A question I frequently get asked is, ‘Why has my weight loss stopped?’ People often hit a plateau on their quest for weight loss and there is good reason for it.
YOUR BODY WILL NOT CHANGE UNLESS YOU GIVE IT REASON TO!
Common reasons for weight-loss plateaus are:
- You’re eating habits haven’t changed/they haven’t changed enough (NUTRITION)
- You’re not exercising often enough (FREQUENCY – 30 mins, 3 times a week minimum)
- You’re not pushing yourself hard enough when you train (INTENSITY – at least 70% of your maximum effort)
- Your exercise sessions are too short (TIME – Rock-hard abs in just 5 minutes a day? Yeah right! Better than nothing, but you have to get your heart rate up and keep it there for a sustained period of time if you want to make a dent in your belly fat and tone up those legs!)
- You haven’t changed your workout in ages (TYPE – are you doing a mix of resistance training and cardio? When was the last time you did a new programme or tried a new exercise?)
Your body is capable of adapting itself to the exercise routines you give it so it won’t change if you do the same thing for too long. For example, if you lift a heavy weight one week, your muscles will repair and grow stronger so that next time you have to lift that weight it will be easier. This is why it’s recommended that you should start a new programme (or at the very least, use heavier weights) every 6-8 weeks.
HOMEWORK: You know yourself better than anyone else. If you’ve hit a plateau and you’re stumped as to why, look at each of these bullet points and do a bit of self-analysis. Are you absolutely sure you couldn’t be making a better effort in one or several of these areas?
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