By Michael Krueger
There are a few things that will almost surely derail your fitness program. While the number and specifics may vary among different populations, here is my list of the usual suspects when trainees fail to progress.
Poor Nutrition
Always at the top of the list is nutrition. Whether your goal is to lose fat or to gain muscle mass, the quality of the food you consume should always be your top priority. Whether on your shopping list or a menu in a restaurant, nutrition should always be the deciding factor in what you eat.
Too often those who are looking to lose weight will restrict not only calories but nutrients as well. So they sacrifice muscle and health in the frivolous pursuit of fashionable thinness rather than healthful, functional fitness.
Those who are looking to gain muscle often choose to rely on supplements rather than good-quality natural foods. These people seem to be in search of the magic potion that will get them to their goals. Always remember that supplements are unregulated while unprocessed natural foods will give you exactly what they promise, and they taste good too.
A well-balanced diet, with either a slight excess of calories or a slight caloric deficit, with more lean protein and less carbohydrates, has been shown to be the most effective way to either gain or lose weight depending on your focus.
When creating your diet, the first thing to do is to map out your nutrition needs and then look at how you might manipulate the total calories to achieve your weight goals.
Overreaching
Overreaching is simply the act of trying to accomplish more than is possible in a given time period. It may be thinking you are ready for a marathon when you haven’t put in the mileage, or trying for a personal record when you haven’t put in the required training time.
Overreaching isn’t usually physically damaging, but it can really put a hit on your head. Failing to accomplish your goal can cause your enthusiasm to plummet and may derail your fitness progress for quite some time. Occasionally, people never get over the disappointment and perceived humiliation of such failure.
Setting realistic, attainable goals and then achieving or surpassing them is a far more effective strategy in both the short term and the long run. Challenging yourself is important, but keeping the challenge within the doable range is the key to success. You can always set new more challenging goals after each personal triumph.
Overtraining
Overtraining, unlike overreaching, can and frequently does cause serious physical problems. Not listening to your body’s warning signs that your program isn’t going well is a sure way to put your fitness, not to mention your health, at risk.
Marathon workouts, too-frequent workouts, punishment workouts, too much mileage, too much weight, gobbling supplements, taking steroids, ignoring injuries, obsessively following muscle magazine workouts that aren’t tailored to your fitness level or needs–all contribute to overtraining syndrome.
Symptoms such as excessive fatigue, joint pain, personality changes, compulsive behavior, disordered eating and sleeping patterns, and depression or mania can all indicate a problem. Don’t ignore them because while they are serious on their own, they are indicators of some very severe problems just over the horizon.
Overtraining will not only derail your workout short term but it can often cause long-term physical and psychological damage that will affect your fitness and health for the rest of your life.
Inadequate Sleep
Sleep is a touchy subject with many people. Many people take pride in the “fact” that they can get by on an incredibly small amount of sleep. The reality is that most people go through their days sleep deprived and performance impaired and aren’t even aware of it. This is in part because they have been living this way for so long that it feels like their natural state.
Obviously as firefighters you are in a unique situation. Overnight calls can wreak havoc with your sleep patterns. Even when you don’t get a call, you aren’t sleeping as well as you would be at home because of the anticipation of a call. This anxiety may be mitigated somewhat through meditation techniques, and it would be worth the effort to learn how.
We have a tendency to relegate sleep to a lower priority than it deserves, and it shows in your quality of life. Inadequate sleep affects your workout in the same way it affects the rest of your life. The interesting thing is that if you look at the microcosm of your workout logs you can get a straight, unadulterated, and complete picture of exactly how sleep deprivation affects your physical well being. In glorious black and white, you will see reduced performance, focus, intensity, consistency, and results. These are the same symptoms that show up in your job and relationships and with the same negative results.
Inconsistency
Missed workouts will leave your program stagnant at best and regressive at worst. If you have been at the fitness game for a long time, the damage is not as noticeable as it will be if you are new to fitness. Trust me though, it is still there, it’s just that the impact isn’t as great because of the sheer number of workouts you already have under your belt.
Missing scheduled workouts also cause issues in your head. One missed session often progresses to two and three, and pretty soon you are starting your program all over again. Maintaining workout momentum by staying on schedule is actually a lot easier than missing workouts and having to repeatedly start over. If you miss often enough, you can lose so much momentum that you become apathetic and just quit.
Regular workouts will foster an exercise habit that helps take the decision making aspect out of the equation and makes it easier to just go and get it done on a regular basis without any handwringing involved.
Poor Form
There are varying degrees and differing opinions regarding what constitutes poor form. Go into any gym anywhere and you will see many exercises being performed in many different manners. If you become a slave to strict form, you will take much of the fun out of exercising, but if you get sloppy, you will more than likely get injured too.
There is only one thing that will give you an almost 100 percent chance of getting hurt. This involves rounding your back under load while doing squats and dead lifts. Other than this, the main issue with poor form is that it makes your exercises less effective. Swinging the weights, relying on momentum, and poor body position are ways to make the lifts easier and therefore less productive. Do the lifts correctly and reap more benefits in less time; it’s that simple.
When it comes to running, biking, or swimming, form can make a huge difference in your efficiency as well as in injury prevention. If you are new to an activity or even if you have been at it a long time, it isn’t a bad idea to be evaluated by a coach to ensure you aren’t developing any bad habits that might cause issues in the long term.
Lack of Program Efficacy
If your program isn’t designed with your needs in mind, you won’t see the progress needed to keep you on track to meet your goals. If you are trying to get stronger and you “only” see an increase in your muscle mass without an increase in strength, then there is something amiss in your program design and/or diet. Just as if you are training to increase in muscle mass and you “only” see improvement in strength, then you aren’t on a program that is effective given your goals. So even though both outcomes are positive, they weren’t what you thought you were training for and therefore you will be disappointed.
Many trainees just do the same program that someone else is doing, using the same weights, sets, reps, and intensity. This may lead to either overtraining or undertraining, but either way it isn’t going to lead to success.
You must evaluate your needs, both physical and mental, to match them to your method of working out. A program that is designed to lean you out when you want to get stronger isn’t going to achieve your goals. Know what you want and design a framework that will get you there regardless of whether it is the workout of the day.
Putting It All Together
Avoiding the pitfalls is a lot easier than crawling out of them once you fall in. Eating smart, sleeping well, and learning how to train and why to train will afford you many years of injury free, effective, and productive training.
Michael Krueger is an NSCA-certified personal trainer. He got his start in fitness training while serving in the United States Coast Guard. He works with firefighters and others in and around Madison, Wisconsin. He is available to fire departments, civic organizations, and athletic teams for training, consulting, and speaking engagements. He has published numerous articles on fitness, health, and the mind-body connection and was a featured speaker at the IAFC’s FRI 2009 Health Day in Dallas, Texas. E-mail him at MKPTLLC@gmail.com.
