運動的不夠
如果你已經規律的運動一段時間(數週，數月，甚至數年)，那肯定要增加運動的強度，並開始對自己施壓。當你訓鍊的越來越多，你的身體就開始適應，變的對做那項運動越來越有效率。三個月前做30分鐘的訓鍊對你來說是個挑戰，但是現在做同樣的事不會有一樣的結果。事實上，如果你一直做同樣強度的鍛鍊，你會燃燒比之前較少的熱量，而且身體不會有所改變。
措施: 為了得到成果，你必須定期的強迫自己超出訓鍊的舒適圈。不論是增加運動的頻率，強度，或是持續的時間，就是要有所突破。試著這樣開始: 增加一天做有氧運動，或參加新的健身房訓練課程，增加一段散步路程，或是增加跑步機的速度或坡度。只要開始運動，任何挑戰都是好的。
2, 運動的太多
當然你可以讓自己訓練的十分艱苦吃重。假如你是個每天做各種訓練的狂人，或是很少找一天來休息，你很可能會傷害你的肌肉。如果你總是感到痠痛疲勞，莫名的頭痛，失眠，訓練時力不從心，你很可能就是訓練過度了。
措施: 一週運動3~5天。也許對你來說很困難，但總是要讓身體休息復原。睡飽一點，吃營養的食物。稍微減少運動的份量，慢慢回到規律的訓練，記得一週至少要有1~2天的休息日。
3, 沒有改變你的飲食
運動超棒! 但是如果你沒有針對你的體重管理來吃營養的食物並攝取適當熱量，你就會被食物打敗。適當的營養是訓練的燃料。吃太多可能減緩減重效果或是增胖，吃太少會沒有足夠的能量來運動。
措施: 假如你要鍛鍊的肌肉沒有變大，開始記錄你每天攝取的食物和熱量。每天多吃進100卡的熱量，一個月就會多0.45公斤。假如吃太少，就會降低新陳代謝且運動時筋疲力盡。
4, 只做有氧運動
有氧運動對燃燒熱量很有幫助，但是一個適當的訓練計畫應該包含有氧運動，肌力訓練和伸展拉筋。如果只做有氧運動，會燃燒熱量，強化心血管系統，但是你的身體組織無法透過肌肉的增加獲得改變。所以你需要肌力訓練。
措施: 做重量訓練，或是身體重量阻力訓練，例如仰臥起坐/伏地挺身，一週至少做兩次。阻力訓練有如下效果: 降低體脂肪，增加肌肉量，增加骨質密度。有氧運動的狂熱者，可以試試壺鈴訓練或是循環訓練，這可以強化肌肉並同時做有氧運動。
5, 用美食獎賞自己
訓練完後，你是否會因此讓自己多吃一塊比薩，或是多點一份甜點?這會毀了你之前的努力。
措施: 熟悉你愛吃的食物熱量是多少，並了解你透過運動燃燒多少熱量。好不容易運動燃燒了300卡，可不等於運動後可以吃一個布朗尼蛋糕冰淇淋。記得運動帶來的好處，並且吃對訓練有幫助的食物。
6, 你做的太多太快
訓練成果需要持續一段時間才看的到，效果不會立即顯現。但有多少人決定運動減肥後，卯起來在健身房待好幾個小時，搞得自己又累又痠痛，但過了一兩個禮拜卻完全沒變瘦?
措施: 耐心點! 記得你是在創造一個可以和你共度餘生的生活方式。有時會想去做那種狠操的訓鍊，別這麼做，應該要花幾個禮拜慢慢加強到那種強度，不但能避免傷害，讓身體多點時間適應轉換，還能讓你的生活習慣永久改變。
7, 你犧牲睡眠來運動
有些人很忙，為了運動，即使前一天很晚睡，依然早起做運動。但通常犧牲睡眠時間來運動會阻礙減肥，因為身體有一連串的活動需要在睡眠時進行。此外，睡眠不足會讓人疲勞，而且無法專心在訓練上，造成訓練效果不佳。睡眠是訓練計畫中重要的一環，很多的復原和成長都在每天的睡眠中進行。睡眠不足可能導致和訓練過度類似的結果。
措施:把睡眠和運動都排進行程，而且嚴格執行。偶爾一天沒睡飽不會影響訓練，但如果你總是犧牲睡眠時間來運動，長期下來得到的傷害比好處多。睡好覺是第一要務，甚至比運動還重要。
8, 你坐了一整天
(不翻了...就是建議你不要除了運動時間外都坐著，如果是電腦上班族，也固定時間起來活動一下，晚餐後也建議散個步之類的)
