I hate when I see people in the gym training consistently and putting in effort but not getting the results they want. This is my biggest pet peeve and the whole reason I became a coach in the first place. I see people go to the gym for months or years and look exactly the same never progressing !
The truth is: effort doesn’t always equal progress. Especially when your training hasn’t evolved.
You train hard. You eat pretty well. You hit the gym five days a week — maybe more. So why does your body still look the same?
I believe everyone who is making the conscious effort to go the gym should get the results they want so here is a 6 step break down of where you might be going wrong and what actionable steps you can take to get back on track and making crazy gains !
1. You Made Early Progress… and Then You Got Comfortable
Most people see results early on. When you go from doing nothing to lifting weights, your body responds fast. A bit of fat drops. Some muscle shows up. You start feeling good.
And then — everything stalls.
You think: “I’ll just keep doing what got me these results — and I’ll keep progressing.”
But that’s not how the body works.
Your body adapts. What once felt intense, now feels normal. Your training has become maintenance — not growth. I know this is hard to accept or hear but it is incredibly easy to start off going to the gym smashing it making progress and then after a few weeks you think: "i'm tired i'll skip the gym today - That was heavy enough, I don't need to go heavier - I'll leave that last exercise someone is on the machine anyway". Then without you even realising your intensity and work ethic has slipped over time to to the point you aren't creating enough stimulus for growth.
2. You Need a New Stimulus — Not Just More Weight
When people hear progressive overload, they think it just means “add more weight.” But that’s only one tool.
You can increase training intensity in smarter ways:
Intensifiers to Use:
-
Drop Sets – Perform a set, then immediately reduce the weight and continue repping.
-
Supersets – Pair two exercises back-to-back with no rest.
-
Pause Reps – Pause for 2–3 seconds at the hardest part of the lift.
-
Tempo Reps – Slow down the movement (e.g., 3-second negative, 1-second pause).
These shock your muscles into working harder — without needing to keep adding weight that wrecks your joints or causes your form to suffer. Leave your ego and the pursuit of 1 rep maxes at the door. If you want muscle growth focus on form, control and intensity.
3. Your Training Split is Tired — Your body has adapted
Still running the classic push/pull/legs for months on end?
Your body has adapted to the order. And the overlap in muscle groups drains performance.
For example:
-
On Push Day, you hit chest first (fresh), then shoulders and triceps (already fatigued from pressing).
-
Result? You never lift heavy on shoulders or triceps.
Try swapping to this instead:
-
Chest & Back
-
Shoulders & Arms
-
Legs & Abs
By pairing opposing muscle groups, each one gets proper rest between sets — meaning you can train harder and lift heavier. It's not that one split is necessarily better than another it's just a new stimulus and style of training that will reignite your progress and intensity when training.
Switch your split every 6–8 weeks. Your body thrives on change.
4. You’re Doing the Same Workouts Over and Over
If your Chest Day has been the same for months, don’t be surprised if your chest hasn’t grown.
You’re not a powerlifter chasing strength on the same lifts. You’re training for physique — to build shape and size.
That means:
-
Vary the angles: flat, incline, decline
-
Use machines, cables, dumbbells, and barbells
-
Don’t obsess over “getting stronger” on just 1-2 lifts — chase the pump, the burn, and the fatigue
If you always do flat barbell bench, you’ll just get good at flat barbell bench — not necessarily build a better chest.
5. You Always Start with the Same Exercises
Starting with squats every leg day? Makes sense, right?
Not always.
If squats are always first, they always get your full energy. But the exercises at the end — like leg extensions — never do.
So change the order.
Try pre-exhausting your quads with extensions before squatting. Or start with hamstrings one week, quads the next.
This unlocks new stimulus and challenges muscles in a fresh way.
6. Your Intensity Is Slowly Fading Without You Realising
When you train alone, you start off fired up. Focused. Dialled in.
But over time...
-
You skip that last rep
-
You avoid adding weight
-
You cut the session short
-
You do "just enough"
And you don’t even notice it happening.
Until one day you realise:
“I haven’t really pushed myself in weeks.”
That’s why your results dried up.
7. The Fix? Reset Your Intensity and Push Again
This is exactly why I created my 6-Week Transformation Challenges — to reignite people’s passion, structure, and drive.
Sometimes all it takes is a few weeks of real intensity — and you suddenly remember what progress feels like.
I know for a fact after your first workout from any of my challenges you will think to yourself : "Ye I definitely haven't been training as intense as this before".
If you’re stuck, plateaued, or frustrated that your body hasn’t changed…
You don’t need to train more — you need to train better.