I get asked training questions all the time.  Usually the questions come from people I know are beginners and may be struggling with adding muscle and/or burning fat.  And believe me, there is nothing I enjoy more than talking training with someone who is genuinely serious – they have specific goals and a decent plan on achieving them, they just need a point in the right direction.

But one thing that really bothers me is when someone comes up to me and tells me they’ve been training for x number of months or years and they just can’t seem to get where they want to be with their training, but they have no real goals and no real plan.  They tell me they just wing it when they get to the gym.  Then they immediately balk at some of my suggestions, saying “I can’t do that” or “those exercises are too hard” or “I don’t have time.”

I HATE EXCUSES!

I admit it, I used to make excuses for the reasons why I couldn’t get where I wanted to be with my training.  But one day I got so fed up with myself, I vowed NO MORE EXCUSES!  I’ve never looked back and my training has taken off like I never thought it would.

So, to cap off this rant, here are my top 10 reasons why your training sucks!

10. You don’t eat! Whether you are trying to add muscle, burn fat or both, you have to eat.  Feeding your body gives you enough fuel for muscle building workouts.  Not eating slows muscle growth and your metabolism which will kill your fat loss.

9.  Beach Muscles! Training your beach muscles will NEVER add the muscle to your frame that you want.  Focus on heavy pushing and pulling exercises and you’ll kill two birds with one stone.

8. You don’t have a plan. If you don’t have a plan, you’re planning to fail.  Write out your workouts before you get to the gym.  Write down what you need to eat in order to build muscle and burn fat.  Winging it just plain sucks!

7.  Slow, boring cardio. Get off the treadmill and hit some hills sprints to skyrocket your fat loss.

6.  You think dumbells can’t get it done. Put down the barbell and see what you can do with that 100lb DB in your gym!

5.  You’re lacking passion! Adding muscle and losing fat require heavy lifting and intense conditioning.  You’ll never get where you want to be if you don’t love ripping a heavy barbell off the floor or setting a new PR for your favorite conditioning circuit.

4. You don’t squat. I’m not talking about pansy half squats, I’m talking about putting a bar on your back and taking it to parallel.

3. You don’t deadlift. Nothing adds size to your body like the deadlift.

2.  You don’t used your bodyweight! I could go on for days about the importance of bodyweight training.  Just get to work on those pushups, pullups, dips and any other bodyweight exercise you can think of.

1.  You make too many excuses! I’m tired.  I’m sore.  It’s too heavy.  That exercise is too hard.  My ___ hurts.  I can’t eat that way.  Excuses are bullsh*t.  If you’re making them you might as well forget about the other things on this list.
I could’ve stopped this workout.  I could have not even started this workout.  Hell, I didn’t even feel like working out at all.  But I remembered my vow of no excuses and got it done.

Let’s hear your thoughts on this one folks.  What gets you fired up?  How do you stay motivated, passionate, and excuse free with your training?