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Over the years of being a multi gym owner, fitness trainer and gym rat I have seen numerous individuals come into gyms and buy memerships. Usually the membership is bought right after the first of the year and the person has all the right intentions and great attitude to be on track for a great physique. They get help from someone in making a good workout routine and an awesome cardio plan. They follow the plans like a faithful dog to his owner. By the end of January they start asking the fitness trainer or gym owner when they will start seeing results. Does this sound familiar? What no one ever tells these great intentioned potential future gym rats is the one word no one wants to hear… INTENSITY! By March these people have given up on the gym because they have seen no improvements which has in their minds caused them to, “thrown all that money out the window”. I wish I had a nickel for everyone who said, “I never got any results so I bought a home gym from Sears”. Then of course that piece of equipment becomes a clothes rack in the extra bedroom and its usually sold on craigslist by summer. All this because no one ever told the person that you have to challenge yourself in the gym. Make the weight difficult. If your doing 8 reps make it almost impossible to do the last couple of reps. Don’t do what you can easily handle. If doing what you can do easily was the proper way to get results then I wouldn’t be writing this article and we would have 100,000 people in every gym in the world. INTENSITY! Give it everything you have in the gym. INTENSITY! Its not for the weak of heart. If you can lift 20 pounds today do 30 next time. Push yourself.

Hey! Welcome… i could not agree with your more… people think losing weight and building muscle is easy… what they don’t realize is that it takes many years to develop a good foundation.. Usually new comers who ate junk and NEVER worked out will see results on the scale but it still takes time and dedication…
 
You cant just pay a trainer to take 10lb off you… you have to do it yourself.. Abs are made in the kitchen so if you are not seeing results its really your fault… i cant stand these new years resolution people… i guess it takes a driven personality to see results… you have to be consistent, dedicated, have will power, patients, and appreciation for training.. You also need KNOWLEDGE!!
 
You can’t just go to the gym, and do 20 reps of 5lb curls and see result… i don’t understand why these new years resolution people even waste their money… if you join and gym and set a goal MAKE IT HAPPEN…
 
These people have to realize there is nothing genetically wrong with them that they can’t lose weight… it takes TIME and INTENSITY! Intensity with your mind, body and soul…
 
Great post… haha you got me all heated up… i can’t stand this lack of will power… its pure weakness…  

Hey! Welcome… i could not agree with your more… people think losing weight and building muscle is easy… what they don’t realize is that it takes many years to develop a good foundation.. Usually new comers who ate junk and NEVER worked out will see results on the scale but it still takes time and dedication…
 
You cant just pay a trainer to take 10lb off you… you have to do it yourself.. Abs are made in the kitchen so if you are not seeing results its really your fault… i cant stand these new years resolution people… i guess it takes a driven personality to see results… you have to be consistent, dedicated, have will power, patients, and appreciation for training.. You also need KNOWLEDGE!!
 
You can’t just go to the gym, and do 20 reps of 5lb curls and see result… i don’t understand why these new years resolution people even waste their money… if you join and gym and set a goal MAKE IT HAPPEN…
 
These people have to realize there is nothing genetically wrong with them that they can’t lose weight… it takes TIME and INTENSITY! Intensity with your mind, body and soul…
 
Great post… haha you got me all heated up… i can’t stand this lack of will power… its pure weakness…  

Something hit me like a ton of bricks a few days ago and it is kind of funny I had this advice for a few people I knew a long time ago and I just started recommending this prescription agin only a bit different training. The4 New Years resolution thing always kind of irritates me. Because some people just make such grand goals that when they even begin to faulter they lose their momentum and go back to the way they were. Here is some of the new advice I have been giving to a few people who have approached me about their diet and exercise. First with the diet make one healthy change you can live with and do it for 2 weeks if it works keep going and add another. Why when people decide to GET HEALTHY do they spend money go to a gym buy equipment and think they are going to devote an hour or two a day to something before they werent finding time for at all? I say get an egg timer set 10 min. and do sit ups, push ups, jumping jacks walk, walk in place, what ever just for as long as the timer is set….2 weeks. What happened did you feel better? was it getting easier? could you do more? add another min. add 5 more min. what ever. Taking on too much when you did nothing before just leads to quick failure. small incremental changes can change you gently to form a new pattern….just a thought.

