Have you hit a plateau with your fitness results and started blaming it on what’s happening in the gym?

This is a very common mistake. When progress slows down, there’s a tendency to second guess ourselves. Maybe I’m doing the wrong exercises … doing the right exercises in the wrong order … lifting too heavy … or not heavy enough.

Too much cardio and not enough strength work? Could be …

Not training enough … or training too much?

All these things are possible culprits … but far from likely.

The odds are overwhelmingly in the favor of something going awry outside the gym.

Remember: There are 168 hours in a week. If you’ve hit a plateau, do you think the culprit is the 3 hours a week you spend at the gym? Or the “Other 165?”

Pick B …

How is your diet? Lots of colorful veggies and lean proteins? Or burgers, fries and pizza?

How are you sleeping? Closer to 8 hours a night, or closer to 4?

How’s your stress? Do you feel in control of your time, or like you’re always trying to outrun a grizzly bear?

How do you manage stress? With healthy strategies (yoga, meditation, stretching, going for a walk outside) or with alcohol and “blowing off steam” with a late night out?

So if you’re not getting the results you’d like to see, it’s probably not that you did too many lower body exercises and not enough upper body last week.

It’s most likely what’s happening during the “Other 165.”

Pick one of the above this week, practice getting better at it, and track it. Chances are you’ll start feeling better … doing better in the gym … and seeing better results