I want to address 3 potential reasons why you may not be progressing in your fitness journey at the rate you should be progressing at. I have seen these barriers so many times in my patients and clients over the years and I want to provide some insight to hopefully help you a bit more on your fitness journey.

Reason 1: A lack of focus.

This is a big one. How many times have you shown up to the gym/box unable to focus because you have something else on your mind? You're constantly checking your phone during your warm-up and sometimes you even allow yourself to check your email during the actual workout! Which is insane. The mind is incredibly powerful. Wherever your mind is will dictate the success of what you're doing in that moment. If your mind is present on the task at hand, the rate of success increases. If the mind is focused elsewhere, the chance of success decreases. So before you start training, put your phone away, take a couple deep breaths, and acknowledge that you do not need to entertain whatever it is that may be stressing you. If you're still having trouble focusing in general, try some meditation or going for walks with no distractions. Let your mind go where it wants to go, but for that period of time, don't check your phone, computer or any other electronic devices. Practicing that regularly will carry over into your workouts!

Reason 2: You don't know what you want.

Many athletes write their program down for the day but never have a clear definition of what they want. They're dedicated to the fitness lifestyle, but they haven't spent time exploring what exactly they want to accomplish with all this and why they want that. So take a minute right now to think about what you truly want. What is your fitness goal? To lose 10 lbs? To deadlift 300? To make it to the CrossFit Games? To increase your mobility and strength to play with your kids? Figure out what you truly desire, then take the time to devise a 1-year plan for yourself, broken up into 3 month chunks, each with a general focus so you know what to adhere to... Or just contact that awesome coach/trainer of yours to help you develop a plan!

Reason 3: Your nutrition, sleep, and training aren't aligned.

You can't have one without the other. So if your sleep is 3 hours a night and you still consistently hit the gym 5 days a week for 2 hours each day, you're leaving a ton of potential on the table. You're clearly dedicated to your training, but not sleeping those 7-8 important hours every night is impeding recovery. That, in itself, will limit how hard you can "push" the following training session. If your nutrition and sleep are dialed-in but you don't have the motivation in your training session. That's also going to cost you progress because you need to put in the work to see the results. So let's make sure all three of these factors are consistently worked upon. They don't have to be perfect, but they must be prioritized to see success and progress.

If you need help constructing a fitness plan, need accountability to help focus, or want some more tips on how to sleep better, train harder, and stick to a sound diet plan.... I'd love to have you join the Element 26 Facebook group: Team E26: Less Ego, More Iron. It's a private community full of athletes who are all-in on their fitness journey too!!


Hope to see you there!