Training Hard and No Results? Here’s Why!

It’s one of the complaints I hear most frequently in my role as a personal trainer: ‘I’m doing all this hard work, and not getting the results’. Many times the person concerned will think that they have to work harder, give it more, but in fact they might be wrong. Often, and especially with women who train, it’s that they are working too hard at it, and going about it the wrong way.

It’s easy to do, and over the years I’ve seen the same mistakes made again and again, yet it’s easy to change. The main problem is convincing yourself that you need to change your methods of working. I’ll run through a few of the main problems that often need to be addressed, then we’ll look at the ways to get around these problems.

Sweat and Sore is Not Success – this is a common myth in training, that you need to end a session sweating and perhaps sore. It means nothing, it’s not a sign that you’ve achieved anything, other than being sweaty and sore. There’s no gain in simply working yourself hard so that you feel you’ve done great, when in fact you’ve added nothing.

Eat More, or Less – a very common mistake is to effectively train to hard for the diet you are adhering to. You might think you’ve eaten well, and then burned off all that energy, but in fat you may need to eat more. I encourage my clients to look very carefully at their diet, and to take professional advice in order to get this right – it’s an essential part of training correctly and actually seeing results.

The Stress Element – stress is great to a certain degree, but if you are working too hard, you’re over-stressed. This is not a good place to be as stress affects your mental ability to perform, and too much stress is often a part of working too hard.

What would I advise you do to avoid training too hard, and to achieve those results you’re looking for? To begin with, if my clients are stressed, my first advice would be for them to perhaps put the training on hold for a short while, and keep active by less strenuous activities – perhaps walking, or swimming.

I’d also help them find the right diet, and make sure they are getting sufficient sleep – an essential part of the training routine – and that they indulge in relaxation regularly.

Then, when they are ready to get back to training, it’s about building up to what I think of as the sweet spot; this is where you combine strength training a few times a week with a mix of moderate intensity cardio and high intensity short duration training sessions. How many is best? That depends entirely on the individual, and that’s why you should work with an experienced personal trainer.

Training too hard isn’t worth the stress and strain it puts on your body, so look after your health first, and have an expert devise a better training plan and diet for you.

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About Paul Wallace

Personal trainer of 15 plus years and creator of FT-Fit one of Glasgow’s largest fitness classes