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Dec 2019
3 Reasons Why You Aren’t Reaching Your Goals
December 1, 2019
By: Christopher O’Brien
3 Reasons Why You Aren’t Reaching Your Goals
She was a maniacal fitness enthusiast who worked out 5-6 days per week for many years, yet she had never achieved her goals. Her workouts were always long, sweat-induced sessions, never leaving a calorie to spare…
This could be a great beginning to a fitness mystery novel. The fact is, this is the narrative echoed by many men and women out there, scratching their heads in bewilderment as to why all their efforts are not paying off…
You may be wondering, how could anyone workout almost every day of the week, sweat their ass off doing so, and not reach their goals? The answer is not hidden in a secret scroll stashed away in a cave somewhere. It is in plain sight. And by following a few simple guidelines which I will outline below, anyone can achieve the results they are looking for!
I have had the pure pleasure of taking my greatest passion on earth, fitness, and have been given the opportunity to share it with others for the last 19 years. During this time, I have drawn several conclusions based off of everyone’s successes and shortcomings. It is hard to point the finger at any SINGLE element alone, as it is usually a combination of things that lead to poor progress, but in the end, it very well could be just one little BIG piece of the puzzle that is being overlooked.
Here are my top 3 barriers that hinder progress towards your goals, and what you can do about it, in no specific order…
You don’t have any goals
Having the desire to want to be better, and taking action to do just that, is praiseworthy on its own. However, it is not enough to get you the results you are looking for. When you set out to succeed at anything in life, putting a clearly defined goal in place is the first step to success. That is your end point. When you can clearly define what it is going to look and feel like, the only thing left is to determine what you need to do to get there. Not having a clear vision as to where you are trying to go is akin to a race car driver racing around the track with no finish line.
Figure out what you want the most, being specific as possible, then write it down somewhere you can see it daily as a reminder of what all of your hard fought battles at the gym are for.
You don’t use food as a fuel & recovery source
Food is something no one can live without. It is comforting at times, and can give you pleasure in ways that nothing else on earth can. You eat because you are hungry, or out of boredom. The only thing you (probably) aren’t doing is eating with a purpose.
Without getting into specific macros, food gives us energy to perform and the resources to recover. Showing up to the gym with low fuel reserves isn’t going to allow you to workout with a purpose. Reaching your goals not only takes serious commitment, it also takes a lot of effort. That effort is fueled by what you eat. Once you are done working out, the fuel that was used needs to be replaced. If it isn’t, all of your hard work could be for nothing (Go ahead and Google “catabolism”). On top of that, the ingredients for muscle growth during the recovery phase is in the food you eat.
Just like you plan your workouts, you need to plan your meals to achieve optimal results.
You have poor form
Anyone can pick stuff up and put it down, but are you doing so in a meaningful way? If you have a fitness goal that entails you adding lean muscle or getting stronger, it would behoove you to understand the complexities of each lift you are performing. Without proper form, your risk of injury increases exponentially. When you are injured, you are making zero progress towards your goals. Even if you don’t get injured, just haphazardly going through the motions while using sloppy form will definitely lead to limited results at best.
Also, in order to get strong you need to lift heavy weights. Lifting heavy weights is near impossible without the use of good form; your body needs to work from head to toe in unison. Poor form leads to poor power transmission, which leads to less weight being lifted, which equals to you not getting stronger.
If you are a CrossFitter, listen to your coach when they give you cues to dial in your technique. How does it feel? What positions are you in? By increasing your proprioception, it will be only a matter of time before good form becomes automatic.
To recap, we talked about 3 reasons you aren’t reaching your goals. They are:
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- You don’t have any goals
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- You don’t use food as a fuel & recovery source
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- You have poor form
Now is the time to take ACTION! Before your next sweat session, commit yourself to a solid goal (your reason for showing up in the first place), fuel yourself properly for performance before you come, and refuel after for recovery, while making form the main focus of each and every lift you perform. Do this and you will be well on your way to crushing your goals!
Let’s take note that the 3 reasons listed above certainly aren’t an exhaustive list of why you aren’t reaching your goals, which is why I will be following this up with 3 more reasons you aren’t reaching your goals, and what to do about it.
At CrossFit Magnitude, we offer one on one personal training, group classes, and nutrition services. For more information, please email us at info@crossfitmagnitude.com
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