Guest post by Evolve MMA, Asia’s premier championship brand for martial arts. It has the most number of World Champions on the planet. Named as the #1 ranked martial arts organization in Asia by CNN, Yahoo! Sports, FOX Sports, Evolve MMA is the top rated BJJ gym in Singapore.
There is nothing more frustrating than not losing weight despite the fact you have been dedicated to a fitness routine for a while. The reason this occurs is because there are multiple factors that affect how a person’s weight changes.
Some people even end up gaining weight when they start working out. If you are one of them, here are some reasons why you might not be losing as much weight as you want.
1) Eating too much
Regardless of how often you work out, you won’t lose much weight if you are consuming more calories than you burn. Many common exercises, like running or lifting weights only burn a few hundred calories for every hour spent training.
It doesn’t take much to gain weight when your fitness program is not getting rid of that many calories. An extra soda or sandwich you shouldn’t have, and you have a caloric surplus.
When starting off a fitness program, it is crucial to figure out how many calories you consume each day and how many you burn during each workout. Then, make sure you burn more calories than you eat or eat fewer calories than you burn each day.
2) Your workouts do not have enough variety
Training Muay Thai helps you build mental toughness.
Switching up your workout routine from time to time does your body a lot of good. Our bodies are excellent at adapting to new things, and that includes workouts. It means after a certain amount of time, the exercises you perform will no longer be as effective as they initially were.
Doing the same thing workouts over and over is also a sure way to lose your motivation.
It is best to include a lot of variety into your workouts. It prevents you from getting diminished results since you are constantly switching up exercises. Your body does not get a chance to adapt to it, and it allows you to target your muscles from different angles.
Fortunately, adding some variation to your workouts is easy, given how many different ways each muscle can be targeted. For example, you can work out with a flat bench press one week, then use an incline bench the next. Your muscles will be better defined as a result, and you’ll be less likely to plateau before you reach your goals.
3) You do not lift weights
Many martial artists include weight training into their routine.
If you thought lifting weights was only for meatheads, think again. Weight lifting provides benefits that take you closer to your weight loss goals. A well-structured weight lifting program burns more calories than many conventional cardio exercises.
Lifting weight burns calories, but, more importantly, it boosts your metabolism. That means you continue to burn off fat at a higher rate hours after your workout.
Weight lifting also helps to build muscles, and those huge muscles need to be fed with nutrients. Maintaining muscles requires a lot more energy than maintaining fat, so it will also give you a long-term metabolism boost. It’s why many really buff people seem to be a lot more ripped than the average person despite their size. It’s why you never see marathon runners who look like bodybuilders. Such endurance athletes need their bodies to burn as little calories as possible so they can cover a large distance, not the other way around.
If you are not a fan of weight lifting, there are other ways to build muscles like resistance exercises or workout machines. Just remember, the more muscles you have on your frame, the more calories your body needs to function each day.
4) You might be gaining muscle mass
Make exercising and eating healthily a part of your lifestyle.
It is possible to become leaner, lose fat, and still gain weight. How is that possible you ask? Well, fats are less dense than muscles. That means as your body loses fat and builds muscles, the compact nature of muscle tissues will make you appear leaner. The scale might say something else though since you might have gained more muscle than the fat you lost.
You would be healthier, leaner, and more toned, but your weight would have gone up. That’s not a bad thing; your weight is just a number. What matters are the improvements you notice in your physique. If your weight remains the same, but your physique is significantly improved, your workouts are doing precisely what they are designed to do.
5) You need more rest
Martial arts can help you focus your mind.
One of the symptoms of sleep deprivation is weight gain, so make sure you are getting enough rest to complement your fitness routine. Your body does a considerable portion of its repairs while you sleep, and you make better decisions when you are better rested. Better decisions like not eating that icing covered cupcake you’ve been staring at for half an hour.
Sleep deprivation can actually throw off the hormones that regulate your appetite. It can lead to an increase in food cravings and the release of the hormone called cortisol. Cortisol promotes fat storage in your midsection, and it has been linked to many health issues.
6) You’re not factoring normal fluctuations in weight
A science-backed plan will help you build muscle faster.
Your body weight can fluctuate by up to 10 pounds each day. When you randomly check your weight, the results might leave you feeling confused even if you are losing weight. What you weigh in the morning prior to eating anything will not be the same thing you weigh after chowing down on a few pounds of food.
The best way to monitor your weight is by turning it into a ritual. Try to do it at the same time each day while wearing similar clothes. If possible, do it without any clothes on. It’s a better way to monitor your progress.
