Gym results, the complete guide
Working for something and not getting results, in whatever activity, is frustrating, and the gym is no exception.
If you don't have results in the gym, or you don't have the ones you were waiting for, something is failing, and it's probably not the fault of the weights.
We have compiled a list of common, and less common, small failures that can have a big impact on your progress.
Let's start by addressing the problems with food, then problems with training, and finally, some more general details.
Feeding Problems
I am not gaining weight, I am not gaining mass!
If the scale does not move, the mirror is the same and the measurements are equal, it means that you are the same.
If time passes and you are simply the same in all aspects, when your goal is to gain weight and muscle mass, your problem is most likely a lack of calories.
Because?
When you are in excess caloric, even without training, you gain weight.
As simple as that.
If you combine a good hypercaloric diet, with a good workout, you will gain weight and muscle mass.
Of course, if you combine a high calorie diet with a lack of training, you will only gain a good abdominal volume.
Okay, I gained weight, but I think I got fat?
Unfortunately, it is a common mistake.
Too common.
When you go to a gym and they tell you that to gain muscle mass, you must eat this world and the other, if you take it to the extreme, what happens?
You end up having too high a caloric excess.
Too high a caloric excess, even if combined with a good workout, will lead to many gains in fat mass.
If you are gaining a lot of fat, it may be a good idea to lower your calories.
If you are gaining only fat, and very little muscle, the problem may be the lack of protein, or the training, which leaves something to be desired.
Don't you know how much protein you should eat each day?
See This article.
I'm not losing fat
If at the beginning of a fat loss plan, you are not losing fat, it is very likely that you have too many calories in your diet.
However, do not expect miracles in a week, and it is important not to be guided only by the scale, or just by the mirror.
You may be losing fat and the scale will not undergo major changes.
The mirror?
It can also mislead you easily.
In order to assess your progress, the ideal would be to combine not only the scale with the mirror, but also to measure the area of the belly, arms and legs.
Taking regular photographs is also a good idea.
I am losing fat but the muscle is also disappearing
This usually happens to people who are in too much of a hurry to lose fat, and it's typical in the summer months.
Summer is at the same time every year, but there are certain people who forget about it, so they want the results that many have been looking for for months. In a few weeks.
If you are losing too much muscle in your fat loss plan, there are several factors that may be contributing to this, and only you can evaluate which one you include.
Simply put, the four main factors are:
- Less calories
- Little protein
- More cardio
- Mediocre (or nonexistent) weight training
If you lower your calories too much, and too quickly, you will lose weight quickly, but much of that weight will be muscle mass.
In addition, it is essential to have a good intake of protein to help you maintain lean mass.
Those in a hurry typically also add real marathons of cardio to their plan.
Kilometers and more kilometers.
Result?
An even greater caloric expenditure, and consequently, more muscle that comes to life.
Weight training, even when the goal is to lose fat, should always be included, not only for its aesthetic benefit, but also for its metabolic benefit.
The more lean mass you have, the more easily you can burn fat.
Don't forget, too, that on diets low in carbohydrates, the muscles look smaller.
Not because you are losing muscle mass dramatically, but because you are storing less water within the muscle.
I was losing weight, but I stagnated
Stagnating in weight loss is common, and unfortunately, it is a tricky area to guess what goes on without analyzing the case in question.
Do not forget that as your body weight decreases, calories must also drop, as the daily caloric expenditure for your new weight is lower.
Or, add a few more minutes of cardio.
It does not solve 100% of the cases, but it does solve some.
Training Problem
Cardio only
As mentioned above, when you want to lose fat, you shouldn't neglect weight training.
Fat loss is above all diet, and no workout can compensate for a poor diet, but a good workout with weights in conjunction with some cardio will provide better results.
And faster, too.
What is the best type of cardio to lose fat?
See the answer in this article.
Too much cardio, too much weight training, too much training
In fat loss diets, you need to consume fewer calories than your body uses daily.
This will lead you to lose fat, but it will also decrease your ability to recover.
In bodybuilding training, it may be a good idea to turn down the volume and not go to failure on a regular basis.
In cardio training, HIIT every day is a good path to injury, lack of progression or exhaustion.
