Foto: iStock/Bastian Weltjen

There are many reasons why your training is not effective despite your wholehearted commitment. These tips will make it work again!

Unfortunately, doing sports on a regular basis will not always burn up fat and make your muscles grow all by themselves. If anything, it will take time for the desired effect to materialise despite training several times a week or even each day. If you observe the following four points when planning your training, you can successfully solve this problem.

1. Vary your training
   When your training load always stays the same, your muscles and cardiovascular system will be hardly challenged at all. You've become used to the training. The secret lies in regular variation. Turn your training upside down every 6-8 weeks and introduce new stimuli. Change your training routine, adjust your workload, do new exercises. Because after a certain period of time, your performance will stagnate not IN SPITE of but BECAUSE you’re always training in the same way.
    
2. Intensification increases performance capability
   If you want to burn fat quickly and improve your endurance performance, you should increase the intensity of your training. This can be interval training in the endurance zone where you run a short distance at a high tempo followed by a section at a slower pace. If you do isolation training on equipment in the gym, you can increase the intensity by doing exercises with your own body weight or free weights.
    
3. Larger muscles = bigger weights and fewer repetitions
   You want to build muscle? Then you should choose the weight in such a way that after the desired number of clean repetitions (e.g., 10 repetitions) you can no longer do any more. This requires you to focus on your body and the exercise when training. It is therefore best to leave your everyday worries and problems with your sports bag in the locker.
    
4. Breaks, the most underrated success factor
   Observe the principle of super compensation. Load and recovery make up a training unit! To ensure you can complete the next training unit at a higher level of performance, you should give your body a training break of 36 to 48 hours after intensive strength training.

Important: A doctor should confirm your fitness for sport before you start training. Get help with your strength training from an experienced trainer who will show you how to perform the exercises correctly. Wishing you every success!