Why Most People Will Never Achieve Their Fitness Goal

Based on what never worked for me.

I started exercising six years ago, three of which I achieved absolutely nothing.

At some point, I thought that gym was not for me, that I needed supplements or something extra to start achieving my goals, or that I had a medical condition that didn’t let me have results properly.

These beliefs were excuses not to focus on my basic unhealthy habits.

Like me, many others blame external factors for things they are doing wrong without knowing.

Some people believe they are “hard gainers,” “have insulin problems,” or have “uncontrolled hormones” that don’t let them lose or gain any pounds (which could happen, but it is very uncommon, depending on how healthy you are), and simply decide that they are not going to keep working out for that reason (instead of searching for help).

For this reason, today I will show you some of the most common reasons why I never achieved anything and how I started seeing results once I got a different approach to those problems.

You don’t clarify exactly what you want and why.

The first reason I didn’t see results was that I didn’t have a clear goal. “Lose weight” or “become physically better” are not valid reasons. Why? Because you won’t know where your goal will end, and you will not know if you are improving or getting worse with time.

Those goals are very ambiguous.

You need something specific and tangible that you can plan around:

I want 140 pounds.
I want to have 15% body fat.
I want to run 5 kilometers without getting tired.
I want to be able to do five pull-ups.

With those specific objectives, you can make plans based on exactly what you want to achieve.

But “I want to be skinnier” doesn’t work because there are a thousand things that may work or not for you, and you may get overwhelmed.

Many people have told me that they just want to “be healthier in general,” but then they get tired of just walking or lifting weights, or they don’t like the person they are becoming doing that.

That’s because, without a clear final result, you would be doing pointless things that may not get you where you want to go, and you will never feel that you are getting better because you don’t have a comparison point.

For example, when I started going to the gym, I wanted to have more muscle mass, but I didn’t know exactly what I wanted. I always said that I wanted to look better, and that’s it.

The gym trainers gave me a cardio and pilates exercise routine because, for them, “looking better” was being thinner. And I spent many months feeling like I was getting worse because I didn’t know what I was doing.

So, if you want to achieve your fitness goals, the first thing you need to do is have a precise end result of what you want and why you want that body. With it, you can plan the routine to make you go exactly where you want to be.

You think you have to train every day to see results.

Another beginner mistake I made several times was starting the gym and wanting to become obsessed with it from the beginning.

The moment I said that I wanted to start exercising, I put in my agenda that I should go every day, train for an hour, and probably 30 minutes of cardio to see results right away.

However, the only outcome I got was getting completely tired of going after a month.

Many people love the gym from the first moment they go, but others take time to adapt to this new lifestyle, so going every day makes them get tired of this new habit faster.

So, unless you fell in love with exercising after the first time you went, I recommend going gradually. First, two or three times a week for 45 minutes or one-hour maximum, and then add more time and exercises that you consider necessary, depending on your goals.

You don't need to go every day to see results, but make things that matter to your goals and be consistent with them.

You don’t pay attention to their correct nutrition: every goal needs a specific diet.

For years, my main problem was believing that the gym was a magical place that would transform me overnight without changing anything else in my life.

However, the food I ate remained practically the same, preventing my body from making any significant changes.

And I’m not talking about an extreme diet, eating only salad, and avoiding everything you like in order to lose weight. I’m talking about learning how to eat correctly and choosing everything your body needs to be healthier and better.

Understanding how to eat was the most difficult but rewarding skill I learned. It made me understand that I didn’t need to eat less or things I disliked just to meet a goal, but to understand that a healthier life involves making changes forever that I can keep even if I am not exercising anymore.

Each goal, whether gain, loss, or maintenance, is different and requires an understanding of how calories work.

I had a trainer who prohibited me from eating many foods to lose body fat, but I continued eating just as much, and as a result, I stayed the same.

You can eat chocolate every day and lose weight, or eat salad and meat all the time and gain weight. Because what matters is the portion, and you have to be clear about what exactly your body needs to work properly.

So my final advice here is to learn to eat correctly before choosing any diet and delete things that just don’t make sense for anybody (such as sugar in large quantities or junk food).

You prioritize strength over technique in your routines.

On social media and streaming platforms, you see how exercising and increasing muscle mass basically boil down to lifting as much weight as possible.

What nobody tells you is that if you do it wrong, no matter how heavy you lift, you won’t get anywhere.

For me, lifting weights didn’t work for a long time because I simply wasn’t doing it correctly, and what I was doing was compromising my muscles and knees.

I used to look for extensive routines on the internet, with countless exercises to do every day to feel powerful, but no matter how much I did, it stayed the same.

It wasn’t until I went to a trainer who taught me exactly how to do each exercise that I understood that weight didn’t matter but how I did it. Only when I learned how to train, I started to gain more muscles.

My recommendation is to first learn how to do everything, even if it’s with 5 pounds. Find videos, record yourself, or go with a friend until you feel completely sure that what you are doing is right, and only after that, start adding more pounds.

Achieving your fitness goals is a combination of exercising, correct nutrition focused on what you want to achieve, and doing the right things that make sense for your final dream body.

Fitness is not about an extreme diet and being obsessed with going to the gym for long periods of time, and if you do it, you may achieve the opposite effect: get tired of it quickly and abandon it.

I didn’t see results for a long time because I believed I had to rush into doing many things to look good. I went every day, tried impossible diets, and tried to lift as much as I could. But this only made me get tired quickly and give up after a few weeks of going.

For this reason, be clear about what you want to achieve, find a routine that fits your lifestyle, and learn the correct way to eat to achieve what you are looking for. Nobody is waiting for you to achieve certain results, so take your time to learn and try things.

If you believe you may have a condition that is preventing you from achieving something, go to the doctor and seek help, but don’t give up on your plans because that doesn’t make sense and is only an excuse not to take action.