Progress is simple...but it ain't easy

When you go to the gym at the same time every day, you get to know the faces of people that do the same. Over time, you notice the people who are making progress, and you notice the people that make no progress at all. How can someone go to the gym for months and months and make no progress? I think there are two factors at play. Exercise intensity and nutrition. To make real gains, you’ve got to have them both, unless you are within the five percent of the population that are genetically blessed.

I see some people that work out hard every day. They push themselves to the limit, and end up drenched in sweat and exhausted from their efforts. But they never change. How can that be? Nutrition. Eating…or should I say overeating. I can pretty much guarantee that these folks eat too much, eat the wrong foods, and in many cases drink more alcohol then they should. You can work out an awful lot and still gain or maintain weight. If you’re not in a caloric deficit, you’re finished. It’s that simple.

Then there is the other group of people. They come to the gym religiously and spend an hour or more on an elliptical machine or a treadmill or a stair climber. They may even run through a machine circuit for strength training. (I won’t get into a discussion of how useless I think machines are right now.) What I will say is that these folks put in all this effort, and they never break a sweat. They go on endlessly, and they aren’t sweating or out of breath or taxed in the least. Now, either these people are the most amazing, in shape athletes in history, or they aren’t pushing themselves at all. I have a particular opinion on exercise. I really believe you’re either moving forward, or you’re moving backward. I don’t think you can stay in place. If you just try to maintain, you will eventually begin to decline. Anyway, this group of people may work out every day, and their eating may be okay. They just aren’t expending enough calories in the gym, nor running up their metabolism high enough, because they aren’t working hard enough. If you’re going to spend the time at the gym, get something out of it! Push yourself to the limit, and you will get tremendous benefit.