CHECK out this blog… its exactly what you are saying JIM
 
“Make Your goals EASIER”
 
http://www.muscledog.com/blog/view/584/MAKE_YOUR_GOALS_A_LITTLE_EASY#

Just read it. Exactly!

that’s great advice on both posts. people think just getting in and lifting some weights is gonna make everything better, but when you try to push them harder they look at you like you’re crazy. when people ask me how long it will take to get their results, i usually ask them how long it took them to get where they are now. it might not take that long, but if they realize that it took them two years to add on 50 lbs of bad weight and lose all their muscle, it makes them think about it in a longer term way. 

i also like the baby step approach, although i might stretch it to three weeks instead of two. it takes people roughly 12 days of consistent exposure to get accustomed to a new habit or to truly integrate a change. two weeks doesn’t really give them enough time to integrate the new change and have it become a real part of their lifestyle before needing to focus on the next one. i’d give another week of buffer between the two in order for it to be even more effective. 

good stuff buddy. any goals you’re currently working on?

I know genetics does play a lot on what you can acheive. However; I wish I had a dime for everyone who walked into one of my gyms and gave a half hearted effort and then walked up to me and said their genetics are holding them back. Why not do everything you can EVERYTHING and then a few years down the road walk up to me and say, ‘you know, my biceps don’t respond as well as a genetically gifted persons would”. I would be ok with that. But to only give a small percent for such a short amount of time and blame genetics. Come on if I was your biceps I wouldn’t grow either you would have given me a complex.

Hahah what about a different topic… i cant stand when people have been working out for two weeks and say “omg my legs are getting bigger, i am not going to work them out any more because i don’t want them to get bigger”  ahhahah they actually think they build a ton of muscle in two week…
 
i wish it was that easy lol… they most likely ate like a house and gained FAT!!! They think that if they workout they can eat what they want when their goal is fat loss…
 
this is another one of my Pet Peeves!

Again most people don’t stay in it long enough to realize it isn’t going to happen over night. That two weeks after Jan. first is usually the only result they see. Getting fit in eight weeks is great but what about the next 50+ years….??? Yeah you have to keep going even after you did the p90x!!!

true.. not always about not seeing results.. its pretty much pure laziness.. they just dont have the motivation or will power to go to the gym.. the hardest part is getting there

It is a tough one. Most of us here know the benefits but that is not why we do it. It is like an addiction. I don’t do a lot of other things and it is a release for me. It makes us all unique and I guess I am glad there are some lazy people…or else finding a squat rack on leg day would be even worse!!!

ahahah ok jim.. i have to agree,, i am happy there are some lazy people in this world.. i would be pissed if i could not use the squat rack.. i cantwait till february so the gym clears out a bit.
 
it really is an addiction or more of an accepted lifestyle.. just part of our every day routine.
 
 

I think what you are saying is true to a point, but what about when you miss do you worry about it? Are you edgy and ill tempered. I know that it is a critical part of my day. Routine yes I get up everyday at 4:30 out of routine but what I do to myself during that time is more than routine . It is always changing and my energies are different everyday and that determines where I go that day. Simple routine is not a word I would use to describe what most of us do here. Passionately insane??

Jim (muscle gym) i think you said it perfect… i do freak out a bit if i miss a day. That’s why i make sure i DONT… working out is like a security blanket for me…
 
if i miss a day (besides vacation) i feel uneasy and off edge… yes it is a routine because i wake up every day at 5 am and train however it is more then that.. It’s my security blanket, it’s my fuel, it’s my personality, and it’s my life style…
 
Do i wish it came easy? Of course… do i wish i didn’t have to workout as much?  Of course but then i would not get the same results…
 
Its more then just a routine!
 

Nicely put!