This is what you need to do to finally get the results you want!

Nothing is as frustrating as having a goal to shape your body with strength training and not being able to do it. Read our tips on how to reach your training goals once and for all!

Frustratingly progressless

Everywhere it is promised that you will look both tight and athletic by doing strength training. So why are there so many people who don't actually look like the fitness profiles on Instagram? It is terribly frustrating and demotivating to experience that you exercise and eat healthy, but do not get the results you want.

There are several factors that influence the training results, and it is the case that the more extreme the goal setting, the more extreme the measures must be.

There are many people who do strength training who actually have no plan for what they are doing. Therefore, it pays to have a training plan that actually targets the goal you have.

Have a program

If you train without a program and do everything on your gut feeling, you have no overview of what you are doing, and therefore no opportunity to ensure progression in a sensible way. In order to shape the body and build muscles, one has to train harder over time, even if the goal is primarily muscle growth and not strength.

Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to have a structured training program that matches your goals. And it is also absolutely essential to train continuously, and not just a session here or there. You can't actually say you won't get results if you haven't put in the work required.

Train for muscle growth

In order to build muscle and shape the body, it is crucial to train for muscle growth. That is, you should train between 8 and 15 repetitions per set, and train quite close to exhaustion. If you train more repetitions than 15, you should train almost to exhaustion in order to have an effect.

If you train too lightly, and stop a set when you could do 10 more repetitions, you will not actually get the desired training effect on muscle growth.

Exercise the whole body

For a well-trained and athletic physique, it is necessary to train the whole body, not just selected body parts such as the arms or buttocks. It is recommended to train all muscle groups in the whole body at least twice per week. Then it is possible to have a few extra sets on priority muscle groups instead of dedicating entire sessions to it.

Feel free to focus on basic exercises, so that you get more out of the time you have at your disposal.

Fitness training

Many people who do strength training like it much better than cardio training, but at a certain point on the way to the goal of a low fat percentage and marked muscles, cardio training should also be included.

It will do for most people with a couple of sessions of high-intensity interval training, either in the form of pure cardio training or performed as circuit training with exercises that involve many muscle groups at once.

The diet

Training for muscle growth is the basis for shaping the body, but it goes hand in hand with what you eat.

Keep the count

If you are going to train to reduce your fat percentage, you must also eat to reduce your fat percentage. The vast majority of people think they eat healthier than they do, and less than they do. Therefore, many are also surprised that they do not get the results they want. If the goal is to reach a very concrete goal, you have to make some moves that are measurable and possible to adjust based on how the five-way looks.

The easiest way to do this is to get an overview of your daily energy consumption, and then calculate the desired daily energy intake based on your goal. You must therefore know how many calories you consume and how many you should eat each day.

Put into practice

It is not enough just to know what to eat, you also have to put the plan into practice. When you are on a diet or dietary plan where you must eat a certain number of calories, and no more, it can be difficult to resist temptations that appear.

But it is precisely these pieces of cake at work, baked goods with the coffee, an extra portion when you are really full, crisps for the TV series in the evening and so on that make most people not look like fitness models. Sticking to a diet plan is tough, but it's also what works.

In order for you to be able to stick to a plan over a long enough period of time for you to see results, you must adapt it so that you are actually able and motivated to do it. You will get nowhere with a perfect plan that you cannot follow.

Lifestyle

There are other factors that also affect how the training results are.

Sleep

The very first thing you should do for yourself is to ensure good sleep. It lays the foundation for having the energy to endure training and to have the motivation to follow a diet plan. In addition, poor sleep can prevent muscle growth, and cause you to lose muscle mass and not fat mass when you are on a diet.

Stress

If the body is chronically stressed, it will not prioritize spending energy on building muscle and losing fat mass. If you reduce stress levels, you will also have a greater chance of succeeding in shaping your body.

Fastening

If you think that going out on the town one day a week doesn't do much, it actually can if you drink a lot. Then you will have a whole night of extremely poor recovery and sleep, and the following day will not be a good training day either. People also tend to make poor dietary choices when drinking alcohol, and can quickly end up with several thousand extra calories in the form of alcohol, snacks and junk food.

Everyday activity

Being active outside of training can also do a lot for energy consumption. If you lie on the sofa or have a sedentary job during the hours you are not training, it may mean that you do not get the results you want as quickly. So break up the sedentary lifestyle with everyday activity as often as you can.

Expectations

Perhaps many people have slightly high expectations of what and how quickly strength training can do. Both building muscle and reducing the percentage of fat are processes that take time, and it often takes both weeks and months before you see results. Therefore, you must also be willing to work hard and for a long time before you actually get a return on your efforts.

Perhaps you feel that it is not really worth it for you, and that it will be too time-consuming and tiring with all the training and food preparation? It is then possible to adjust the goal setting and expectations, but also be aware that it will not take you as effectively to the goal you originally dreamed of.