Top 10 Reasons Why Your Fitness & Wellness Programs Have Failed You!

As we step into 2014, people once again have made their new year resolutions.  With the #1 resolution being to exercise more, lose weight and be healthier, sadly it is also the #1 failed resolution!

Why is that? Well in part it may not be all your fault. Being a fitness and wellness professional for close to 25 years I have come to understand why people fail. I actually do a presentation called "Stop the Confusion" to educate people and create the "aha" moments that you may know all too well.

Although there are more reasons than what I'm about to share with you here in my first blog post, but I am going to share the "Top 10 Reasons Why Your Fitness and Wellness Programs have Failed".

Although these are mostly broad strokes to create that "aha" moment in which you may identify, the solution comes from seeking out the truth from a fitness professional and the discovery of your needs.

So the Top 10 Reasons:

1. No Direction or Road Map: So you get a gym membership and you go to the fitness center or your group class and granted you are being guided through your group exercise but do you truly understand what you are doing and why? You go to the fitness center and there are machines and you follow the path laid out in the circuit. Again, do you know why you are doing what you are doing?

2. Push Too Hard Too Fast!:  So following number 1, you get into a class that has an energy and you want to keep up or you want to pick up where you left off last year. Whatever it may be, you push yourself to the point of "feeling the burn" and the same goes for the fitness center or weight room performance.  That "burn" you feel then creates 3 days of soreness where you can barely get off the toilet.  That type of "success" in a workout is nothing but a set back because now you can't do anything for 3 days.  I tell all my clients my programs are a crawl, walk, run approach so you make steady improvements without risking injury or ability to exercise again the next day. You won't accomplish it all in one workout.

3. Bad Information: With over 1 billion searches daily for fitness/nutrition/weight loss information on Google, to the friend who shares their workout, to the magazine articles, to the knucklehead trainer who wants you to "push thru it", there is a TON of bad information being presented to people making achieving their goals more and more confusing.  Be sure to seek out the truth and have your program developed for you safely, logically, progressively and enjoyably.

4. Fear of Failure:  I have spoken with more people who have been hesitant to start on a program because of past failure.  With that said, refer to all these tips.

5. Lack of Accountability or Professional Guidance: You seek out a financial planner for your financial health, a lawyer for your legal advice and a dentist for your oral health. So why not find a fitness professional to instruct and educate you for your #1 most important asset: your body/health? And there is a big difference between a personal trainer and a fitness professional so do your homework.

With regard to accountability, that will come with your program. However, even a friend who you can exercise with so you can hold each other accountable will work as well. Granted you have a program that is going to improve you for the long run, not just a temporary fix.

6. Incomplete Programs: I use a basic 4 step process with my clients to make sure they have all the pieces of the puzzle together. 100% of the time, while discovering what a person has done in the past or is currently doing, the person I am talking with has only parts of their puzzle in place therefore getting little to no results from their program and efforts.  This leads to frustration and quitting.

7. Failure to Set the Foundation: Homes are built on strong foundations of concrete. Bodies are built on strong foundations of nutrition. The body you see in the mirror will only change if you address how your cells function first.

8. Proper Supplementation: For years I was very much against supplementation for my clients and myself because I always saw women who were using fat burners and carb blockers and guys with big tubs of protein and other nonsense. However, I realized there was a need for proper, effective and safe supplementation for a few reasons. One is simply to plug the holes in our dietary needs due to the nutritional decline in our food supply over the last 50 years.

9. Fear of Calories: Calories are fuel. Your body needs calories to function properly and change the way you want it to look. All too often I talk with people who are over exercising and not eating enough calories, therefore starving their body, breaking it down more and destroying their metabolism.

10. TIME: Time has proven to be the biggest variable of why people fail on top of all the rest. Whether it is no time to get to the gym or make something healthy to eat or even eat anything at all.  This is why I have developed my program to make it simple, quick....5 minute workouts or 2 minute meals when needed. I also try to educate people on how they don't need a gym all the time to get a good workout.

I hope these top 10 reasons resonate with you in some way. If you would like more information or would like to embark on a program to discover the real you, please don't hesitate to check out my website here or give me a call at 401-849-6030.

In good health,

Brian Rurak