HIIT training is a good training method, but it is very demanding, not only physically but mentally, and sometimes low / medium intensity cardio is a better bet.
This is no excuse for not training, or training little, it is just an alert to adapt and plan your plan to your goal and food, in an intelligent way.
Number of weekly workouts
If your goal is to gain muscle mass, you should do weight training at least three times a week.
There are several approaches to bodybuilding training, but as a rule, the minimum is three workouts.
Less than that will hardly bring you the results you are looking for.
Unless you don't want results, then you don't even need to train.
To learn more about this subject, see the article How many sets and reps should I do?
Progression
There must be progression in training for progress to be made at the muscle level.
If you do the same exercises, with the same loads, the same sets, the same reps and the same rest times week after week, month after month, year after year, why should your muscle grow?
This doesn't mean you should make every workout an adventure.
Change everything.
Even switching gyms.
But there needs to be progression for you to gain muscle mass.
Mind you, progression is not just about putting more weight on the bar.
That would be impossible to maintain for a long time.
Adding one rep compared to last week's workout at the same weight is progression.
Compound exercises
? What exercises did you do today Zé?
? Today I did a bit of bicep curls with dumbbells, I went over there on the peck-deck to swell my chest, and before I left I still did some sit-ups while chatting with Margarida.
The great Zé went to the gym, but did not do a great training.
You should use compound exercises, exercises that work intensely with your largest muscle groups in a complete way, that allow you to lift good loads.
It is these exercises that will give you good results and not half a dozen backward push-ups.
What exercises are these?
Squats, dead weight, bench press, shoulder press, stroke with bar, press, bench press with short handle, etc.
Goes by here where you will find some of the best exercises for each muscle group.
General issues
Rest
The article is already long, and you certainly had days when you slept little, or did it directly.
One day with only a few hours of sleep is enough to make you feel more tired, irritated, weaker.
If you are weaker and tired your workouts will suffer in a negative way.
Your food choices are also likely to be affected.
And your recovery?
Your recovery will be much less, because it is during sleep that the body recovers.
Attention, you don't need to hibernate, nor should you, but aim for at least six hours of regular sleep, and between 7 to 8 as the ideal number.
Time
? I don't have results in the gym, I'm always the same, I'm fed up with this and I'm going to give up.
? Zé, but you only came here last week?
If in this story you are Zé, you have to stop being Zé.
A week, two weeks and even a month is nothing to have visible results.
You need time to get real results, and depending on your commitment and goal, it can take a few or many months to get there.
Consistency
A bit like the time factor, consistency is essential to getting results, and if you’re not consistent, guess what’s going to happen.
There will be no good results.
- First week = 4 workouts
- Second week = 1 workout
- Third week = 2 workouts
- Fourth week = 0 training sessions
The month has thirty days, and you went to train seven.
What would happen if you were to work only seven days a month?
Were you rich?
Supplements
? I'm not getting results and João is, this is for sure because he takes all those supplements!
Supplements help, but in the end, they are only a little help in a huge equation.
The basic supplements for those who want to gain muscle mass are the whey protein and the creatine.
For those who want to lose fat, the whey protein can also help you reach the daily protein levels you need, and a multivitamin can address possible shortcomings of a more restrictive diet.
In addition to these supplements, there are some that have small specific benefits, but are far from essential.
Surely it is not because you are not using them that you are not getting results.
If you still want more ideas for supplements, you have here some suggestions for fat loss.
If your goal is to gain muscle mass go through here.
Conclusion
Reading this article will not bring you results, but correcting possible flaws with which you identify yourself here, it will improve your progress in the gym and your image in the mirror.
In the game of gaining muscle mass, or losing fat, the most important piece is the calories, and ideally, you should have some sense of how much you eat.
O myfitnesspal it is a good tool to help you with this task, and a scale too.
Finally, if you want to have results, you need to have goals, and it is important that you define them in a realistic and concrete way.
Losing 20kg of pure fat in two months is relatively concrete, but unrealistic.
Lose 5kg of fat in two months because you want to go and show your abs to Vilamoura in August?
It is concrete, real and possible. It just depends on you.
