Why Workouts Aren’t Enough

If you’ve ever spent time working out consistently (maybe it was for weeks, maybe it was for months) and you still felt like your progress wasn’t matching your effort, you’re not alone.

I have been coaching people for nearly two decades, and a big lesson I’ve learned is this:
Great workouts do not automatically create great results.

Don’t get me wrong—exercise is incredibly important. Helps you to build muscle, to improve your cardiovascular health, gets you stronger, allows you to move better, and often reduces pain. These are all very worthwhile outcomes.

But if your goal is long-term weight loss, a healthier body composition, and creating habits that last for years, then the workout is really only part of the equation.

In fact, it’s only about one hour of your day.

The other 23 hours matter just as much—and maybe even more.

The Workout Creates the Opportunity

A single workout doesn’t magically change your body. I think you know this. I know this. I think most people know this.

However, it creates a reason for your body to change. Now, strength training gives your muscles a reason to grow stronger. Cardio or conditioning gives your hearts and lungs a reason to become healthier and more efficient.

As it turns out, exercise is the stimulus. What happens afterward determines how well your body responds to that stimulus.

And this is exactly why two people can follow the exact same workout program and get very different results.

All things being equal about them as people, what happens after the workout seems to be the difference in terms of what they experience for results.

The Other 23 Hours

When I was first starting as a personal trainer, my job mostly revolved around spending that hour with the client, making sure they are moving well, making sure they are working hard. That was pretty much it.

We’d train hard. They’d get stronger, they’d lose some weight, improve their fitness. Maybe they hurt a little bit less, but I always felt like I was missing something.

Eventually we started talking about eating and we started talking about sleeping, and what we found is that over time, we were able to develop more of a system to address all of you.

You add on top of it the question: Are you moving outside of the gym, or are you sitting the remaining 10 to 12 to 14 hours a day? How was your eating? Are you addressing the stress you’re experiencing?

It turns out these questions have a much bigger impact on your long-term success than you probably realize, and it’s worth talking about.

Health Is a System

Over eighteen years, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard people say something to the effect of…

“Should I just do more cardio?”
“Should I add another workout day?”
“What if I did some more intervals on these days?”

Oh, you’re not losing weight? Let’s do more cardio.

You’re feeling frustrated? Let’s train harder.

You missed a few days last week. Let’s double up this week.

Sometimes it’s appropriate. Most of the time, it’s not.

Let’s turn health more into a checklist. Here are some checks for you to consider:

• Strength training helps you build and maintain muscle
• Cardiovascular exercise helps keep your heart healthy and improves your cardiovascular endurance
• Healthy nutrition habits provide your body with building blocks that you need to recover and adapt to the training you are doing
• Sleep allows that recovery to happen
• Daily movement keeps your metabolism active, supports better blood sugar regulation and overall health
• Stress influences nearly every one of these areas and is worth talking about

And as it turns out, when one piece breaks down, the entire system becomes just a little bit less effective.

Why Habits Beat Perfection

It’s been a number of years since I’ve thought, “Hey, you need to eat paleo or carnivore or keto or whatever and stick to it.”

I guess you could say that running a business and becoming a parent has kind of hit me right between the eyes with the real world.

To be clear, all of those approaches and more, including something like intermittent fasting, can work, but it turns out there’s a common denominator, and it isn’t the diet itself.

The common denominator on a macro level (see what I did there?) is whether or not you can consistently follow the habits and whether or not they fit into the chaos of your life.

If you’re busy, you don’t need another set of rigid rules. If you’re a parent, you want to demonstrate to your kids what healthy means, because frankly you want them to be healthy.

The development of a system is really what has made our most successful clients the most successful clients that we have. We’re not trying to be perfect. We’re just trying to build habits that keep you moving in the right direction.

Why Coaching Looks Beyond the Workout

With the admin of the chat GPTs of the world and people asking me, “Hey Chris, why can’t you just send me workouts?” the answer is easy…

There are some workout programs that are better than others. There are other workout programs that I would not suggest anybody get into. The answer is that the workouts are probably not your biggest problem.

If you don’t feel like you’re recovering, we probably need to talk about sleep.

If healthy eating feels overwhelming, then we need to simplify it.

If your schedule and stress make your consistency difficult, we just need to plan ahead instead of pretending that life isn’t happening.

If you’re traveling, we need to figure out a way to maintain your momentum instead of starting over when you get home.

Good coaching isn’t about giving you more exercises. It’s about helping you solve a problem that’s actually standing in the way of your progress.

The Bottom Line

Don’t get it twisted. The workout matters. It matters a lot.It’s the hour that creates the opportunity for change. It’s a chance for you to focus on yourself, and it’s a stress reliever for busy professionals and busy parents alike.

But it’s the other 23 hours of your day that determine whether or not that opportunity becomes a reality.

Your workouts, your nutrition, your recovery, your daily activity, and your habits begin to work together instead of competing with one another and succumbing to the chaos of life. Something powerful happens.

You are going to realize that your progress stops feeling like a temporary thing and starts becoming part of who you are. And ultimately, you want to define yourself as…

“I’m the person that’s healthy and works out and takes care of myself.”
And not, “I’m the person that’s trying to be healthy, trying to work out and trying to take care of myself.”

Every decision you make is another vote for the person you’re becoming.

That’s how lasting change happens.

If this made you realize your workouts are only one piece of the puzzle, I’d love to hear from you ([email protected]). Reach out to me! I’m always happy to help you build a plan to fit your real life [not a perfect one].