If you exercise long enough, you will come to a point where your training isn't going well.

This might be your current situation and there's nothing worse than feeling like you're spinning your wheels.

On the other hand, if you are making improvements, or maintaining a lean and strong body, this may not apply to you.

And if that's the case, bookmark this lesson and save it for another day.

5 Reasons Your Workouts Are Not Working

Let's jump in and talk about the top-five reasons your workouts may not be working.

Quick side note: Training is only one component of your total plan.

You also need to pay attention to nutrition, recovery, mindset, accountability, and coaching (the secret sauce).

1. You don't have a structured training plan

The simplest reason you're not achieving your priority-one goal is that you don't have a program that follows the principles of progression and overload.

Or perhaps you are making these common gym mistakes.

Success starts with showing up.

After that, you'll need a proven plan.

Then you will need to work the plan.

The "gym" is wherever you do the work. Maybe it's a health club, your garage, basement or wherever.

The "tools" you use may be machines, barbells, dumbbells, or your own bodyweight.

You do the work to accomplish your Ideal Body, which is the leanest, strongest, happiest, and most athletic version of yourself.

Right?

You should know what your goals are and what you're training for versus mindlessly speed-walking on a treadmill for hours.

The majority of my 40+ clients want more energy, faster fat loss, increased strength.

They want to move better and feel confident when they look in the mirror.

My 60+ clients want less bodily pain and the ability to move like they were back in their 40s.

My 70+ clients want everything mentioned earlier, plus the highest quality of life possible.

Also, my 70+ clients want to enjoy their remaining time. They want to travel the world, see their grand kids get married, and accomplish many other cool things on their bucket list.

And it's no secret that the person who is sound of mind and body will be better able to do what they want, whenever they choose.

Make sense?

For the past 25+ years I've been teaching a system that progressively moves you toward your best body with every coaching session.

Many clients accomplish their goals with me, online, from anywhere in the world.

A select group of clients work with me in-person.

Either way, if you do the work, it works.

2. You're not consistent

While there’s a little bit more to it than just showing up and “putting in the work,” a big part of long-term success is simply, well, showing up and putting in the work.

Consistency and work ethic are two of the great equalizers in the world.

If consistency is a struggle, one of my favorite methods to generate accountability is to use the “Chain Link” effect.

Let’s say your goal is to do a 40-minute training session every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at 6:00AM.

You do this on-demand training session at home.

Now, using either a regular old-school calendar, or one of those big “Year-at-a-Glance” wall calendars, start drawing a big fat “X” on any day you take action.

The goal is to make a chain link either vertically (in the case of a goal that repeats on certain days), or horizontally (for a goal that repeats daily).

3. You keep changing the goal

Nowadays everyone and everything is competing for your attention.

Many folks have shiny-object syndrome, where "new" things or ideas take precedence over what has worked in the past.

If that sounds like you, remember this nugget of wisdom:

“The goal is to keep the goal, the goal.”

I'm guilty of this myself.

One month I want to improve my movement quality.

The next month, I’m tired of the extra five pounds I’m carrying around, so it’s time to drop bodyfat.

And the month after that, I’m tired of being weak – so it’s time to get (in a Russian accent) "strong like bull."

Do you see where I’m going with this?

It’s impossible to see measurable progress if you’re constantly changing the metric by which you measure progress.

Stop and read that last sentence one more time – and then stop moving the goal posts.

If you’re not seeing the success you want, ask yourself if you’re constantly jumping from goal to goal.

Or maybe you have too many goals.

And if so, find one thing you can focus on for the next 90 days, and then commit to it with everything you’ve got.

Chances are you’ll not only achieve that goal, but be even more motivated to continue this trend going forward.

This applies to every area of life, not just your health and fitness.

4. You never change the program

Let's be honest, change is hard.

If you've ever visited any health club on "International Chest Day" (aka Mondays) you'd see every guy mindlessly bench-pressing away.

And it's the same for the ladies: Year after year of the 5PM "sculpt class," yet still no results.

If you've been doing the same exercises with the same amount of weight for the last few months, it might be time to freshen things up a bit.

Your body adapts relatively quickly -- that's why we change our programming every four weeks. Along with progressively increasing the weight throughout each four-week cycle.

That keeps things fresh both physically and mentally.

Side note: If your body is your barbell, you can always change the angles or add a weight vest to make things tougher.

If you are getting bored with your workouts, that's a sure indication that something needs to change.

5. You can't stay healthy

This final point goes along well with my previous one.

Many of the people that we coach have struggled with injuries at some point in their career.

Sometimes it’s a freak accident.

Sometimes it’s an alignment or positional issue that’s driving things.

And other times, it’s a combination of sloppy training and bad advice.

One of my biggest selling points to my clients is that my programs will get you to where you want to go -- in the safest and most effective way.

And you'll have fun in the process too.

Could you get faster results if you did some ridiculous "cleanse" diet or apocalyptic two-hour workout?

Or you wrapped yourself in a plastic suit and sat in the sauna every afternoon?

Likely, yes, but that shortsighted thinking leads to injury and continued frustration.

So if you want to finally achieve your priority-one goal (and ultimately your Ideal Body) play the long game.

Be smart about your workouts.

Focus on longevity. Be fit and healthy for decades versus days.

Your body will thank you.

If you found this helpful, please share.

To your success,

Coach Joe

Joseph Arangio helps 40+ men and women get leaner, stronger, and happier. He's delivered over 100,000 transformation programs to satisfied clients around the globe. If you want to lose weight from home, with the best online longevity personal trainer, or you want to visit the best age-management personal trainer in the Lehigh Valley, you can take a free 14-day trial.