When you stick to a routine, it’s
easy to become, well, stuck. “We
fall into a comfort zone, and we keep
doing the same thing even when we’re
over. Either way, your muscles aren’t being sufficiently
challenged, which is why they’re not getting more toned.
not seeing any improvement,” says
“To see an improvement in definition, you need to have an
Barbara Bushman, Ph.D., a professor
increase in the protein content of muscle fibers, and that
happens when the muscles are stressed and being called
of exercise physiology at Missouri
on to exert more force,” Bushman explains.
State University in Springfield.
THE SOLUTION: If you don’t believe you’ve done just
If you’re not trimming down, toning
about all you can do by the end of a set, pick a heavier
weight. “You want there to be a bit of strain on the
up or feeling any fitter, it’s likely due
second-to-last and last reps,” Bushman says. Reach for
to one of the following exercise errors.
a lighter dumbbell when you aren’t moving the weight
Read on for how to reboot—and get
with steady control as you lift and lower.
the body you want—pronto!
3. YOU STICK TO THE BIKE FOR
ALL YOUR SWEAT SESSIONS.
If you feel as though your thighs are getting bigger than
you’d like, you may be overdoing the cycling. “On an exercise
1. YOU RELY STRICTLY ON
bike, you’re working a very specific group of muscles, and if
CARDIO TO PEEL OFF POUNDS. you’re hitting it hard four or five times a week, you will see
For most women, sweaty aerobic exercise alone isn’t development there,” says Gary Sforzo, Ph.D., a professor of
enough. “Research shows that weight loss is minimal if it exercise and sport sciences at Ithaca College in New York.
isn’t accompanied by dieting,” says Amy Luke, Ph.D., a THE SOLUTION: Unless cycling is your competitive event,
nutritional epidemiologist at the Stritch School of Medicine cut it to once or twice a week and fill the gap with a variety
at Loyola University Chicago. “We may compensate for of on-your-feet activities, from using the elliptical trainer
the extra energy we’re burning during physical activity by to taking a dance class. “Every exercise affects your legs
doing less the rest of the day, or more commonly, we in different ways,” Sforzo says. When you do cycle, lower
feel famished after working out, so we eat more.” the resistance level and increase the speed, Bushman
THE SOLUTION: To drop a pound, which is 3,500 calories, suggests. “It’s the overload on the muscles that causes
in one week, aim to eat 300 fewer calories every day the increase in muscle mass,” she adds.
(300 x 7 = 2, 100) while burning 300 calories from exercise
five times a week (300 x 5 = 1,500). Follow our “Slimmer
in 7 Days!” plan, page 89, not only to burn 1,500 calories
4. YOU AIM TO STAY IN THE
a week but also to firm up from head to toe. Plus, to beat
FAT-BURNING ZONE.
the post-workout hunger attack, pack a low-cal snack It’s no wonder you think you need to do this to lose weight:
like a piece of fruit. “You plan for exercise. You need to Many cardio machines tell you when you’re above and
plan what you’re going to eat afterward,” says John below the zone. But this reason for sticking to low-intensity
Porcari, Ph.D., a professor of exercise physiology at the exercise has been completely debunked. “Because fat
University of Wisconsin at La Crosse and a FITNESS takes longer than carbs to be converted to energy, you
advisory board member. Drinking lots of water helps too. burn a higher percentage of it when you’re sitting or walk-
ing than when you’re running. So the old thinking was that
with low-intensity exercise you could torch body fat and lose
2. YOU RACE THROUGH
weight,” Porcari explains. But the theory didn’t work in prac-
YOUR REPS. tice. “In one study, we had people walk or run for half an
Two things could be going on here: Either your weights hour. On average, the walkers burned 240 calories, 44 per-
are too light, which is often the case for women, or they’re cent of which were fat, so they burned 108 fat calories. The
too heavy, and you’re letting momentum or gravity take runners burned 450 calories, 24 percent of which were fat,
