So, you’re eating healthy, getting to bed at a decent time and smashing your workouts – only to look down at the scales to see they haven’t bloody shifted!!

Very few things are more frustrating than committing to a healthy lifestyle and reaching a plateau in the results.

There can be numerous reasons for this, and below I’ll run through the main culprits. You can check them off and address if relevant to you.

However, before we start, the good news is that you are doing great things for your body – so with a few small tweaks, you will start seeing that hard work converted to results very quickly:

No. 1: Your Workout Routine:

If you have been doing the exact same workout routine for the past 4 to 8 weeks, it’s a good chance your results have slowed or plateaued!

Your body is an amazingly efficient beast, thus as you progress through the same workouts it finds ways to save energy and make itself work less, meaning you burn fewer calories doing the same routine.

This is easy to fix; all you need to do is switch your workout up! If you’ve been breaking a sweat with long duration, lower intensity cardio sessions, try an interval workout. If cardio isn’t your thing, try strength training.

There are never ending possibilities – the more variety you include in your workouts, the more results you’ll get!

No. 2: Get the Zzzzz’s:

It repeated so often how important sleep is, and you’re about to hear it again. Sleep is a major factor in weight loss, and not getting enough can even lead to weight gain.

Sleep can balance out stress and weight gaining hormones, so give your body the rest it needs with a minimum of 6/7 hours each night, ideally 8 hours!

No. 3: Balance your calories:

As hard as you try, you cannot out-exercise poor eating habits.

Fuel your workouts with healthy snacks, recover with protein packed foods afterwards, and nourish your body with plenty of fruit and veg throughout the day.

As hard as it may be to stick with healthy eating, committing to clean, and whole foods 80% of the time will provide you with some pretty rewarding results.

No. 4: Don’t Ever Miss a Scheduled Workout:

While it’s great that you are consistent, your body needs a break every now and then to recover and rebuild lean, healthy muscles.

Try taking one day of each week and include at least one low intensity workout in your routine weekly.

This will create the perfect balance of fat-burning workouts and muscle building recovery.

No. 5: Over-training:

So, you are totally committed and a workout beast – well done!

However, you need to be watchful for the signs of over training .

If you notice yourself gaining weight, feeling fatigued, have aching muscles, or experience a loss of appetite, you may be over-training.

Take a week off to let yourself recover fully, take simple walks and eat healthy, then return to your regular workout routine gradually. While exercise is a wonderful thing for your body, too much of anything is not a good idea – like everything, moderation is the key!

So, if your fat and weight loss results aren’t matching the work you are putting in, be smart and check each of the above to see if you are working at your most efficient.

Ian David Worthington
Creator, Owner and Coach at GymWolfPT