People who come to the gym can be classified into two categories. Those that get results in a relatively short time frame and those who don't. Those who get results are a happy lot, while others usually quick to find someone else to blame! In most cases, the reason lies with the person himself or herself.

Let us look at the process of change. Human being is an adaptive animal. We adapt to whatever the circumstances around us. Once we adapt we become comfortable in these surroundings until something / somebody forces us to change. For e.g. people get comfortable in their routines / jobs, they do some things everyday, every month. They have adapted themselves to these conditions. These people will not progress further. This leads to stagnation. No change is possible. If you willingly accept this, then you have no reason to complain that you are not progressing, as you are the only person to blame because you don't have strong enough desire to produce change.

The same situation is true in the gym. People get comfortable in their gym routine. Their body has already adapted to the change. No further change will come their way. Let us get more specific. A person walks on a treadmill at 5km/hour. Let us assume that it took 2 weeks to get used to this walking routine. The adaptation has now occurred. If you continue the same routine no change will be produced. Another example, suppose you do bench press with 20 lbs and perform 10 repetitions. It might be difficult for two-three weeks till your body gets adapted to it in this period of time. Now if you continue the exercise with 20 lbs no change will occur in subsequent period of time.

To produce change you need to 'overload'. That is increase speed on the Treadmill to 5.5km/hr. Take 25 lbs on Bench Press. It may be hard for two weeks but you body will adapt to this new 'load' and produce the desired change. So it is this over load and adapt cycle that brings the change. You cannot allow your routine to stagnate. If you do then expect no change and be content with whatever gains you have made. Put out the effort, increase the intensity and push yourself a little harder and you will be surprised with the results!

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