Have you ever felt as though you’ve worked/you’re working so damn hard with your training, but your body still looks the same? Don’t worry, you’re not alone! It happens to so many women. You finally join that gym, you get into it, you become consistent and you do the things. A few months (sometimes years, eish) go by but you don’t see any noticeable change in the body. You can feel the change (energy levels, mood, improved sleep, fitness levels, etc) but you can’t SEE the change. Kak. Sorry! Don’t stress and don’t be discouraged! You must also recognise your efforts and know that you’ve still made amazing progress regarding consistency in your training, fitness levels, energy levels, mental clarity, mood, and all the other benefits that come with training. Especially if you haven’t done any sort of training before. You’ve built the habit! Don’t forget about all of that. All you need is a bit of tweaking. Let’s talk about why you’re not seeing the physical change you want to see in your body. I’m going to highlight some of the most common reasons for you. So here goes!

1. You’re not training correctly for your goal This is highly individual and goal specific but I’ll make a few examples so that you understand. I’m not exactly sure about what your (yes you, reading this) goals are but you’ll get where I’m going with this.

* Your goal is a “toned” physique, for example, visible muscle and lower body fat percentage. (Also, I’m hoping that aesthetics isn’t your only goal but that’s a convo for another day. Love you.)

If your training schedule consists mainly of cardio-based/random group exercise classes such as step, aerobics, spinning, treadmill workouts, pilates, HIIT, and anything that doesn’t involve lifting heavy-ish weights – you’re doing it wrong. Don’t get me wrong, you can still incorporate these types of workouts if you want to, BUT you’ve gotta lift some heavy stuff at least 2-3 times a week in order for you to achieve the “toned” look you’re after. Follow a strength training program, make sure your form/technique is proper, and incorporate 2-3 strength/muscle-specific workouts to build some muscalitos. (muscles) You won’t appear toned if you haven’t built some muscle. Side note: Everybody should be strength training, whether you want a toned physique or not. Just a little FYI.

*Your goal is to grow your glutes (bum) but not your thighs

If your lower body days consist mainly of heavy weighted squats, lunges, leg presses, split squats, and weighted step-ups, your quads (thighs) are going to grow/build along with your glutes. It’s important to still incorporate some of these exercises to build leg strength but you don’t have to go super heavy with the weights. Lighter weights or even body weight is fine. If you want to grow your glutes without too much quad growth, you have to start incorporating more isolated glute-specific exercises into your lower body days 2-3 times a week. Exercises such as hip thrusts, Romanian deadlifts, cable kickbacks, seated machine abduction, cable pull-throughs, reverse frog hyperextensions, and 45-degree back extensions.

Train correctly for your goal/s. If you’re not entirely sure about how to train for your specific body/aesthetic goal/s, do some research on it or reach out to a trusted coach for some guidance.

2. You’re not eating correctly for your goal (nutrition)

Nutrition and training go hand-in-hand. They complement one another and if your eating is proper (along with correct training), you will make (& see) INSANE progress over time if you are consistent in your efforts. It’s all about your calorie and protein intake. If your goal is to lose weight or body fat, you have to be eating in a calorie deficit. If your goal is to maintain your weight but just work on getting stronger & building muscle, you have to be eating in maintenance. If your goal is to gain weight or muscle, you have to be eating in a calorie surplus. For example, A 35-year-old woman who is 160m in height, weighs 65kg, and is moderately active needs roughly 2037 calories per day to maintain her weight. Anything below 2037 would be a calorie deficit (eg. 1800) and anything above 2037 (eg. 2400) would be a calorie surplus. For all three of these goals, adequate protein and fiber is necessary. I wrote an article about everything protein and how much your body needs. Read it here!

I would consider this one of the MAIN/MOST COMMON reasons why you’re not seeing change in your body. The majority of the time, peeps who have weight loss or fat loss goals are eating in maintenance or a surplus without even realising it. This is also why many women feel “bulky” when strength training. You’re probably eating in a calorie surplus, gaining muscle AND additional body fat on top of the muscle – this is what causes you to look “bulky”. Super sad because this is why many women tend to wanna stay away from strength training. Meanwhile it’s just a lack of education on how it all works. I suggest getting familiar with how many calories your body needs for your goal and take it from there. This doesn’t mean you have to count calories, although it would help to do it for a bit just to educate yourself. But if not, there are WAYS/methods. It’s all about habit change and smart nutrition/food choices. You must understand that even if you are training consistently, you might not see the change you want to see if your nutrition isn’t proper.

3. You’re not patient enough

Building strength, building muscle, losing weight, reducing body fat, body transformation/changing your appearance, tweaking your habits, changing your life – TAKES TIME and you must be patient and trust the process. You can’t expect to eat well & train for one day or one week and expect mad results. LOL! This sh!t takes months – years! Keep going with your consistency and just enjoy yourself, man. Almost forget about the goal for a while and just do what needs to be done, coz this is forever! There isn’t an end goal. When you start your health & fitness journey, you’re setting yourself up for forever progress and there’s no stopping. Well, there shouldn’t be any stopping. It’s a life-long commitment yo! You will be kwaai forever and just level up ALL the damn time until the day you die.

4. You only move during your training sessions but no additional movement throughout the day

In terms of overall calorie burn, a single 45-50 minute workout doesn’t burn many calories – especially while strength training. You can still be considered sedentary if you just do your workout in the morning, but for the rest of your day, you are sitting behind your desk with little/no movement. Crazy right? This is where daily walking/getting in your steps comes in. You want to increase your overall activity level. Why do you think it’s so common for people to gain weight after school or after college? We’re simply not as active anymore as adults. We’re not walking up and down corridors, playing sports, cheerleading, dancing, and whatever else we used to do. Now we’re adulting and sitting behind desks. Lol. Make sense? Increase your activity level and get in your steps asseblief. Not only does it contribute to your overall calorie burn, but it’s also super beneficial to your physical & mental health. All in all, walking is just great & super underrated. Make conscious efforts to move more during your day, IN ADDITION to your scheduled workouts.

5. You’re doing too much

If you’re the type of person who goes to every single gym class, at the gym every single day, no days off vibes – you are not giving your body a chance to recover from all the training stress and this impacts your results in a big way. The body NEEDS rest & recovery days so that it can rebuild and recoup & it’ll also allow you to push hard on the days that you do train. You’re going to end up just doing mediocre workouts all the time because your body is constantly tired and you don’t even realise it. Body burnout is real and you are probably putting yourself at risk of injury too. More doesn’t mean better. QUALITY of your session/workout is better.

I hope this helped! Let me know if you’ve had any light bulb moments! Love you guys. Thank you for reading my article. Please share it with someone who needs to see it. I would appreciate it! Let me know your comments or questions down below if you have any. Ok, thanks bye.