One of the hardest things to do when you're working hard to lose weight, build lean muscle and reshape your body is knowing how and when to challenge yourself.
Most people have a tendency to underestimate themselves. This can keep you from reaching as high as you should or from moving on to the next level when it's time.
Plateaus Start When Challenges Stop
Anyone who has ever worked out for a decent period of time or gone on a diet is familiar with the dreaded plateau. A plateau happens when you're doing everything you have been doing, but all of a sudden the results start slowing down or stop altogether.
This is because our bodies are extremely adaptive mechanisms. They were designed to adapt not only to our environment, but to the work we demand of them and the things we put into them. Your workout program may be awesome, but your body will get used to it very quickly. How quickly will depend on how often you work out and your level of fitness, but your body will adapt. And once it does adapt, your progress will halt. Results happen when we challenge our bodies and they stop when what you're doing is no longer challenging.
If you're not prepared for that adaptive process, you can find yourself working very hard and getting nowhere, which is really frustrating and can just kill your motivation.
Some People Need Things to Be Challenging
Challenge also comes into play mentally. Some people need their program to be really challenging in order to get excited enough about it to stick with it. These kinds of people are always looking toward the next thing, the next level, and the next obstacle. That's a great mental attitude to have, but it can work against you if you don't have the knowledge to create the next thing, identify the next level, or leap over the next obstacle.
How Your Personal Trainer Can Challenge You
A personal trainer has that knowledge. Not only that, but they know you. As you work together, your personal trainer learns what pushes your buttons, what gets you excited, and what motivates you. They know what's hard for you and they know what you can tackle almost too easily.
Part of designing a weight loss or workout program for someone is constantly anticipating the next step or the next level. Because our bodies do adapt so quickly, it's really important to have a plan in place for shaking things up, before you need to shake things up. This is how you avoid that plateau and it's also how you keep people who crave a challenge from getting bored or losing motivation.
If you're one of those people who need constant challenge to get excited about working out, count yourself lucky. You're the kind of person who can power through obstacles and have fun doing it. Having a personal trainer who knows you can do more than even you think possible can have a huge impact on your workouts and your results.
